Game Reviews Review: Kid Icarus: Uprising By Sean Booker April 9, 2012 - 09:36 Studios: Project Sora Publisher(s): Nintendo Rating: E10 Genre: Third-Person Shooter/Action Adventure Platform: Nintendo 3DS Players: 1 (or 6 online multiplayer) Kid Icarus: Uprising is probably one of the most expansive 3DS titles available as well as one of the least ‘Nintendo-feeling’ first party titles we’ve seen from the company in a long time. The game features two styles of gameplay during each of its many stages that play and handle quite differently. And the awkward controls you’ll experience will make the first couple hours of the game to be a bit tedious. Apart from the primary story, there is a great deal of additional content that includes a very deep loot and power system, multiplayer and even some augmented reality mini games. It is easy to see the team behind this game: Project Sora (the Super Smash Bros. series)’s influence here when looking at the sheer scope and detail put into it. The most notable aspect to Kid Icarus: Uprising is how each stage plays out and how you need to control your character Pit. Each level will be split into two sections; the first being an aerial, on-rails-like shooter that closely resembles the game play of Rez or Child of Eden, while the second half (and majority) will be a more standard action adventure brawler where you explore dungeons and battles enemies on land. In air, you control the movement of Pit around a flat 2D plane where you can move him horizontally and vertically, but you can’t go forwards and backwards. Your goal is to dodge enemy attacks and shoot the opposition while the game moves you along (much like a rail shooter). As for the ground combat, you gain full control on where Pit traverses. You will move your character through mostly linear levels as you come across enemy after enemy throughout its many dungeons until meeting the final boss located at the end of each stage. Each level will offer a difficulty meter for you to slide back and forth based on how much of a challenge you want. The increments go up by 0.1 at a time and range from one to nine so you can really choose how much harder you want the game to be. Harder difficulties will not only power up the enemies but it will open up new sections in many of the stages for you to explore. As well, the higher you raise the slider, the more hearts (currency) you can bet on for your survival and upon completing the level without dying will reward you with more than you would have normally earned. The main problem with Uprising is how the game controls. You are required to hold the 3DS in your left hand and use the circle pad for basic movement, the stylus controls your targeting reticle and the left shoulder button is for attacking/shooting. This gets more complicated when on the ground as the camera is also controlled by the stylus so you constantly have to scroll around the screen in order to swing the camera around Pit. As well, you can switch between running and walking based on how fast you move the circle pad - a circumstance where you can easily find yourself doing the action you didn’t intend to. The camera always feels awful and this hand configuration puts a lot of stress on your left wrist. The developers attempt to fix this by including a plastic stand with each copy of Kid Icarus: Uprising so the system can sit on that while you play. This stand does make the game handle much more nicely, but if defeats the purpose of a handheld, portable system and brings into question the design theory behind this game. The whole control issue makes the game feel like it would have worked much more smoothly if developed for the Wii instead. It should be pointed out that the game can also be used for left handed people (players wanting to control the camera/reticle with their left hand and move with their right) but this means that Pit’s movement is now restricted to the 3DS’s A, B, X and Y buttons which would be even more tedious. There is however support for the Circle Pad Pro for cases such as this and only this. The additional analog stick can only be used for movement and doesn’t help with the extremely awkward camera problem - seems like a missed opportunity. While playing the lower screen on the 3DS will be taken up by images of Pit and various other in-game characters who will converse and banter throughout every level. It was nice seeing Nintendo putting so much voice acting into their game - a feature that very little of their IPs have. This dialogue ranges from tips on how to take down enemies, to jokes and even crucial plot points. Early on I found it to be slightly ‘cringe-worthy’ but quickly got used to it and even found myself laughing. All in all, the conversations going on during the game greatly help with the otherwise monotonous nature of just running through corridors fighting room after room of enemy. In terms of how the game looks I can easily say it is one of the nicest looking games on the system to date. The number of different areas you’ll come across is great and the game will even use many visual tricks to make the aesthetics more interesting. One specific stage will combine walls that actually look like a continuing hallway while other rooms will require the use of mirrors to see where a walkable path is. The one downside to the visuals however is that this was the first 3DS game where I turned off the 3D. The fast paced action and the awkward camera movement/control lead me to seeing too many ghosting images to deal with. Apart from the campaign there is a ton of other activities to flesh-out the game. The game features online and local multiplayer that plays much like the ground combat found in the single player. You can also unlock eggs that can be used to collected Idols, which are essentially trophies from the Super Smash Bros. series. Uprising also includes trading cards when purchased that use the camera for various augmented reality games and will unlock items in-game. There is also streetpass support for trading weapons and items with other people. All of these combine for the numerous puzzles that reveal more of the image when you complete or try out all the game’s features, complete specific stage requirements and play on harder difficulty settings.   Kid Icarus: Uprising is a game pack loaded with great looking content that is unfortunately brought down by the extremely cumbersome controls. It is a real issue that the stand seems to be so essential for long periods of play and even more disappointing that the circle pad pro doesn’t help with this. However, if you can get over the awkward handling, you will find a great deal of time can be put into the game. And the addition of the voice acting adds another layer to the campaign and helps draw your attention while repeated fighting off foes. If you are looking a game that will provide some lasting appeal and don’t mind the learning curve than Kid Icarus: Uprising will please you. Overall: 7/10 © Copyright 2002-2026 by Toon Doctor Inc. - All rights Reserved. All other texts, images, characters and trademarks are copyright their respective owners. Use of material in this document (including reproduction, modification, distribution, electronic transmission or republication) without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.