I've never played any Kid Icarus game before, and I was thinking about getting this free with Club Nintendo. One question, though: Is the game impossibly hard to figure out and easy to get lost, like Metroid? Zero's post above makes me think it is.

Well the first 3 stages were very straight-forward, you just climb up. I don't know if this stage is an exception to the rule or what.

With ARIKA's little tweaks to the system, I've finally been able to finish this legit, without using the
8uuuuu uuuuuu
uuuuuu uuuuuu
code!

Now if we can just get Konami to convert their old arcade games into 3D Classics with ARIKA's help...

@Zero

That stage is more of a dungeon style that will have you explore around to find the boss. Hearts are used to purchase items when you find vendors. Hammers you can use in dungeons when you find statues that you can smash by pressing select I think. Once you free them, they'll come to your help to beat the boss.

The game becomes a lot easier once you're done with that first world. I never found it all that hard really.

@Zero

The last stage of every world is a maze. Beware the Eggplant Wizards.

@Zero

It's a dungeon, like in The Legend of Zelda. As @Jargon said, the last stage of every world is a maze or dungeon.

Ug I hate mazes in old school games with no maps. F that.

I've tried to get into this game a couple times...but honestly I just don't think it's very good. I don't know exactly why though. I like Castlevania despite its controls. I think it might be because Castlevania sort of has a 'rhythm' that you get into.

@Zero

The mazes have maps. Gotta find 'em first, though. Just like...The Legend of Zelda!

Really? I was in about 20 different rooms in 1-4 and I never saw any map!

@Zero

Keep lookin'! It's there. Third floor, IIRC.

It would help if they didn't just recycle the same 4 rooms over and over. Tough to get a sense of where I am at.

This is the best version of Kid Icarus for sure. The slight tweaking of Pit's controls make it much more playable. I really enjoyed.

@Zero
The dungeons aren't really very big. I generally dislike mazes in older games too (I really don't like the first Metroid) but you'll get a sense of where you are after looking around.

@Zero
Chances are you'll have the dungeon layout memorized before you assemble the map. Either that or you'll accidentally find the boss room.

There is a hot spring, and a couple of rooms where the enemies give 10 hearts each. Frequent the shops, and buy the pencil and the torch. The map is basically in 3 parts. The torch tells you where you are, the pencil lets you mark rooms you've been to, and finally the sheet of paper is the map itself. I think you lose the torch and pencil if you die, or Either that or Plutons can steal them, but they're really cheap, especially because of the endless hot spring and the 10-heart enemy rooms.

Yeah. Guy who likes Metroid complaining about Kid Icarus being obtuse. Whatever, Zero. ;)

@Dark Weres Oh, so the torch and pencil are required for the map to mean anything? That answers what I just came here to ask, is why I found the map but (or not found, it is right in front of you, it's just I didn't know it was a map because...) nothing was showing up on it...

@kriswright I started liking Metroid at Super Metroid dude! In fact, the only reason I finished the first one was because I used a map I found online, and I'm notorious for complaining about the second one being confusing (I've never finished it) despite the fact that everyone tells me it is simple to understand.

Zero said:

Ug I hate mazes in old school games with no maps. F that.

Yes, now you can play a terrible game..in 3D!

Zero said:

Ug I hate mazes in old school games with no maps. F that.

Draw your own like the rest of us did.

You pussy.

(Seriously, the Sierra Quest games would have destroyed you.)

I loved drawing maps on Grid Paper for Phantasy Star on the Master System. With Metroid being both an action-game and not grid-based, drawing a map was tougher. Even SEGA, when they shipped Phantasy Star II, included maps in the box since they moved away from the grid format for their dungeons. Well, it was still a grid format, but viewed from overhead, and they obscured the grid-squares to make the dungeons look better.

Yeah I think I've played through half of Kid Icarus a while back...I can't say it's my favorite game.

I beat Metroid with a guide, but I have more love for that franchise so I wanted to see the game to the end. Plus, the music is way better and the whole atmosphere and world are a little more....immersive. Or, as immersive as you can get with the NES. And Samus didn't control as awkardly, and there wasn't as much annoyance with pits to fall down.

No pun intended.