DAY 75 / GAME 75
Kid Icarus
One of the first games I'd ever seen on the Nintendo was Kid Icarus. Back when the limited access I had to an NES included the sitter's house whose kids would only let us watch them play games. One of those games was Dr. Mario and the other was Kid Icarus. (Oh, maybe RC Pro Am was in the mix too.)
Something along the lines of 25 years later I still remember what little I'd seen of that game and heard of the soundtrack. It featured what seemed like some unique designs at the time, from what I had seen at least. No one had ever anyone beat the first stage. The game was practically impossible.
Decades later Nintendo released a version of this for the 3DS with a minute graphical enhancement. I've always wanted to give this game another try for myself so I picked it up on the cheap. It didn't take me long to realise it was just as impossible as I had remembered. I was discussing this with a friend of mine, Pete, who told me that he had done the same, but he had actually beaten the game. After exclaiming he a liar he explained to me just how it's done.
Turns out it's not impossible, but at first it's a bit difficult. There's a couple of tricks, like how you can barter down the merchant for items. I also didn't realise that you level up as you go, increasing your health meter and with that, your chances of making it through a level. The other thing that made this game so difficult was that it was a vertically scrolling platformer. As you made your way up, if you didn't make a jump from one platform to the other, you didn't fall down a screen, you fell to your death. I had no idea, but turns out that after a few of these levels it switches to a horizontal scroller. So for a bit it actually gets easier. And by the time you make it to the last stretch where it becomes vertical again, you've levelled up quite a bit and have a few tricks up your sleeve.
I couldn't believe it, but after a little bit of effort I had gone and done it myself. I'd beat the unbeatable game. I'd immediately started the game again, I figured it'd be easier the second time around. I couldn't even get past the first level again.. Once was enough. But it was pretty cool and was definitely worth the $5 I paid for it on the Nintendo eShop.
Kid Icarus
One of the first games I'd ever seen on the Nintendo was Kid Icarus. Back when the limited access I had to an NES included the sitter's house whose kids would only let us watch them play games. One of those games was Dr. Mario and the other was Kid Icarus. (Oh, maybe RC Pro Am was in the mix too.) Something along the lines of 25 years later I still remember what little I'd seen of that game and heard of the soundtrack. It featured what seemed like some unique designs at the time, from what I had seen at least. No one had ever anyone beat the first stage. The game was practically impossible.
Decades later Nintendo released a version of this for the 3DS with a minute graphical enhancement. I've always wanted to give this game another try for myself so I picked it up on the cheap. It didn't take me long to realise it was just as impossible as I had remembered. I was discussing this with a friend of mine, Pete, who told me that he had done the same, but he had actually beaten the game. After exclaiming he a liar he explained to me just how it's done. Turns out it's not impossible, but at first it's a bit difficult. There's a couple of tricks, like how you can barter down the merchant for items. I also didn't realise that you level up as you go, increasing your health meter and with that, your chances of making it through a level. The other thing that made this game so difficult was that it was a vertically scrolling platformer. As you made your way up, if you didn't make a jump from one platform to the other, you didn't fall down a screen, you fell to your death. I had no idea, but turns out that after a few of these levels it switches to a horizontal scroller. So for a bit it actually gets easier. And by the time you make it to the last stretch where it becomes vertical again, you've levelled up quite a bit and have a few tricks up your sleeve. I couldn't believe it, but after a little bit of effort I had gone and done it myself. I'd beat the unbeatable game. I'd immediately started the game again, I figured it'd be easier the second time around. I couldn't even get past the first level again.. Once was enough. But it was pretty cool and was definitely worth the $5 I paid for it on the Nintendo eShop.
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