The Tale of Kid Icarus

Developer: Nintendo R&D1

Director: Satoru Okada

Producer: Gunpei Yokoi

Designers: Toru Osawa, Yoshio Sakamoto

Composer: Akito Nakatsuka

Original Release Date: December 19, 1986 Famicom JP; February 15, 1987 NES US

Let us go back to the distant past, to an age when gods and man lived together in harmony. There was once a kingdom called Angel Land. This kingdom was ruled by two beautiful goddesses: Palutena, who administered light, and Medusa, who ruled darkness. Palutena lived in the Palace in the Sky and administered light so that man could live in happiness. And, bathed in this light, man grew food and lived in peace. Medusa, the goddess of darkness, was different. Medusa hated mankind. She took great pleasure in drying up the crops that man took great pains to grow, and in turning people into stone statues.

In her anger, Palutena changed Medusa into an ugly monster and banished her to the deep, dark Underworld. For this, Medusa promised to take over the Palace in the Sky where Palutena lived. So great was Medusa’s anger that she joined forces with the monsters and evil spirits of the Underworld. Her army soon surpassed the strength of Palutena’s, and a war between Palutena and Medusa began. Medusa led a surprise attack on Palutena’s army; they barely managed to escape the ambush.

Palutena’s army suffered major losses and was heavily defeated in the final battle. What’s more, Medusa’s army took the Three Sacred Treasures—the Mirror Shield, the Light Arrows, and the Wings of Pegasus—away from them. Almost all the warriors in Palutena’s army were turned into stone statues, and Palutena herself was imprisoned deep in the Palace in the Sky. The peaceful realm of Angel Land came to be inhabited by foul and terrible monsters and was turned into a land of darkness ruled by the wicked Medusa. During her imprisonment in the depths of the Palace in the Sky, Palutena’s Strength was drained to its last. As a last resort, she sought the help of an angel youth named Pit, who was held prisoner in a deep dungeon in the Underworld.

Pit was a valiant warrior who used to be in charge of Palutena’s personal bodyguards. Armed with a bow and arrow brought to him through Palutena’s magical Strength, Pit attempted to escape from the Underworld. The guard at this time was low in number, as Medusa’s army had advanced to the Palace in the Sky. Pit succeeded in his escape and set out on his long adventure to rescue Palutena. Yet to defeat Medusa, he had to obtain the Three Sacred Treasures.

Will Pit be able to restore Palutena’s light and return it to Angel Land? Only you can answer that question.