..Kid Icarus: Uprising..

HANDS-ON PREVIEW | ? Comments |

Last year Nintendo fans were taken by surprise when Kid Icarus: Uprising was announced for their new handheld, the Nintendo 3DS. Now, with the 3DS launch out of the way and a couple dozen games later, Kid Icarus is getting ready for take-off.

Project Sora, the company developing Kid Icarus: Uprising, has put a lot of hard work into it, at least judging from all the cool trailers and screens we’ve seen, as well as my recent hands-on experience with the game during E3 2011.

In the short demo I checked out, there were three chapters available from the single-player campaign: The Return of Palutena, Magnus and the Dark Lord, and Heads of the Hewdraw. Each of them represents different parts of the story and will take you on a mission, having you combat in the air or on the ground using your different abilities. Since I didn’t have much time, I picked the first mission, and I was instantly surprised by the amount of weapons / attacks you can select before facing the challenge. You can use the crossbow and shoot arrows, fire projectiles with your hands, and many other things. Your selection will probably make a difference when playing, though I’m sure players will end up sticking to their favorites.

After a quick intro cutscene where Pit explained Palutena how happy people were due to her return, he’s got work to do. Monoeyes and what I think were Nettlers are coming at him, the first by air and the later ones by land, and you must control Pit as he flies towards the enemies and deals with them one by one. Kid Icarus: Uprising is more of an on-rails experience than a vertical platformer like we wanted it to be, but it was fun nonetheless. 

The controls are quite unique. You shoot with the left trigger, using the lower touch screen and the stylus to move the crosshairs and focus on the incoming enemies. In addition, the joystick is used to move Pit’s perspective. It didn’t take long to get the hang of it, so I breezed through the level dealing damage left and right without a hitch. At the end of the mission, the game gives you the stats, such as how many enemies you killed and how many hearts you got, which I’m sure will encourage many players to take on missions a number of times, each with different approaches and weapons at hand. I also got to check out a live battle with Kid Icarus: Uprising AR cards, another cool feature of the game.

As I didn’t have time for more, it was a short but sweet experience. Nevertheless, Kid Icarus: Uprising looks gorgeous on the 3D screen, and I enjoyed every minute of it, with the 3D slider all the way up. With the promise of intense boss battles, varied missions, a fun online multiplayer mode for up to six players, and numerous other features, this Nintendo exclusive should be an instant hit when it lands on store shelves before the end of the year.

Maria Montoro   Followmmontoro An enthusiast of gaming adventures as well as party and puzzle games. Writer, editor, translator, graphics designer, and a multitasker at heart. Maria has worked in the gaming industry since 2007, though she's been a gamer since the eighties. She proudly wore her Spain jersey when they won the 2010 World Cup!

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