- Kid Icarus
- Available on: Wii (Virtual Console)
- More information: wikipedia
- Cover scans: mobygames
- FAQ's/cheats: gamefaqs
- Press reviews: ign - gamespot - vc-reviews
Content review for this game:
Pertaining to content listed in the upper left corner of this site.
(if you notice that this review has many of the same paragraphs from the Legend of Zelda review, you're not imagining things, because it does. The reason is, they're too similar to go to all the trouble of coming up with something else to say :)
Mild fantasy violence: Okay, I'm going to make this pretty short. The violence is laughable, and so are the graphics (which are extremely outdated). There is nothing to worry about in this category in any way. And you'll find much worse on the cartoons kids are watching today. Nuff said.
Content-wise: Yes, this game has no objectional content whatsoever, so kids 6- could definitely play and watch this game content-wise. However, there is absolutely no way they could survive in this game for more than a few seconds, and they'll probably want to quit playing it even before that happens. I'll explain more in the next category.
Difficulty-wise: The base gameplay consists of jumping higher and higher onto Greek/Roman-looking structures that seem to go up endlessly, while shooting snakes and one-eyed flying octopi (At least that's what they look like) with your bow (which has an endless supply of ammo). The controls are simple (one button for jump, the other for shooting), but the game itself is extremely difficult. For example, while climbing the environments, there is no option to retrace your steps and go back down. If you try, you fall off screen, die, and have to start all over. There's a bit more to the gameplay the further you get in, but kids won't be able to get to that point anyway, and will find the gameplay to be boring (and frustrating) in a few minutes.
This is all the kids had to play in 1987, and they were used to the difficulty their generation of games presented. But kids today are wimps when it comes to games of this type of difficulty (me too!). But (at minimum), I could see some really skilled (and patient!) kids 10+ figure it out (if they time travel from 1987 ;P).
Fun for: The majority of people who are going to rebuy this game are adults who remember it, and actually think they have a chance of completing it. Unlike the original Legend of Zelda, I hate this game (;P) and I don't really see what people see in it. If you like it, get it.
Closing comment: This game is technically a classic, and is loved by many adults. And "adult" is the key word. And if you can get past the difficulty, then it's okay, if you like terribly outdated, and not very well made games (;P) (;{). Content-wise, this is appropriate for kids of all ages. But, difficulty-wise, forget it. Kids will be bored and frustrated within about the first minute of gameplay. I recommend this game for ages (at the every minimum) 10+.
