There are some extras beyond the (fairly meaty) single-player game, including the ability to face off with your mates in arena battles or against them in free-for-alls, and you can battle locally using AR cards. And to emphasise the game's off-kilter feeling, you often encounter health-restoring food items such as hamburgers and doughnuts. The Pit-Palutena dialogue sometimes descends into cheesiness, but occasionally makes you chuckle. And the enemies you fight are generally extremely freaky-looking, often along the lines of floating eyeballs or even what appear to be the nose and eyes of Mr Potato Head.Īdd that to periods of eye-poppingly garish art-direction, some intricate level design (often, you have to dodge around when flying at speed) and a constant, pun-laden and thoroughly surreal dialogue with Palutena that takes place constantly, and the overall effect is trippy at the very least and often positively psychedelic. Each chapter ends with a boss, most of which require a tactical approach: happily, Palutena points out what you have to do. It's just as well that you're never knowingly under-armed, as you have to overcome some pretty fearsome enemies (especially when on the ground). You can choose between ranged, all-round or melee-based weaponry (although the latter deliver ranged attacks when charged up), and even combine weapons to your own specification. Since Pit is in charge of Palutena's army (although he takes on Medusa and her minions single-handed), he has access to some outrageous weaponry that becomes available in the form of collectables dotted around the game's levels. Even the platform elements seem refreshingly unconventional – in Pandora's labyrinth, for example, you have to reveal hidden paths by shooting in front of you. As you progress, you find platform elements creeping in – jump-pads let Pit reach higher levels, for example, as do grind-rails. There are also land-based sequences, in which the control system remains more or less the same, except the circle pad lets Pit strafe, and dodge if you whack it quickly in any given direction, while swiping the screen to the left or right changes Pit's view 90 degrees in that direction. If you're left-handed, Kid Icarus: Uprising may well prove unplayable, although it does support Nintendo's Circle Pad Pro add-on. This control system sounds cumbersome, but it works beautifully – with one massive caveat. To fire, you use the left trigger you can fire continuously or wait for attacks to charge up, and there are special attacks to be found that can be launched by touching prescribed areas of the touchscreen. While Palutena controls the direction in which he flies, you can move him around the screen using the circle pad and aim attacks using the stylus – your right forefinger isn't a viable alternative as it covers too much of the screen.
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