Play Famicom Mini - Vol 24 - Hikari Shinwa - Palutena no Kagame (J)(Caravan) Online

Game Overview

Kid Icarus (or Hikari Shinwa if you're playing the Japanese version) is one of those weird, tough-as-nails NES platformers that somehow sticks with you. You play as Pit, this little angel dude with a bow, climbing vertical chambers and dodging monsters to rescue the goddess Palutena. The first time I played, I got wrecked by eggplant wizards—yes, really—because they turn you into a slow, helpless vegetable. Classic Nintendo cruelty.

It’s part platformer, part dungeon crawler, with these maze-like fortresses where you hunt for upgrades. The music slaps (that underworld theme lives in my head rent-free), but good luck finishing it without save states. The GBA port’s fine, though the colors look a little washed out compared to the NES original. If you’ve only played Uprising on 3DS, this is where the whole "Pit can’t fly for more than five seconds" joke started.

Honestly, it’s janky by modern standards, but there’s charm in its weird mix of Greek myth and arcade-style punishment. Just don’t throw your GBA when you die to the same jump for the tenth time.