Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

"Despite what I've heard many times, superior to its predecessor."

The first game I ever actually owned, along with Tetris for my Gameboy I got for Christmas of 1991, I was excited to see a familiar title, having played the NES version of Kid Icarus at a neighbor's house. I find it fitting this should only be my first review for my first game. Having recently picked up the original Kid Icarus again for the original NES on Wii's Virtual Console, I have to profess disappointment. Not to put down a classic, it's just that I'm probably more biased toward the Game Boy version having better memories of it.

Graphics 8/10
Relatively decent for their time, the visuals look perfect in the classic dull greenish tint of the original Game Boy screen. The environments are rendered to feel more like an ancient Greek myth than the original. There are plenty of columns, statues, and stone structures to give a more organic feel. The fortresses are a little more bleak, with their sleek surfaces and black backgrounds. The enemies look menacing enough as could be shown on small screen. Where the graphics really shine are in the boss fights. The Minotaur and especially the Orco's final form [who stands two screens tall] are shining examples of awesome graphics for the time. My only real gripe is with Pit, the main character. He's a chunky little sprite who looks as though he has down syndrome. Yes, he does look a lot better when he dons the three sacred treasures, but that's only if you manage to score enough brownies points [secrets] throughout the game, and only for the last level.

Music / Sound 10/10
Everyone remembers Hirokazu Tanaka's classic NES title and underworld theme. However, the score for Myths and Monsters meets the original in just about every way. The title theme is easily the most epic sounding and memorable piece, with its sweeping 8 bit orchestration. The underworld theme, both catchy and playful, adds the most texture of the background music to the game. The overworld and sky world themes are good in their own right, but the fortress music is easily the piece that defined the aural experience for me. I don't know what to call it. It's jazz and kind of dark, but upbeat at the same time. Imagine if Danny Elfman did the Charleston. That's about the closest description I could come to. The main title from the original even plays during the final sequence. I'd have to say this ranks up with Zelda as one of the best original Game Boy scores.

The sound is perfectly crisp as well. I especially love the staccato blips of an arrow piercing an enemy.

Gameplay 10/10
This is where the game truly shines. It's a vast, vast improvement to not die when you fall below where the screen has scrolled up. I can see where the creators thought it was an awesome concept in the original game, but it proved to be overly sensitive and needlessly frustrating to die when you've fallen on a surface you know to be only an inch under you, because the screen has scrolled past that point. The game kind of made up for it and received much praise in its "originality" for being able to walk off screen and appear on the other side [Pac-Man, anyone?]. Myths and Monsters scrolls with the character, as the original should have. You can also loop around horizontally in the underworld and the sky world, but the effect of going off screen to the side is lost on the fact the screen scrolls with you horizontally as well.

The controls are perfectly responsive. You have a much greater degree of freedom with Pit's movements here, as you can control the inertia in his jumps easier. Pit's wings even serve a purpose for a greater portion of the game here. While you can't fly until you obtain the Sacred Wings, you can repeatedly tap A in mid-air to slow your descent and reach otherwise unreachable places.

Another sweet factor was the ability to take tests by Zeus in rooms scattered throughout the levels to obtain up to three pieces of equipment to modify yourself if you have the prerequisite amount of health. You could score fireballs for your arrows, a modification to let your arrows fly all the way across the screen, and a sweet set of crystals that spin around Pit for an extra layer of protection. On a side note, this equipment could be pilfered from you by enemy ravens in the overworld and which you would find it for sale again in the black market shops.

I've seen some people gripe about this game's "difficulty," although I must say it's easier than the original, mostly due to the death-scrolling factor being removed. I actually wish this was harder, given that many of the enemies move slower and in almost predictable patterns for much of the game.

Final Word 9/10
It took me months of on/off playing to beat this as an 8 year old. Now, I can finish this little ditty in a matter of 2 - 3 hours. People who played the original have called for a sequel. This is that sequel. Some who've played it felt disappointed. I feel it trumped the first in nearly every way. While I still own the original cartridge, I would've thought this game to be rare at this point. However, you can probably still pick it up on Ebay for the average $10. If you loved the original Kid Icarus, but haven't given this a chance, by all means, check it out!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/08

Game Release: Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (US, November 1991)