Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The opening hour makes a sharp case for Kid Icarus: Uprising. Airborne stages are fast, guided shooting sequences where you focus on aiming, firing, and surviving a packed stream of enemies rather than steering Pit around. The automatic camera lets the action move at a wild pace, and reaching the ground afterward gives each chapter a welcome change of texture. You go from an on-rails burst to searching for a goal on foot, often with a boss waiting at the end.

The ground controls are the dividing line. You move with the Circle Pad, aim and turn the camera by swiping the touchscreen, and fire with L. Once your hands find a comfortable position, there is real satisfaction in snapping between targets and mixing shots with melee attacks. Before that point, though, the setup can feel fussy: every camera adjustment competes with your need to keep aiming. The Circle Pad Pro offers a left-handed mode, but it does not turn the game into a dual-analog shooter. Give it a little patience rather than judging it solely on the first awkward mission.

Its equipment systems make that patience pay off. Nine weapon families push you toward different habits: Cannons and Orbitars favor range, while Clubs, Claws, and Arms want you much nearer the danger. Individual weapons have melee and ranged ratings, overall value, and perks, so finding a new one can genuinely alter how a familiar stage feels. Weapon fusion is especially welcome because it turns unwanted gear into another chance at making something suited to your style.

Powers add a clever layer of preparation. Fitting their different geometric shapes into a limited grid has the pleasant puzzle-box quality of arranging a small Tetris board, and deciding whether to prioritize recovery, mobility, poison, or an alternate attack gives solo loadouts some character. The Intensity slider is even better. Betting hearts for a harder run, knowing deaths will knock the setting down, makes difficulty feel like a wager you actively choose. Higher settings can open gated areas and improve treasure, so replaying is not just for bragging rights.

There is plenty outside the main route, from the huge challenge board and galleries to AR Card activity, weapon trading, and six-player local or online battles. Multiplayer loadouts let you bring different weapon-and-Power plans into free-for-all or three-versus-three matches. It is a generous package, although the campaign’s unusual touch aiming remains the thing you need to enjoy; none of the extras changes that core feel.

Graphics

The game moves through varied fantasy landscapes during Pit’s aerial routes before bringing him down into ground missions, and the changing camera perspective helps those two halves feel distinct. During the constant voiced exchanges, character art appears on the lower screen, giving the chatter a face without stopping the action.

Story

Twenty-five years after the original Kid Icarus, Medusa and the Underworld forces rise again, and Palutena sends her servant Pit to fight back. It is a direct, easy-to-grasp setup: defend Palutena’s honor, drive back the invasion, and keep moving toward the next confrontation.

What carries the story is its delivery. Fully voiced dialogue runs during gameplay rather than pulling you out for long interruptions, so the campaign keeps its forward motion even while it explains the conflict. Palutena’s ongoing presence gives the action a conversational energy, and Pit is never left silently marching through one battle after another.

This is not a tale you play for intricate mystery; it is a lively fantasy adventure built to keep the shooting moving. That fits the game well. If you want background on this entry’s history and release, its game history page is a useful companion after you have spent time with Pit’s campaign.

Overall Experience

Kid Icarus: Uprising is at its best when you accept how much it wants you to engage with it. Pick a weapon that suits you, arrange a Power grid, raise Intensity a little too high, and see whether you can earn the better reward. That loop gives its stages a replayable edge that many straightforward shooters lack.

The cost is a control scheme that will not be equally comfortable for everyone. The stylus-driven aiming and on-foot camera control are central to the experience, and they can frustrate you before their strengths become natural. If that physical setup immediately feels wrong in your hands, no amount of weapon variety will fully erase the issue.

For everyone else, this is an easy recommendation: a bold, content-rich shooter with an infectious urge to try one more loadout or one more higher-stakes run. Its airborne action is immediate, its ground combat grows on you, and its progression systems give the whole adventure more staying power than its playful tone first implies.

Retro Replay Score

8.3/10