How was Kid Icarus created?

A look through the history of the Nintendo's NES greek mythology based platform-shooter Kid Icarus's game development. Next week, we'll be checking out how Kid Icarus: Uprising for the 3DS was developed. Hint hint, Masahiro Sakurai!
PART 2: Coming Friday 5th
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Follow me for updates! - / thomasgdocs
NOTE: Parts of this story may have been dramatised/expanded upon for narrative effect. This video is not a substitute for original research.
Sources:
- www.metroid-da...
- www.nintendowor...

[@ThomasGameDocs]

NOTE: Just in case it wasn't as clear as I'd like it to be - CRUNCH IS BAD. Developers shouldn't feel like they have to work all day and night to get a good final result. Ok? Ok!

[@themeeman]

Okay.

[@iProgramInCpp]

You shouldn't work on videos 14 hours a day either!

[@Iliek]

You cringy ass bitch.

[@zenmastakilla]

@@Iliek Angry white boy.

[@Core1138]

Crunch is evil

[@AaronDanarajF]

"Anyone can make games" THAT DOES NOT MEAN HE HAS TO MAKE THEM HIMSELF!

[@JG-kc3py]

…

[@LexiLunarpaw]

...

[@cat_agentreal]

…

[@zenithaeon2272]

...

[@abck613]

...

[@_pulstar]

So kid icarus is technically an indie game for the Nes

[@_pulstar]

Orbit Smith wut

[@evelynerogge610]

@Orbit Smith wat

[@sososoweeder]

@Orbit Smith english please

[@sososoweeder]

@Orbit Smith original joke but you spell it right.

[@harrylane4]

Tbh considering the size of dev teams back then every game was an indie game

[@grannyedna2862]

Thomas' refusal to say eggplant kills me

[@bland9876]

The word eggplant is like the word grapefruit nether have to to with the first part of there names eggplants aren't made out of egg and grapefruits aren't made out of grapes but eggplants are plants and grapefruit are fruit.

[@GrizzyLatrizzy]

Eggplants are called eggplants because they used to be white.

[@bland9876]

@@GrizzyLatrizzy when was that a thing?

[@GrizzyLatrizzy]

Google. I'm not explaining the history of eggplants on KZbin comments.

[@WoogaChan]

@Bloxter 452 aubergine (oh-berr-jean)

[@roguerafe3649]

Kid Icarus is awesome it really needs a new game.

[@kro2704]

Ya but we’ll probably get it in 2037

[@makaylabeatty5785]

Agreed

[@roguerafe3649]

@@kro2704 true.

[@CrimsonLiv]

Agreed

[@extragirth64]

Hopefully with not so much annoying dialogue next time. I actually liked the voice acting at first but after a while it got annoying.

[@wolfgangfrost8043]

I wasn't aware that the "taste of an RPG" was eggplant flavored.

[@MoeMoeJoeJoe]

Employer: "You'll be making this game!" Employee: "Yay!" Employer: "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, no one will be helping you." Employee: "wut?"

[@UncleBopEntertainment]

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST NINTENDO HISTORY CHANNELS EVER MADE. MAKE SURE THOMAS GETS 1 MILLION SUBS!

[@UncleBopEntertainment]

@@bland9876 i said ONE OF THE BEST!!!!

[@patchworkmirage]

If he doesnt get one million subs i will kill someone

[@happyfellowship4291]

So this is how the strange, beautiful phenomenon of Kid Icarus came to be.

[@makaylabeatty5785]

Yup, agree on your desocription of the game :)

[@makaylabeatty5785]

I love Kid Icarus to the point where I have an Uprising poster above my bed Also i live in the USA so.. he's called Eggplant Wizard here :)

[@LimeLoaf]

Yes I can prove this

[@FloatingSunfish]

So Kid Icarus was made by one guy, but then later some other guys too. There was apparently *_a lot_* of work to be done especially near the end. Quite a misleading title, in my opinion.

[@spartankongcountry6799]

Agreed

[@ericdodson3630]

it was created by one guy (He came up with the idea himself) a team later on assisted him on the code, but yes the title is accurate

[@jimilyarchive7984]

Ya dude, fucking bullshit ass. The video was fine, but don’t lie to your viewers

[@Earl_Black]

mostly by ONE guy

[@sheridanrathbun]

coming up with an idea is definitely not most of the work, clearly most of the work came at the end (this is pretty standard) and he had an entire team with him at this point.

[@stephenford5661]

I can't wait to the watch the next one. Uprising is one of my favorites. Pittoo is one of my favorite characters

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Haha yeah, he's pretty great!

[@makaylabeatty5785]

Pittoo is the best!

[@JesusJavier-MyAccount]

"Would you quit calling me that?!"

[@lordnul1708]

Dark Pit really doesn't like it when you call him that.

[@yartastic]

@@lordnul1708 but I'm gonna anyways because _YEET_

[@LucianoThePig]

Kid Icarus is a series that was dead, then was revived, and is now dead again

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Crossed fingers it'll come back at some point!

[@CronaTheAwper]

An uprising sequel would be nuts on the switch

[@Rosie_Cozy]

Isaac Tschampl yes and it would have a battle mod like uprising with the 2 joycon it would be after Ultimante

[@brandonwilliams6119]

All they need to do is put Uprising on the Switch with Refined Controls, Mechanics and perhaps add more content. The 3DS is already discontinued so there’s no reason why they should leave exclusives on it. I love Uprising like many people do and I’d gladly pay $60 for the Switch port.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@ThomasGameDocs I recommend Owl Boy, it's a lot like Kid Icarus.

[@TravenTalks]

Great video and all, but jaysus, development for this game sounds like it was a nightmare! It's really concerning how intense and demanding the work culture for this stuff can get sometimes.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Yeah, 100%. Thankfully, KI: Uprising's dev history was a lot smoother and a lot less nightmarish. But yeah, I can't imagine what it must've been like for Osawa and his team. Yeesh.

[@lordnul1708]

Yeah, it's no wonder the game caught Sakurai's eyes, Sakurai himself tended to have rather...unhealthy work habits from what many have heard, so a game of Kid Icarus' quality being made by one guy and dealing with that much would naturally get a lot of respect from him.

[@f4rr3r]

Been binge watching your videos over the last few days and now you’re on FOURTY THOUSAND SUBSCRIBERS WHAT CONGRATULATIONS MY DUDE

[@batfan1939]

84, 000 now.

[@liraman2000]

@@batfan1939 that was fast. suscribed

[@videogamethemetunes4116]

250k now

[@_jamescube]

I'm looking forward to the episode on Uprising. It's one of my favorite games, so I'm excited to learn more of how it came to be.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Not long to wait!

[@yvindnilsen94]

Wait?? Kid icarus is difficult?! I never had a problem with it.. The only thing that is kinda annoying are the eggplant wizzards

[@williamsmith4956]

I really enjoy your videos, they make me feel at home, relaxed. And I'm being informed! Thank you kind sir!

[@AdamYJ]

There’s probably a great number of people who know this game and character primarily from Captain N: The Game Master.

[@Lukz243]

So what I've learned from here is 1- I should attempt to make a game by myself for the first time and 2- I should think bonus as eggplant stick?

[@lordpsi99]

My only issue with the video is absolutely no mention of Super Smash Bros Brawl.

[@makaylabeatty5785]

Pfft that was later

[@kilobytes4537]

Vertical, platforming *bullet hell*

[@Rosie_Cozy]

I wonder if the beta version even gets leaked how bad it would be from 1 person

[@RickWhitechest]

Oh boy, Kid Icarus! My only experience with this game has been the 3D Classics version on 3DS! And...it's no lie that it's a hard game! I've had it for many years and I have yet to go beyond the first level! I don't know when or if I'll ever manage to finish it, but I can admit it's a very well made game!

[@sandwich_bubbles47]

I’m curious, what made it so hard for you? I have it on my Wii U and I got through it pretty quickly! seeing how everyone else says it’s really hard, and I’m usually pretty bad at 2D platformers, I feel like my version was different

[@RickWhitechest]

@@sandwich_bubbles47 I gotta say, maybe I was too obsessive on trying to defeat all enemies before moving on. And because they just keep on coming, there's a lot of chances for me to lose HP.

[@swadloom40]

I am a simple woman. I see KI, I click.

[@makaylabeatty5785]

Same :D

[@swadloom40]

@Lemon Meringue Never seen it, but I'll tell you when I watch through it! :)

[@makaylabeatty5785]

@Lemon Meringue that's a good one too

[@brandonwilliams6119]

A Woman of Culture!

[@jantheking7028]

@@swadloom40 9 months later, did you ever watch it?

[@MUMSUniverse]

The local video store had a rental section of video games & I would rent this on some weekends in the hopes of beating it. Long hours but always fun & I have great memoirs of my friends & I trying to beat this game. ✅🎮

[@katelyncheng9545]

What a great way to start my morning with some calming video game history :')

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Haha, thanks!

[@MicaelHD]

So.... Sakurai has nothing to do with the first and second Kid Icarus bois? Then, his only son is Kirby (Which he left alone in the world of evil) and Pit is adopted?

[@lordpsi99]

I'm willing to bet that out of everyone that has played the original at least once, only one percent have beaten the first level on their own without cheating devices or savestates.

[@donuts7607]

I beat the first level but only the fist level

[@wallievis1]

Ive beaten the game, but only like 20 years after the first time playing it, and i needed a map for the 3th castle that i found online (what i dont considder cheating)

[@joetroutt7425]

I beat the whole game with no help. Of course that was back when there was no help that I knew of so it was just fail and repeat till it was beat.

[@GrizzyLatrizzy]

I beat the first level once, 30 years ago. All other attempts have failed. I used passwords to play other levels. Failed. The Switch lets you skip to the final level...beat that.

[@retinas2001]

Wait, you even use JAR media music as well as their intro.

[@carlafulton3578]

This video is taking longer to load than a game I was downloading on my switch

[@fade2535]

So that’s why Sakurai put pit, dark pit, and palutina in smash... STILL DOSENT EXPLAIN THE FIRE EMBLOS THO

[@_sparrowhawk]

Fucking props to this guy - his insane work had a huge imprint on my childhood :)))

[@maxpower001]

I've had the kid Icarus mußic stuck in my head since 88

[@DanielMonteiroNit]

Someone needs a new "source code" animation... ;P

[@luminous6969]

Maybe the game is so hard cos he got so good at it from playtesting it. Happens all the time with Super Mario Maker 2 levels. You don't truly know how hard a level is until you have someone ELSE play it.

[@kmcamesome3799]

Having only played the 3D Classic version of Kid Icarus...It was fun.....If not BRUTAL!

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Haha yeah, I played a bit of it on the Switch online thingy and oh wow it is SO difficult! I think I got up to like stage 3???

[@kmcamesome3799]

@@ThomasGameDocs I (somehow) passed the game...One of the hardest games i ever played and passed(Super Mario Bros. Lost Levels, i'm looking at you!)

[@idkwhattomakethename307]

boi he got nothing I can disappoint everyone who sees me without even doing anything

[@kamikaze6772]

This guy has gained an insane amount of subs in a few days congratulations dude! You deserve millions of subs

[@swanofnutella4734]

"Extreme difficulty"???? I'm so confused. I generally sucked at video games back then. Kid Icarus was a rare game I actually could complete.

[@eduardopipinel]

No wonder there were so many broken and glitched games back then. It seems that they didn't tested the games a lot, so that some games came out unfairly hard. Nevertheless, those developing teams were amazing.

[@cheechunlimited]

He didn't make it himself, he had a development team..

[@ethangordonwilliam3609]

How does he not have like at least 500 k subs

[@ralphg2771]

My first game besides mario (it came with my system). Back in the 80s when I received it, this game was HARD. I couldn't get past stage 1-2 (I kid you not). An older kid convinced me to go to his house because he said he could beat it. (It was the 80s, quite normal to go into kids homes you didn't really know). He beat the game and after that I basically would mimic what he did and I was able to beat the game. Even today, so many years later, I can still beat the game while my kids find it too hard!!!

[@Ritacuore3]

2:48 "Serious Greek-style" *Proceeds to show an image of the "Colosseum" at Rome, Emblem of the imperial roman age* Jokes aside, great video!

[@Dwedit]

Really? Linux Kernel source code scrolling by when talking about programming the game?

[@maniram5089]

Thank goodness Nintendo has changed and stopped crunching their employees, I feel bad for him having to work on it absolutely alone

[@charmeleonevolves5553]

UH aCTUaLLy he wAS maDE By 2 PEOple His Mom aND hIS Dad

[@shironeko8971]

actually, the creator needed an entire team to finish it, else, he would never have finished in time now give me my virgin point

[@apastlongforgotten7378]

3:10 I swear I heard boner season and thought “my god what is he doing?”

[@xxalex423xx]

wow truly impressive especially that he did that with such primitive equipement reminds me of iron man building that suit in a cave except even he had help

[@ameliaisveryweird8302]

People: Kid Icarus Culture People: Caddicarus

[@santiagocarrillo9661]

I'm so excited for the Uprising video! I'm a huge fan. I have literally every single US/Australia AR cards (AKDE). There were over 400 cards released. A handful of them were never produced so, I made physical working replicas of the unreleased cards. Let me know if you need any assets for your video. I feel that the AR features were so innovative. I have some knowledge about UK and Japan cards as well. I hope you give AR some love in your next video.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Ah, I'm really sorry but I've already finished the video and I didn't mention the cards :( I wish I'd seen your comment sooner, as that sounds incredibly interesting! Also can I just say, producing replicas of the cards is absolutely astounding to me! I wish I had that level of engineering ingenuity. Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't mentioned those AR features, but hopefully the rest of the video is still interesting!

[@hdofu]

Eggplant Wizard along with Kid Icarus both ended up as characters in Captain N, along with Mother Brain from Metroid who was Eggplant Wizards boss, seems sort of Fascinating in the fictional video game universe those characters were connected when their series had such a close history as well

[@Albortomagico]

Touhou fans: "First time?"

[@ryans6442]

Your videos are always so relaxing

[@ThomasGameDocs]

I'm glad to hear it!

[@BurnRoddy]

At least he got paid. I played fan made 16 bit remake Super Kid Icarus and its quite good.

[@masterspark9880]

2:46 ‘Greek-style’ *shows the Colosseum*

[@RedVGFox]

And this doesn't surprise me at all.

[@yperokeanios]

wtf is colosseum doing there 2:51

[@光の女神パルテナ-n2x]

*_Too bad for you~_* 💚

[@ChubbyTibo]

No piano ending? :(

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Haha, don't worry, there's one at the end of the Uprising video! I didn't think it would flow well with the ending of this video

[@ChubbyTibo]

@@ThomasGameDocs Haha, it's ok, i'm just used to hear ''Hey there'' at the end of your videos ;)

[@ThomasGameDocs]

It does feel like a part of me is missing, haha

[@user-vz1gn]

This game is soooo underrated

[@StrangeDad]

Great work! Looking forward to part 2. :)))

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thanks!

[@redstonecommander5190]

4:25 I feel pretty sorry about Tanaka. He would be very embarrassed. Every time he walked through the door every morning listen and all the people are wearing funny glasses with no spa glasses, saying hey, it’s Tanaka and added the Sno city game………I would neverinsult you like that Tanaka….. I’m sorry

[@yugenstudio]

5:52 Not to be pedantic, but it's "Satou's Kirimochi". While 砂糖 (satou) means "sugar", the origin of サトウ (also satou) in the name of the product is in 佐藤食品工業 (Satou Food Factory) that takes its name from founder's surname.

[@RodrigoDavy]

I think the mixed review are kinda deserved, I tried playing it many times and it's by no means bad, but it's too hard, confusing and not that fun The original Metroid was also unreasonably hard and I don't think it aged as gracefully as people would care to admit, but you can see a solid gameplay idea that the NES just couldn't execute well at the time I don't think Kid Icarus has anything really unique other than the theme and aesthetics

[@liraman2000]

what about gunpei yokoi?

[@PumpkinPunkleton]

question why is Pits name is Pit????

[@wenddelweiss1827]

Is a japanese reference. In the japanese cupid is some like "kyupitto". So, that's it.

[@cdizzytv3753]

Unmmmmmm, Doesn't this SHIT say Kid Icurus was created by ONLY one guy...? C'mon bro...

[@tracyndiyob162]

happy 34th anniversary kid icarus!!!(love pit and palutena so much,they're my favorite nintendo characters along with kirby & luigi/princess daisy that i'm always happy to see more of.:3)

[@luijo633]

I've played it, THIS GAME IS HARD, and i love it, if you are a hardcore gamer, and haven't try it, i recomend it

[@aaroncarsonart]

2:11 As a developer, I find it endearing that Thomas uses the same bit of C code animated scrolling across the screen in every one of his videos where he wants an animation of code. I mean sure he could vary it up for those of us who will notice, but honestly it's not really that big of a deal. So anyways I got curious what this group_info struct was all about, so I searched the first line and found it to be nearly identical to this (10 year old) file from the Linux kernel source: github.com/atomic-penguin/linux/blob/master/kernel/groups.c Note that an important initialization line is missing from the code displayed in the video. And, after a cursory overview of header files referenced by the source file, I was as of yet unable to find the declaration of group_info without digging for longer than I'd care to. :-( I'd be curious to hear from Thomas about why he ended up selecting this specific code sample.

[@caiolopezcomz]

Love your channel. Let me suggest the use of a high-pass filter for the voice track. I have a feeling that your narration sounds a bit muffled.

[@jendorei]

That code you use to illustrate programming is bothering me. I’m not sure what language it is (Java?), but it is most definitely not one that NES developers used.

[@tarasybnios5356]

That working conditions are sad! Nintendo and every other corporate company should be boycotted just for these reasons alone. But who would boycott kids that don't care about humanity just video games and having fun or adults that are so egoistic and ignorant wanting to just play a game? Simply disgusting all the information about turning off electricity, deadlines, sleeping in card boxes working on his own and above all the expectations from Nintendo!

[@brianlandsberger]

Linux kernel code... nice

[@tracyndiyob162]

happy 35th anniversary kid icarus!!!(& happy 610 birthday bayonetta.:3)

[@sandwich_bubbles47]

Unless there’s big differences between the original version, and the Wii U port, then those critics must have been really bad at video games because it really wasn’t that hard (I didn’t use save points FYI) yea, each level took a lot of trial and error, but it didn’t hinder the experience at all, it was super fun from start to finish!! I actually wish it had a hard mode, cause honestly I can kinda just rush through it now

[@NonisLuck]

Excelent work as always, my boy. An interesting story with grade A editing. Cheers!

[@gothnerd887]

2:44 if it had been based on unabridged Greek mythology the true villain of the game would be the player character's own hubris.

[@OppressedApe]

Loved this game. Obligatory Screw The Eggplant Guys !

[@johnlewisbrooks]

The Eggplant Wizard is one of the most HATED and FORMIDABLE enemies ever!

[@bland9876]

Ive only played the 3ds 3d classics version with the better controls so idk how much better they are (and i know you can change then back just never did)

[@alyiapritchett6546]

I thought the whole time Icarus was pronounced Larcus. I have never felt so stupid in my entire life...

[@Halbared]

The Aubergine story is interesting. The specknose thing, I suppose Personnel was more lax back then. 🙂

[@valmontdraconus]

The gameboy sequel was one of my first Gameboy games. I remember the eggplant wizard was a pain, but i did manage to beat it

[@zenithaeon2272]

YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE 500K SUBSCRIBERS YOU SHOULD HAVE A MILLION!!!

[@cecilnewbold1221]

When I think I heard it al about gaming you hit me with news I didn’t know about on this just like you did your cup head video I’m like oh I know the story and out of nowhere I’m like oh ish I never knew this about the brothers

[@anonymousguywhoknowseverything]

Dude got married, went to his moms funeral, got divorced, and had kids during the process of icarus

[@joetroutt7425]

I had kid Icarus when I was a kid and I beat it. It was hard but then again all the games back then were hard. The game is very valuable now. I wished I would have kept it.

[@GrizzyLatrizzy]

I first played this in 1988. I last played it this year. I haven't beaten stage 1 since 1988.

[@Char-Wilkie]

Have the game boy version and I’m it is hard but I love how fun and challenging it is

[@tolvfen]

It is a fantasy, to think that someone else would give themselves time to discuss ideas,,, today it is impossible to be more than one person at creating anything at all,,, ?

[@kl_playz65]

Nintendo in 80s: Anyone can make games! Nintendo in 2010s: nO iNdiE gAmEs

[@YOUCANTDOTHATONTELEVISION]

I had a copy of this game and did not manage to get very far. It was pretty difficult but found it entertaining

[@gyrozeppeli3715]

Well it really wasn't,only for half most of it, the Metroid team helped for the rest of development

[@anawesomedude4358]

Does anyone ever get Shigeru Miyamato and Masahiro Sakurai confused?

[@dandansfu]

Anyone can make games -- sounds like typical corporate manager bs lol

[@Mindblazter80]

Kid Icarus is one of the best Nes game ever.

[@benjaminholm3374]

best nes game