HIKARI SHINWA : PARUTENA NO KAGAMI
( Kid Icarus )
|
|
|
|
|
光神話 パルテナの鏡
©1986 Nintendo
Release: 1986-12-19 (¥2600)
DiskCard FMC-PTM
Action / Platform game
|
Released in America as
KID ICARUS
( NES-KI-USA )
|
|
Released in Europe as
KID ICARUS
( NES-KI-XXX )
|
|
Hikari Shinwa : Parutena no Kagami (aka Kid Icarus in the
west) is a challenging action/platform game developed by
Intelligent Systems and Nintendo.
In the country of Angel Land, a fantasy world based on Greek
mythology, the goddess of Light Parutena has been kidnaped,
taken away by the evil Medusa. She also stole the three sacred treasures
(the Mirror Shield, the Light Arrows and the Wings of Pegasus)
that gave Palutena's army all its power.
Pit, a young and courageous angel boy,
seems to be the only one able to bring her back and save the angel world.
But his journey will be a long and arduous one - from the lowest levels
of the underworld jail, through the surface world, all the way up
to the sky world and Medusa's dreadful lair.
And Pit carries only one weapon upon his belt - a bow. But the weapon
can shoot an infinite amount of arrows and can be later upgraded to shoot
multiple flaming arrows, or arrows with a greater range.
Defeated enemies drop little hearts, which can then be used in stores to purchase special
items such as healing potions, hammers or magic feathers.
Special weapons can also be collected throughout the game and be
used during the final duel against Medusa.
Each area features a fortress where the boss lies - there, Pit can use the hammers
he collected to rescue Palutena's soldiers turned in stone by the evil Medusa.
Once rescued, they can help him in his quest and give him clues on how
to defeat the area's guardian.
Hikari Shinwa : Parutena no Kagami consists of three large areas (four if
including the last Sky Temple stage), each
one made out of three action levels and a boss fortress.
|
Hikari Shinwa : Parutena no Kagami (aka Kid Icarus in the
west) was first released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986 (version tested here),
and was produced by no less than Gunpei Yokoi, directed by Satoru Okada
(two of the most respected names in Nintendo's video game history) and the music was
composed by the prolific Hirokazu Tanaka. Without forgetting game designer Yoshio Sakamoto,
who is believed to have join the team working on Parutena no Kagami after completing
the other classic Metroid. Interestingly, the game is supposed to use the same
game engine than the excellent Metroid, and one enemy from Parutena no Kagami, called the Kometo,
has a striking resemblance with the eponymous Metroids (I sometimes wonder if Parutena no Kagami wasn't originally
created by Nintendo in an attempt to attract a different 'younger' audience than Nintendo's other classic).
Parutena no Kagami was released a year later in the rest of the world and
was renamed 'Kid Icarus' - it was however released in cartridge format and
these western versions show a couple of differences. Firstly, the player's
progress could only be saved using a password system instead of the three save-slots of
the disk version (battery backup saves were not yet available on Nintendo cartridges,
or too expensive to mass produce). Finally (and this was also the case with Metroid) the
disk version offered better sound effects, thanks to the FDS's more
advanced sound chip.
A sequel called
'Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters' followed in 1991 for the Game Boy.
But the game was curiously only released in the US and Europe (It has to be one of
the few in-house Nintendo game not released in Japan!), which is
a shame because Japanese players never experienced a sequel that is actually
not as difficult as the original game and which addresses a lot of its short-comings.
The franchise then went dormant for a long while, although the original game was re-released for
in the Famicom Mini Series (Game Boy Advance, 2004) and for the
Virtual Console (Wii, 2007).
But, the real sequel to Nintendo's forgotten franchise was finally
released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3Ds - Shin Hikari Shinwa : Parutena no Kagami
(aka Kid Icarus Uprising) finally brought Pit into the 21st Century,
and despite it's awkward control system (take some time getting used to), it is a wonderful fresh look
on the old franchise and a great game. Additionally, Nintendo also
re-released the original Famicom game in stereo-3D the same year for the Nintendo 3DS!
|
Teaser text from the American version:
Get ready for the action and adventure of Greek Mythology
translated to the Video Age.
Far away in a kingdom called "Angel
Land", the evil goddess Medusa has
stolen the Three Sacred Treasures
and imprisonned the goddess of light,
Palutena. As Kid Icarus, your mission is to find the treasures, destroy Medusa
and rescue Palutena from the depths of the Palace in the Sky. To find the treasures
you'll travel through ruins collecting weapons and storing power for use
in combat against creatures of Medusa's army. Use your bow and arrow to
ward off gatekeepers of the Underworld, Overworld and Skyworld as you
strive towards your battle against Meduse. Will you survive to restore
Palutena's light and return in to "Angel Land"? Only you know.
|
G
O
O
D
I
E
S
|
|
Japanese GuideBook
|
Japanese GuideBook
|
Japanese GuideBook
|
Japanese GuideBook
|
|
Japanese book
|
|
|
O
M
A
K
E
|
|
|
|
|
Click on picture to enlarge |
|
|
|
LK
|
|
Add your Pov here !
|
P
O
V
s
|
|
Hikari Shinwa : Parutena no Kagami is probably one of the most 'forgotten' Nintendo
game ever made. Millions of players know Zelda, Samus,
Mario, Kid ... who ? This is sad because Kid Icarus
is definitely a fine game, full of unique elements
and memorable moments. Controls are smooth and responsive, and graphics
(especially animation cycles) are more than correct for the Famicom system.
The game is vast with numerous stages and non-linear fortresses with mean
and cleverly designed bosses. But beware, the game sometimes becomes brutally hard
and challenging, some vertical stages are very frustrating and can not be backtracked (you actually die if
you fall!). This is the main reason why I didn't give Parutena no Kagami the best score,
I feel that the difficulty level could have been a lot more balanced.
All in all, Parutena no Kagami is a great game and thanks to the
recently released Kid Icarus Uprising, Pit's franchise is now
finally back in action. I only wished Kid Icarus was given another chance during
the 16-bit era (like Metroid or Zelda were) which may have turned this little-known
classic franchise into a timeless masterpiece.
|
|
|
|
