''Kid Icarus'' is a media franchise of fantasy video games by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

. The games are set in a fantasy world based on classical antiquity and Greek mythology, called "Angel Land". The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure and platform elements. The ''Kid Icarus'' franchise is known as a cult classic and a sibling series to the

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirate (Metroid), Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the powe ...

franchise. The first installment, '' Kid Icarus'', was released in 1986 for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

and was received to critical acclaim despite poor sales. A sequel, '' Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters'', was later released for the Game Boy. After a 20-year hiatus, '' Kid Icarus: Uprising'' was released in 2012 for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

handheld.

History

After

's release of commercially successful platforming games in the 1980s, including '' Donkey Kong'', '' Ice Climber'', and '' Super Mario Bros.'', as well as the critically acclaimed

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

'' The Legend of Zelda'', the company was interested in entering a different genre. They began work on an

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform gam ...

. The game was called ''

''. Nintendo released ''Metroid'' for the Family Computer Disk System on August 6, 1986, and on the

one year later. ''Kid Icarus'' was developed alongside as its sister game, as it shares elements and programmers with ''Metroid''. The game was produced by the same man who produced ''Metroid'', Gunpei Yokoi, who previously produced ''Donkey Kong'', '' Donkey Kong Junior'' (1982) and the original '' Mario Bros.'' (1983), and it featured music written by Hirokazu Tanaka, who also composed for '' Duck Hunt'' (1984). After the release of its handheld sequel, '' Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters'', the series received no new installments for two decades. During 1990s, a different gaming magazine claimed another project named ''Kid Icarus: Angel Land Story'', sometimes called ''Super Kid Icarus'', to exist in-work for Super NES though it is unknown if the source is real or not. An installment for the Nintendo 64 was rumored to be in development, but was never released. During early 2000s, Capcom moved their resources to redo Dead Phoenix into new untitled ''Icarus'' game, to debut on

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

. A series revival was planned for

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

, developed by Factor 5, but this appearance eventually led to cancellation. In 2008, Pit appeared in '' Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' with a new design. During their E3 event in 2010, Nintendo unveiled '' Kid Icarus: Uprising'' for the

, the first game in the series since 1991. The game was released in March 2012 to positive reviews from critics. Palutena and Dark Pit appeared later in '' Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U''. Pit, Palutena, and Dark Pit returned, alongside all previous characters, in '' Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.

Characters

The ''Kid Icarus'' series has a cast of recurring characters. Some common characters in the series include Pit (the main character), Palutena, Viridi, Hades, Magnus, Dark Pit, Medusa, Pyrrhon, Pandora, Arlon, Poseidon, Phosphora, Dyntos, Thanatos and Cragalanche.

Notes

References

{{Main franchises by Nintendo * Nintendo franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1986