Kid Icarus: Uprising is the second sequel to the NES game Kid Icarus, over 20 years after the previous one on the Game Boy. It has changed genres and is now a third person shooter, exclusive for the Nintendo 3DS. Uprising has two distinct gameplay styles; one is a rail shooter while Pit is flying in the air. The second style is when Pit is on the ground, and this has more exploration aspects. The controls uses only three inputs, being the circle pad, touchscreen and and the left shoulder button. The circle pad moves Pit, the L shoulder button is to shoot and the touchscreen to aim. This unorthodox control scheme takes a little bit of time in the beginning to get used to but is fun and works well during the aerial shooting segments. Aiming is surprisingly precise, in part thanks to the shots having a slight homing ability.
It is more complicated to control Pit while he is on the ground since you need to swipe the touchscreen to move the camera (while still using it to aim). You move the circle pad quickly in order to dodge and dash. The control scheme is too busy in those areas to work as smoothly as you'd like. It is actually quite annoying when you have to face enemies that have a weakpoint behind them as the control scheme is not designed for Pit to be able to fluidly dodge, dash and then quickly re-aim to shoot the enemies from behind them. This makes these sections annoying, especially the bosses that require this tactic. Interspersed in the ground sections are simple platforming which can be painful with the jump pads, but most particularly the narrow platforms in which you can fall if you end up accidentally dashing (which is all too easy considering the mechanic for dashing). Pit really needs a dedicated jump or dodge button which will help in the fast paced action.
Despite the flaws in the control scheme, Uprising is a ton of fun in both gameplay styles. The rail shooting is a huge rush and the 3D effect increases immersion. Uprising has some of the best graphics on the 3DS and some of the stages look amazing. You can hold down the L shoulder button to continuously shoot and if you don't shoot for a short amount of time, the next shot will be that weapon's special attack. During the ground sections, you can find hidden treasure chests and other bonuses such as health. The game itself is linear and exploration doesn't form a huge aspect, so it's just a little hidden area here and there. There is an adjustable slider for difficulty before you enter each state (scale of 1 to 9, with 2 being "standard" and 9 being the most intense). The higher the difficulty, the more Hearts you can obtain which is used as in-game currency.
The difficulty settings carries a gamble system in that you have to gamble a certain amount of Hearts in order to increase or decrease the difficulty and if you die, then you lose those Hearts. However, the checkpoint system is generous and you have effectively unlimited retries if you die. Most rail shooters are short affairs and you would've have thought Uprising would be no exception. That is an incorrect assumption as there are 25 chapters, which translates to around 7-9 hours of gameplay on the "standard" difficulty. The chapter structures are set and predictable, they are consisted of five minutes of on-rail shooting (explanation being that Pit can only fly for five minutes each session before his wings burn up), followed by a ground segment which is significantly longer before Pit fights the boss. Boss battles are fun and on higher difficulties, they are tough, requiring you to understand their patterns and dodging their attacks.
The story is told during the gameplay. While you are busy shooting, dialogue is spoken and slowly unfolds the story, which means that half the time, you'll be too busy fighting that you aren't absorbing what is being spoken. This is a shame since the dialogue is well written and funny. The story effectively boils down to Pit and the goddess Palutena needing to defeat Medusa and save the world. There are plenty of twists in the story and just when you thought you've finished the game, or you know who the enemy boss is going to be, it defies your expectations and throws something else at you. The later chapters do start to get a tad too long and padded out. It is even lampshaded in the dialogue (the game constantly breaks the fourth wall) with Pit complaining and asking if he is there yet, with other characters stating no. Various levels have weapons and other controllable mecha that Pit can temporarily pilot, as well as finding new weapons to use. Weapons can also be purchased or fused.
The game comes with a plastic stand to rest the 3DS allowing you to play the game more comfortably. This is actually required otherwise you will hold the 3DS awkwardly. There's still plenty to do after you've finished the story. You can go back to any level and get high scores, play through it at higher difficulties or find all the collectibles which unlocks artworks, music and in-game statues. There's a new Boss Rush stage where you fight through 25 bosses back to back or go into the Multiplayer mode which can be played against strangers via wi-fi or with your friends via local ad-hoc. Overall, Kid Icarus: Uprising is a ton of fun that provides a gameplay experience unlike anything else that's currently available. The on-rails shooter is an adrenaline rush and while the controls are a little bit awkward during the ground segments, it's still easy enough to grasp. The story is solid with great voice acting and likable characters; this is definitely a fantastic game that the 3DS offers.
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
The game comes in a big chunky box, apparently to contain the plastic stand that's included with every copy.
It's a solid hard cardboard, and the back is your standard affair of screenshots and shoutouts.
You then take out the stand... and is it this flat affair. The box is 70% empty space...
There are two hinges, one to unfold the rear leg and the other for the piece to hold the 3DS.
Placing the 3DS onto the stand, it leaves a space for your left hand to hold and grip the shoulder button comfortably.
Lastly, it also contains a pack of AR cards.
The cards are random and you can buy extra booster packs for use with the game.
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