Product Info
Title:
Hikari Shinwa: Palutena no Kagami
Developer:
Nintendo
Publisher:
Nintendo
Genre:
Adventure
Price:
2600.00
Description:
Known as Kid Icarus in America, Hikari Shinwa: Palutena no Kagami
("Myth of Light: The Mirror of Palutena") is often referred to as the
Greek brother of Metroid. Released around the same time and using
similar packaging, it's not quite the same as Nintendo's more famous
sci-fi series, but it does play with action-platformer conventions in
interesting ways. You control the angelic youngster Pit as he tries to
rescue the goddess Palutena from the evil Medusa. There are three types
of stages in Kid Icarus: linear action stages, where you either move
rightwards or straight up; dungeons, which require exploration and
appear at the end of each set of levels; and a shoot-em-up, which
encompasses the entire final level.
The FDS version has a handful of differences from the NES
cartridge release. As usual, the sound is a little different – it's noticeable
in the sound effects and title screen theme, although the "game over"
tune sounds extra pathetic with the added instruments. In the FDS
version, you can bargain at the shops by yelling into the microphone. In
the NES port, this is accomplished by pressing certain combinations onto
the second controller. The FDS version also has a save system instead of
utilizing passwords. Like the NES Metroid, when you beat the game, you
can carry over your progress to a new game. In the last level of the FDS
version, you need to hold the jump button to fly and move right to scroll
the screen manually; both of these are automatic in the NES version.
You can also fly through the columns in the NES game, plus the enemy
patterns are different. In all versions, there are several endings
depending upon which stats you maxed out and other factors, where
Palutena rewards Pit by changing him into different forms. The FDS
version has a unique worst ending where you're turned into an enemy;
meanwhile the NES version has a unique best ending where Palutena
rewards him with a kiss, accompanied by a group of angels (pictured
left). The ending screen is also more elaborate in the NES version, where
it's just a black screen in the FDS version. There's also an extra
animation of Medusa collapsing when defeated.
Kid Icarus was much more popular overseas than it was in its native
Japan, leading to a NA/EU exclusive Game Boy sequel. There was also a
port of the original game to the 3DS. This includes brand new
backgrounds (the original is mostly black), along with some control
tweaks. This is a combination of the two versions – it uses the music
and save system of the FDS game, but includes the improvements
(better final stage, different endings) of the NES release.