I just played through this game again and decided to do a review for it while the memory was fresh in my mind.

Speaking of memory, this is one of the games I remember playing the most when I was very young. I remember playing Kid Icarus with my mom was I was a toddler and probably the thing I remember most are those damn Eggplant Wizards. I even remember my mom explaining what eggplant even was.

Because this was one of our favorite games to play when growing up, I think I might be overrating the game a bit in my mind. But you can't deny that it was one of the best that the NES had to offer when it launched.

Now, this game is not without its flaws by any means. The controls take some getting used to, the difficulty is extremely uneven and it's a pretty short game.

Controls: They aren't the tightest controls out there and you'll find yourself dying because you hit up instead of right or left (and then subsequently plummeting to your doom).

Difficulty: Overall, the game really isn't that difficult, just the beginning is. By having a vertical scrolling level, where you get an instant death if you fall off the screen, as the first level is pretty unfair. While it immediately separates itself from other side scrolling games like Mario, it makes it difficult to get into the game because you'll die so many times. What makes things weirder is that the 2-1 and 2-2 are all so much easier than the first level. Not only are you stronger but the jumps required are less precise and you'll live long. Additionally, all of the bosses are a joke. You're supposed to build up to the big boss fight where you need to work at learning his pattern, finding the weakspot and then after trial and error, finally defeat it. Way too easy, especially the final boss. If you can make it past the first two levels, you're golden. Throw in the fact you get unlimited continues and you can see why I say this game isn't all that difficult.

Length: The game can be beaten pretty quickly once you learn to master the controls. The castle (dungeons?) levels definitely add to the length since they do take some time to memorize but overall, you can beat it in one sitting easily since there are only 3 worlds.

As an RPG fan, I really like what they did with the leveling elements. The fact that you don't really know how to level up or why you're leveling up can be confusing and it's a drawback to the player to understand what the heck is going on. However, rewarding the player for defeating enemies was pretty new at the time so the whole concept was a learning experience (no pun intended).

Without a doubt, the castle/dungeon levels are my favorite part of the game. Having the unique Eggplant Wizards only located at the castles and making you find the cure somewhere in another room was genius even if it was frustrating. But that's the point, I think. You don't want to make the player get so overpowered that they can just blow through all the enemies. Very, very cool addition and something that makes the game so memorable in my opinion.

Looking back, I'm glad that for some reason my family happened across this lesser known (or at least recognized for what it is) title. It definitely doesn't get the proper accolades that it deserves.

benis : Ah, I think Kid Ic is the first NES game I ever bought.  Memories. I agree its a good game and your topic about the unbalanced difficulty is spot on- the second world is much easier. I also like you admit your nostalgia and feelings for it might have clouded your score a bit (one 10 - score 9.3?), which to be fair, this is your soapbox and there's nothing wrong with that.  Thanks for reviewing 'bout the old NES hits.

Nice review. It's different than I'm used to, but well made nonetheless (and perhaps a bit refreshing for it).

I remember this from my childhood, and your review made me decide to try it out again. Thanks.