Chronicling the completion of the backlog, one game at a time.

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This is Coffee from Games with Coffee, and welcome to Backlog Busting! As the tagline above says, I’m writing about the games in my backlog that I’ve completed in 2024. I’ll share what I enjoyed, what I didn’t, and whether or not it was worth my time and investment. At the end, I’ll share a Busting Grade – an aggregate rating made up of four categories: Length, Difficulty, Replay Value and Fun Factor. Scoring explanations will be found at the end of the post for reference.

The fifth game finished for this year is Kid Icarus, an often overlooked gem of a platformer. It was released on the NES and is currently available to play on the Nintendo Switch Online – NES app and on the NES Classic. Let’s dig into the report.

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The Little Angel Who Could

Kid Icarus and I practically share birthdays, at least when it comes to its North American release date. It was released in 1986 for the Famicom and on July 1987 for the NES. The game marks the introduction of Pit, a young Angel living in Angel Land, which is itself inspired by Greek mythology. Once upon a time, Earth was ruled over by two Goddesses: Palutena of Light and Medusa of Darkness. While Palutena showered humanity with light to make them happy, Medusa hated them and sought ways to make them suffer. This included but was not limited to destroying crops and turning people into stone. Eventually, Palutena had enough of her shenanigans. She transformed Medusa into a monster and banished her to the Underworld.

Medusa didn’t take this insult lightly. Swearing vengeance, she gathered the monsters of the Underworld under her rule and conspired to take over Palutena’s residence, the Palace of the Sky. Medusa stole the three sacred arms from the Palace of the Sky and hid them in three labyrinth-like fortresses. She then captured all of Palutena’s soldiers, turned them into stone and left them as decorations within the fortresses. With her treasures and soldiers lost, Palutena soon was defeated and imprisoned within her own home.

With the last of her strength, Palutena sent a bow and arrow to the most unlikeliest of heroes: Pit. He was imprisoned in the Underworld and was slated to be turned to stone when he receives the Goddesses gift. Now armed, Pit must storm up the Underworld, across the Overworld and up the Sky World, retrieve the three sacred arms within the fortresses and defeat Medusa.

I had never heard of Kid Icarus until Pit’s inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I hadn’t taken interest in the title until I received an NES Classic from a friend of mine a couple of years back. I had tried it a few times, but I really couldn’t get into it. Again, a big thanks to the U Can Beat Video Games YouTube channel for providing an easy-to-follow guide on how this game works and how to beat it. Armed with this knowledge and save states available on the Switch Online NES app, I set off to tackle this difficult title.

Note: I could’ve beaten it on the NES Classic, but things at work started to get very busy for me, and so I was more or less limited to using my Switch to play this.

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Busting Report

Kid Icarus is a tough game, I’m not going to lie. It feels like Metroid, but with an ever-present bottomless pit looming beneath you. At least, in terms of the Underworld and Sky World sections of the game. But having players start out in a vertical section where falling off of the screen means certain death is a bit rough. It definitely affects the learning curve of the game. What’s neat is that the screen wraps on the horizontal. Meaning if you go to the end of the screen on the right, you’ll appear again on the left. It’s put to good use as certain places require you to screen wrap to advance upwards.

Pit can gather hearts that are used to purchase several items to help him on his quest. These include but are not limited to feathers, health bottles and hammers. You can also access a black market filled with special goodies, like a barrel that can hold multiple bottles. The downside is that they’re pricey. You can find these shops through doors littered around the level. Also in these rooms are enemy rooms with lots of hearts, treasure rooms which can grant you free items if you’re lucky, a bathhouse to recover health, challenge rooms and rooms to increase strength. The rooms in Kid Icarus are set, meaning they will be the same on each playthrough. That was a definite relief!

What’s interesting in Kid Icarus are the secret health and strength checks noted throughout each level. Pit gets a health increase after reaching a certain score threshold and getting to the end of a level. He gets a strength increase by collecting hearts and entering a room within a level. If Pit accumulates enough strength increase points (which are invisible to the player), he’ll get a permanent arrow powerup.

Pit can sometimes end up in a challenge room, where an old man instructs him to avoid obstacles for a set time limit. If Pit endures, he is rewarded with one of three powerful relics that will aid him in his quest.

Once I summited the first area (Underground), the gameplay changes. Instead of solely platforming, Pit now has to navigate a labyrinth-like fortress, not unlike those in The Legend of Zelda. Inside each fortress, Pit has to find one of the three stolen treasures in order to face Medusa at the end. Guarding each of these treasures is a powerful boss. While Pit can face them alone, he can be aided by his fellow Centurions. These soldiers, turned to stone by Medusa, can be freed using a Hammer. Pit can also purchase a map, a quill and a candle at a shop, helping him navigate the maze more efficiently.

The most dangerous enemy Pit can face in these mazes are the Eggplant Wizards. If you get hit by one of their eggplants, not only does Pit have an eggplant for a head, he also can’t attack! The only way to turn back to normal is to find a Nurse station in the fortress.

Once you reach the very end, Pit equips the three treasures – The Mirror Shield, the Light Arrows and the Wings of Pegasus – and storms the Sky Temple to face Medusa. The gameplay once again changes to that of a scrolling shooter. Once Medusa is defeated, the player earns one of five endings. Each ending is unlocked based on how well the player did. If they maxed out everything (max hearts, health, strength, relics, etc.), then Palutena transforms Pit into a full grown angel. Conversely, if you do poorly, Pit gets transformed into a farmer.

Overall, I really liked Kid Icarus. It’s definitely a tough one to play, but I had a good time with it. Will I play it again? Probably not in the near future, but maybe again in a couple of years time.

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Backlog Busting Grade

Length: 4/5

Difficulty: 2/5

Replay Value: 3/5

Fun Factor: 4/5

Busting Grade: C

The Backlog Busting Grade is an aggregate letter grade made up of four categories: Length, Difficulty, Replay Value and Fun Factor. A high grade means that the game in review is an excellent addition to the backlog. On the other hand, a low grade means that you can choose to pass up on this title if you wish. Honestly though, the grades aren’t meant to be taken seriously – this is just me having fun with clearing my backlog. Your mileage may vary depending on preferences, time commitments, etc.

Each category is given a score out of five. Length measures how long a game took for me to complete. 5 being extremely short (30 minutes – 1 hour) and 1 being extremely long (40+ hours). Difficulty is self-explanatory – 5 for being very easy and 1 for being very hard. Replay Value scores how likely I’ll return to play again. 5 for most likely and 1 for never touching it again. And Fun Factor measures how much fun I had with the title. 5 for lots of fun and 1 for no fun at all.

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