Standard Edition
StandardIn the box
- NES cartridge
- Box with cover art
- Instruction booklet
NES
About the Nintendo Entertainment System
Kid Icarus
Kid Icarus is a 1986 action-platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. It was released in Japan in December 1986, in Europe in February 1987, and in North America in July.
ShooterPlatformAdventure
- Update patch
- No patch
- Time to beat
- about 3.9 hours
- Plays offline
- Yes
Overview
Kid Icarus is a 1986 action-platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. It was released in Japan in December 1986, in Europe in February 1987, and in North America in July.
The plot of Kid Icarus revolves around protagonist Pit's quest for three sacred treasures, which he must equip to rescue the Greek-inspired fantasy world Angel Land and its ruler, the goddess Palutena. The player controls Pit through platform areas while fighting monsters and collecting items. The objective is to reach the end of the levels, and to find and defeat boss monsters that guard the three treasures. The game was developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division with assistance with an external company (later identified to be Tose), which helped with testing. It was designed by Toru Osawa and Yoshio Sakamoto, directed by Satoru Okada, and produced by Gunpei Yokoi.
Kid Icarus had a mixed critical reception but became a cult classic. Reviewers praised its music and its mixture of gameplay elements from different genres, but criticized its graphics and high difficulty level. It was included in several lists of the best games compiled by IGN and Nintendo Power.
Official trailer
Gameplay video. Watch on YouTube
Gameplay
Kid Icarus (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete, NintendoComplete. Watch on YouTube
Screenshots
Game details
- Genres
- Shooter, Platform, Adventure
- Developer
- Nintendo R&D1
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Series
- Kid Icarus
- Platforms
- Arcade, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo Entertainment System
- Age rating
- ESRB E
- Modes
- Single player
- Yes
- Local multiplayer
- No
- Online multiplayer
- No
- Co op
- No
- Age ratings
- GRAC
- ALL
- ESRB
- E
- CERO
- A
- ACB
- G
- CLASS IND
- L
- PEGI
- 7
Release dates
| Platform | Region | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Entertainment System | Europe / PAL | 1987-02-15 |
| Nintendo Entertainment System | North America | 1987-07-15 |
Editions
Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami (Famicom Disk System)
In the box
- Famicom Disk System disk
Space and patches
Update patchNo patch
DLC
No DLC. NES games had no downloadable content.
Playable today
Playable offline todayYes
Single player only, with no online features. The cartridge runs on any NES, and the game is on Nintendo Switch Online.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ever released on disc | Yes, on NES cartridge |
| Ever released in the store | Yes, 12 February 2007 On the Wii Virtual Console. Later on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2013, and in the NES library of Nintendo Switch Online in 2019. |
| In the store to buy today | No The Wii and Wii U shops have closed. Playable with a Nintendo Switch Online membership. |
| Can be downloaded again if you already bought it | Yes Wii and Wii U Virtual Console purchases can still be downloaded again. The Nintendo Switch Online version needs an active membership. |
| Disc runs with no patch | Yes |
| Disc runs with the final patch | Does not exist No patch was ever released. |
| Has online features | No |
| Online servers running today | Does not exist |
| Playable offline today: campaign | Yes |
| Playable offline today: local multiplayer | Does not exist Single player only. |
| Playable offline today: online multiplayer | Does not exist No online play. |
| Playable offline today: DLC | Does not exist No DLC. |
Online
Plays offlineYes
Reception
- Critics
Outlet Score Scale GameSpot 5.1 10 IGN 7 10 Official Nintendo Magazine 68 100
Staff and cast
- Staff
Role Name Developers Nintendo R&D1, Tose Publisher Nintendo Director Satoru Okada Producer Gunpei Yokoi Designers Toru Osawa, Yoshio Sakamoto Programmers Yasu Shimokawa, Ichiro Takigawa Artists Toru Osawa, Makoto Kano Composer Hirokazu Tanaka
Notes for collectors
- First released in Japan on the Famicom Disk System in December 1986.
- The cartridge version saves progress with passwords instead of the disk saves of the Japanese original.
- Pit climbs upward through vertically scrolling stages, then explores fortress mazes with a map, pencil and torch.
- By late 2003 it had sold 1.76 million copies.
- A 3D Classics remake came to the 3DS in 2012, and the original is one of the 30 games on the NES Classic Edition.
Credits
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Developer
- Nintendo R&D1
- Director
- Satoru Okada
- Released
- 1987-07-15
- Age rating
- ESRB E
- Region
- US
- Time to beat
- about 3.9 hours
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