As reported, I started playing Kid Icarus from 1986 for the NES. I beat it tonight. It wasn't easy. It's a damn hard game with all that vertical scrolling and merciless jumping... and then again at times it was ridiculously easy.
I did have some help from a little PDF I downloaded, all the way back from 1986, The Official Nintendo Player's Guide. I thought it would be appropriate to get the inside look at this game from a publication over 25 years old.
Man, was it a different time. People just weren't writing about games the same way back then.
This was one of the big maps in the Player's Guide, but like many of the reviews in it, it was not complete! They stopped on Area 8! Here's the map I made for myself. Take that, internet! I made me a map!
Now when I was growing up, it was rumored among friends that Pit became a real angel in the end. This was a lot more exciting when I was 12. The last level was a bit of a snoozer.
All in all, I'm glad I played this game. It was hard at times. It was ridiculously easy at times. I could definitely tell it was designed by Gumpei Yokoi who also designed the first Metroid. The games share some of his M.O. of having the same rooms with a different color palette thrown on. It was a different time, but even then there were awesome games that made you wanna play for hours. This game was just not very well balanced.
The next game is a little murky. I have The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition, which has the original Zelda, Zelda II (both beaten), Ocarina of Time (beaten plenty of times but wouldn't mind a revisit) and Majora's Mask (definitely not beaten, and don't know if I'm ready.) I think I'll repay a visit to original Hyrule and then go to Majora's Mask even though Mask kinda gives me the creeps...
