Take These Broken Wings And Learn To Fly (Kid Icarus)

ACT 1: HELL

Kid Icarus, released by Nintendo unto our shores in 1987, is an odd case. It is, and yet isn't, a beloved Nintendo mainstay. It got a sequel, its main character was featured in an animated series on national television... and yet then it died right along with Communism. We could go on a tangent here about using the hearts of dead beasts as currency in a capitalist society within the game, but let's not attempt that. Kid Icarus then came screaming back into the world 17 years later, ready to pummel the stuffing out of other beloved Nintendo mainstays. This surge of popularity netted the series a new game, and a 3D port of the original. This is what history has told us. Here, then, is Kid Icarus for Nintendo, flickering between the borders of reality. It both is and isn't a good video game, an odd quantum case locked inside a box with a cat, existing in a state somewhere between good and bad, between Valya and Nightmare. Let us look at the first impression, then.

Our hero, Kid Icarus, or Pit, or whatever you wish to call him, has fallen. He has flown too close to the sun... the sun being his nemesis, Medusa. The goddess Palutena is in jeopardy, and Kid Icarus has found himself plunged into the depths of the underworld. This is how the game begins. In hell. Hell is... oddly black. The 3D port adds a lava background to these proceedings, so use your creative minds here. The beginning is hell, and that is the truth. Pit has very little health and a short range on his bow. Enemies fly in erratic patterns, and deal lots of damage. The bottom of the screen is a constant zone of death; backtracking is forbidden within the depths of hell. There are many things going on here. Not just for our dear Kid Icarus, but for the player. Hidden mechanics are in play here, in order to determine your score. How much damage you take. How many shots you miss. How many hearts you collect from the creatures you slay. Getting a good score makes you stronger. It makes it easier to survive. You will need it. Kid Icarus starts way too god damned hard for its own good. Enough so that many, including myself, write it off after 15 to 20 minutes of attempting to escape hell. Of course hell would be difficult to escape. Bill and Ted had yet to show us the way. Even Death himself roams these platforms. The Grim Reaper, that sentinel who blocks progress for a Mr. Belmont... as a regular enemy in stage 1-1. This is too much. I have escaped hell before, and now I have a secret weapon. A weapon that came into being with the rise of the NES.

I've got books.

ACT II: HOUSE OF LEAVES

Kid Icarus: This one's among the oldest Nintendo games, but if you've still got one lying around, take this code for a spin: ICARUS FIGHTS MEDUSA ANGELS. Thanks to my pal Emory King III of Newbury, Ohio, for that. It's worth dusting off the cartridge to give this one a try!
-Jeff Rovin, How To Win At Nintendo Games 4, 1991

Our salvation comes from Emory King III. His secret code pulls us out of hell and into a whole new world. We have no time to fart around with hellspawn. We are Icarus, and we must fight the Medusa Angels. Emory's enchanted words send us to level 2-4. We are in a labyrinth of ice. Hell has frozen over, and now we must navigate through the twisting little passages, praying we do not meet the wrong thing. A wizard of eggplants who will turn you into a monstrosity, a vegetable on legs that begs for death. Spikes jutting into our fragile frame. Emory's words have given us power overwhelming, but navigating the maze is up to the player. There is a way to map this place out in-game, but one is better off breaking the rules. Breaking out paper and a pen, and drawing squares on paper. I've done it. With the cool breath of control, I have guided Kid Icarus through this sub-zero serpentine subterrane. My hands have grasped a pen, the tiny flucks creating squares that link to each other. Tiny symbols, scrawled inside certain ones, their meaning known to me. St. A cross. The letter H. Easy to decipher. Store. A hospital. A healing spring. That big room, with the letter B? A boss. Not a minotaur, but something like a cerberus. Or a dragon. Something to be destroyed, with help. These dungeons also contain the petrified soldiers who dared tried to destroy Medusa. Angels, if you will. Freeing them will cause them to assist you in the boss battle. Emory's words now make sense. Icarus fights... with the angels petrified by Medusa. This is still not enough. We need more power.

ACT III: HEAVEN OR HELL- LET'S ROCK

Kid Icarus: Two codes that will bring you to the last level of play are: DANGER !!!!!! TERROR HORROR, while 8uuuuu uuuuuu uuuuuu uuuuuu will get you there... along with a stockpile of weapons not to be believed!
-Jeff Rovin, How To Win At Nintendo Games 3, 1990

to wonder...Jeff, what would I do without you? This paperback of yours that I recieved as a child is nearly falling apart. Without it, I would not have beaten Castlevania 2 or Bayou Billy. I would not have been able to venture into the fortress of Dr. Wily. I would not have learned of the insanity that is Monster Party. Many of these games have been covered by a Mr. Sandifer. Many have yet to be discovered. For now, let us look at those codes. I went with the 8u one... though the other seems more like a warning than an alchemic spell. Within the heavenly realm that Medusa has taken as her own, there is danger, terror and horror. We cannot let this stand. Medusa has subverted the goddess Palutena, a holy lady of the Valya. Our Demetria demands that we destroy this agent of the Nightmare... but look what she has done to the heavens. We have somehow entered a closed time loop. Medusa, the serpent, has turned the land of Valya itself into an Ouroboros. A world without beginning or end, until you manage to destroy enough of Medusa's minions. We have powered ourselves up to maximum, and equipped three sacred treasures... a trinity of force, if you will. Now we fly. Now we are an angel, and this has become some sort of shooter. Thank the Valya for that code. I have

We've done it. We've destroyed enough of the souls to break through the Medusa Cascade. Now here she is, stationary and staring at us with a single eye. She cannot petrify us. To be petrified is to be afraid. I do not fear Medusa. Fear is the mind killer. Instead I shall reflect her blasts, and blast her right back in that single eye of hers, forever staring. A snake comes at me now and again, but it is dealt with. This is the power of Valya. The power overwhelming. No wonder Kid Icarus had to remain dormant for so long. This power had to be contained. The world was not ready for it. Even an agent of the Nightmare like Medusa cannot handle it. We hover in place, blasting and blasting, never letting up on our assault. Finally, Medusa falls, and Palutena is free. The balance is restored. The Nightmare's hell, the Valya's heaven... and our own little mortal world in between are all back in harmony. That is Kid Icarus for you. He had to retreat from the world soon after, to let his sister thrive and flourish, ushering in a new age of exploration.

But that's in the far future, a Greek myth for the year 20X5.