The Nintendo 3DS had plenty of underrated titles and hidden gems among its vast catalog, withKid Icarus: Uprisingno doubt being among those various games. Unfortunately for fans of the underappreciated 3DS title, it’s fairly likely thatKid Icaruswon’t see another entryanytime soon or for the foreseeable future.
Recently,Kid Icarus: Uprising’s director, Masahiro Sakurai, spoke about the game on Twitter to celebrate its 9th anniversary. While Sakurai mentions that he often receives fan requests asking for a remake or sequel to the beloved 3DS title, Sakurai says aKid Icarus: Uprisingremake or sequel would be “difficult” to develop.
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For those who may not have playedKid Icarus: Uprisingon the 3DS, it is a bit of an odd game to say the least.Kid Icarus: Uprisingis a third-person shooter where players move the protagonist Pit around with the 3DS thumbstick while aiming the reticle with the 3DS' bottom touch screen. It was undoubtedly an odd control scheme, whichmanyKid Icarus: Uprisingreviewsnoted, and it certainly took a bit of adjustment for players to get used to. This control scheme is likely just one of the reasons why Sakurai says that developing a remake or sequel would prove difficult, especially given the Switch’s hardware design.
Though Sakurai does not go into specifics on his tweet regardingKid Icarus: Uprising, it’s not difficult to imagine how challenging a remake would be without the 3DS. While theNintendo Switch does have touch screencapabilities, those features are only available in handheld mode which would limit how players could play the game on Switch. However, a potential remake could completely change the control scheme, which could even work out for the better. With Switch Joy-Con controllers and Pro Controllers featuring dual analog sticks, the touch screen aiming could simply be moved to the right analog stick instead, which the 3DS did not have built in.
Of course, aiming wasn’t the only feature ofKid Icarus: Uprisingthat relied on the 3DS touch screen. Combat techniques like dodging were also tied to the touch screen, along with menu navigation. Still, plenty of these features could simply be remapped to different parts of the Switch controller. Nintendo has already done this same controller remapping with the recently announcedLegend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HDfor Switch.
So while it may end up proving to be difficult for Sakurai to helm a remake or sequel ofKid Icarus: Uprising, it would not be impossible. While theKid Icarusseries has a reputation for laying dormant for long stretches of time,Nintendo did renew theKid Icarustrademarklast summer, which could potentially bode well for the series. However, whether any potential remake or sequel comes to light remains to be seen. Hopefully, Nintendo’s plucky angel can get his time in the spotlight once again sometime soon.
Kid Icarus: Uprisingis available exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS.
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