Topic: 2007/04: Super Kid Icarus (Super NES) - JonLeung

[JonLeung]

Super Kid Icarus
For this month's "Maps of the Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to JonLeung's Super Kid Icarus (Super NES) maps.



More of a remake than an actual sequel, Pit is (once again) up against the forces of Medusa.  Medusa has taken over the Palace in the Sky, with Palutena as her prisoner.  Pit must use his trusty bow and magical arrows to reclaim the Three Sacred Treasures which will enable him to match Medusa's power and possibly save Angel Land.



Much like the original game, this is one of the most challenging games ever released by Nintendo.  Difficult climbs, long treks, and maze-like dungeons have defeated many.  The maps here will increase the chance of survival for anyone who attempts to take down Medusa, whether in an elaborate maze or even the straightforward but deadly climbs.  Don't be foolish - use these maps to your advantage!



So to recognize the effort put into making these handy maps, JonLeung's Super Kid Icarus maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps of the Month for April 2007.

[Grizzly]

This is a very great remake of a very addicting game. Too bad that it never made its way to Europe, but I read about it in old magazines and am very glad that maps for it finally are available.

[Zeric]

Maybe this game will finally reach Europe now with the virtual console on the Wii. Wonder how many points it is gonna cost. Well we can always hope.

[Captain Drake]

Yay for Super Kid Icarus.

[RT 55J]

I've never really liked Kid Icarus. It's one of the worst examples of a reverse difficulty curve ever. I find it hard to believe you even got past the first level.

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[snesmaster]

Kid Icarus is definitely one of the all time NES classics.  I know this game was never released in the US for the SNES.  Did it come out in some other country, or is this a hack someone put together?  Is this game playable?  Are there any monsters, or can you only scroll to see what the levels look like?

[RT 55J]

I think this game came out for the BS-X satalitview thingy in Japan. I think JonLueng just gave it a snazzy Americanized title to garner more attention. I might be wrong.

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[ReyVGM]

Damn it Jon, you almost had me with those Super Kid icarus maps

 

I was just about to email you saying you've been had with those maps because SKI doesn't exist and then I remembered it's april 1st!

[TerraEsperZ]

At first they looked somewhat authentic despite me knowing about the gag. And then I started recognizing the backgrounds more and more as I went through them Good work JonLeung.



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[JonLeung]

Thanks, Terra!



How many of you guys who posted above were actually fooled, or were you playing along?    Some of you I know for sure were, thanks for that.



And to think, it took me every day (from the day we decided to postpone the other project) up to March 31 to make it.  I was working on Medusa herself that morning.  (Good thing Terra didn't drop out any later!    It's all good, I think it turned out pretty well despite being rushed, and it would've been better than rushing the one we were working on.)



I'm still considering some kind of more detailed Projects page with the further details of the techniques used and extended credits.  Because I couldn't have made these without Bergles's and Rick Bruns's maps, and of course, Revned's lovely tile slicer/splicer program which did most of the work.  Because of the nature of the tiles and the look I wanted to achieve, there was still a lot of manual tweaking-type work on my part, which is why it took the whole month to put together.



I'm at work, but when I get home maybe I'll upload and show you some of the interesting work files...like how a rejected Medusa looked like, a superfied Pit himself, and how the title was created (though I think some of you have an idea).



I was going to spend the time making a sort of game of identifying tiles and backgrounds, but I couldn't figure out how to set that up in time.  And some people already recognized some backgrounds (I edited Captain Drake's post, heh...I wanted the joke to last a little longer...)



So, just for the fun of it (no prizes, sorry), you might want to see how many tiles and backgrounds you can identify.  Sure, some were modified, but I believe some of the tiles and backgrounds are fairly recognizeable.  The majority of them come from Super NES and GBA games, though some came from Genesis games and I think there were some TurboGrafx 16 ones in there too.  (Oh, I think there were a couple from the Neo-Geo, as well.)  Of course, considering the size of the Super NES and GBA sections, that may not be so easy...

[Captain Drake]

1-1: Bushes are from Secret of Mana, I think?

1-2: Background is from Super Mario All-Stars (SMB2), icy platforms from Super Adventure Island II.

1-3: Background is from Super Adventure Island II, as are the roots nearer to the top. Small orange blocks are from Mario vs. Donkey Kong (I think).

1-4: Background is from SMA (SMB2), as are the bricks. Checkered floor is from SMA (SMB3). Statues from A Link to the Past



2-1: The plants are from SMA (SMB2) again, I think.

2-2: Background from Super Adventure Island II, snowy platforms from SMA (SMB2).

2-3: Can't identify anything here, sorry.

2-4: Background from Super Adventure Island II, ice blocks from SMA (SMB3).



3-1: Background from Super Metroid.

3-2: Gray platformers higher up are from Super Mario World.

3-3: Can't identify anything new here either.

3-4: Brown platforms from Super Mario World, I'm pretty sure.



4: Pillars with orbs are from ActRaiser.



That's all I know.

[RT 55J]

4: Background is from Chrono Trigger.

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[JonLeung]

Oops!  I didn't get around to posting the stuff I mentioned.



The bushes are not from Secret Of Mana.  They're from a Super NES game by Natsume that has way too many sequels.  Those tree-ish things that are topped off with them, their viny trunks are from a map here on the site that happens to be an animated .GIF.



There are a few things NOT from maps that are currently available on the site, which makes things lots harder.  One of the backgrounds is from a PlayStation game, but that is kind of on the site...just in the forums, anyway.  Like THAT doesn't give it away...  >_>



I guess this April Fool's joke doesn't stick on the Wikipedia article about April Fool's because they say not to add pranks by people/groups that do not have a Wikipedia article.  Anyone want to start a Wikipedia article about VGMaps.com?  >_>  (EDIT: Well, I submitted one, but as an unregistered user, so it might be a while before it gets approved (if it does) and then put up.  I feel like it might sound a little self-promotional, though...  >_<)

[JonLeung]

Ouch.  A couple people didn't like this one.  Can't win them all, I guess.

[RT 55J]

Like I said earlier in the thread, "I never really liked Kid Icarus."

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