Kid Icarus cover
FranchiseKid IcarusSeriesKid Icarus

Kid Icarus

First release
Dec 19, 1986
Developer
Nintendo R&D1
Publisher
Nintendo
Genres
Adventure, Platform, Shooter · Action, Fantasy

Kid Icarus is an action platform video game for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. The plot of Kid Icarus revolves around protagonist Pit's quest for three sacred treasures, which he must equip to rescue the Grecian fantasy world Angel Land and its ruler, the goddess Palutena. The player controls Pit through platform areas while fighting monsters and collecting items. Their objective is to reach the end of the levels, and to find and defeat boss monsters that guard the three treasures.

Also known as Хлапето Икар, Младия Икар, Light Mythology: Palutena's Mirror, Myth of Light: The Mirror of Palutena
… See more, Hikari Shinwa: Palutena no Kagami

Attributes

No Attributes added.

Details

Storyline, release dates, time to beat, age ratings, modes, links, keywords

Storyline
The game is set in Angel Land, which is a fantasy world with a Greek mythology theme. The backstory of Kid Icarus is described in the instruction booklet: before the events of the game, Earth was ruled by Palutena: Goddess of Light and Medusa: Goddess of Darkness. Palutena bestowed the people with light to make them happy. Medusa hated the humans, dried up their crop, and turned them to stone. Enraged by this, Palutena transformed Medusa into a monster and banished her to the Underworld. Out of revenge, Medusa conspired with the monsters of the Underworld to take over Palutena's residence the Palace in the Sky. She launched a surprise attack, and stole the three sacred treasures — the Mirror Shield, the Light Arrows and the Wings of Pegasus — which deprived Palutena's army of its power. After her soldiers had been turned to stone by Medusa, Palutena was defeated in battle and imprisoned deep inside the Palace in the Sky. With her last power, she sent a bow and arrow to the young angel Pit. He escapes from his prison in the Underworld and sets out to save Palutena and Angel Land. Throughout the course of the story, Pit retrieves the three sacred treasures from the fortress gatekeepers at their respective fortresses in the Underworld, the Overworld, and the Skyworld. Afterward, he equips himself with the treasures and storms the sky temple where he defeats Medusa and rescues Palutena. The game has five different endings; depending on the player's performance, Palutena may present Pit with headgear or transform him into a full-grown angel.Read more

The game is set in Angel Land, which is a fantasy world with a Greek mythology theme. The backstory of Kid Icarus is described in the instruction booklet: before the events of the game, Earth was ruled by Palutena: Goddess of Light and Medusa: Goddess of Darkness. Palutena bestowed the people with light to make them happy. Medusa hated the humans, dried up their crop, and turned them to stone. Enraged by this, Palutena transformed Medusa into a monster and banished her to the Underworld. Out of revenge, Medusa conspired with the monsters of the Underworld to take over Palutena's residence the Palace in the Sky. She launched a surprise attack, and stole the three sacred treasures — the Mirror Shield, the Light Arrows and the Wings of Pegasus — which deprived Palutena's army of its power. After her soldiers had been turned to stone by Medusa, Palutena was defeated in battle and imprisoned deep inside the Palace in the Sky. With her last power, she sent a bow and arrow to the young angel Pit. He escapes from his prison in the Underworld and sets out to save Palutena and Angel Land. Throughout the course of the story, Pit retrieves the three sacred treasures from the fortress gatekeepers at their respective fortresses in the Underworld, the Overworld, and the Skyworld. Afterward, he equips himself with the treasures and storms the sky temple where he defeats Medusa and rescues Palutena. The game has five different endings; depending on the player's performance, Palutena may present Pit with headgear or transform him into a full-grown angel.

Release dates
Family Computer Disk System
Dec 19, 1986
Nintendo Entertainment System
Feb 15, 1987
Nintendo Entertainment System
Jul 15, 1987
All 11 release dates
Arcade
1988
Wii
Jan 23, 2007
Wii
Feb 12, 2007
Wii
Feb 23, 2007
Wii
Oct 28, 2008
Wii U
Jul 11, 2013
Wii U
Jul 25, 2013
Wii U
Aug 14, 2013
Game modes
Single player
Perspective
Side view
Where to buy
Keywords
greek mythology, death, flight, flying, vertical platforming
… All 25, 8-bit, bow and arrow, damsel in distress, virtual console, young protagonist, black market, infinite ammo, difficulty level, cheat code, moving platforms, wraparound world, new game plus, petrification, nintendo switch online, wii virtual console, fan translation - english, wii u virtual console, fan translation - portuguese, box art - pixel art, fan translation - japanese

How it plays

Languages

  • Englishinterface
  • 日本語interface
IGDB · recorded 3 Oct 2026

Language data: IGDB · recorded 3 Oct 2026