_____________ __ _______ / / _____ / / __ __ ____ / /____ /_/ / / ____ / ___/ __ ___ / / __/ / / / / __ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ _ /_/ /_____/ ____ / _/ ~ ~~~Angel land story~~~ ~ / / __ / / ____ ___ / /_ __ __ _____ / / / __/ / | / __/ / / / / / ___/ _/ /_ / /_ / / _ / / / /_/ / /__ / /____/ /___/ /___/_/ /_/ /_____/ /____/ ~ A Complete FAQ/guide by Daniel Remar ~ Last updated: Feb 11 2003 This FAQ is now complete. That is, I think I've documented everything of value in the game, except for the password system. At the time of writing this, Jean-Luc, who I've been helping crack it, is writing up his password generator/ decryption/completer program, so if you want to know more about the password system, wait for his FAQ and program(s). Please read the FAQ thoroughly, and contact me if you find a mistake or have a suggestion - I still update it if there's a need to. Make sure to check if what you think is missing isn't already there before mailing me. =============================== ][ ~ Table of contents ~ ][ =============================== 1. Introduction 2. Stages 3. Leveling, HP and Strength 4. Weapons 5. Special items 6. Hearts and shopping 7. The Holy chambers 8. The endings and how to get them 9. Enemy list 10. In-depth enemy descriptions 11. Fortress maps 12. Strategies 13. Miscellaneous fun (debugging, glitches, passwords etc) 14. Copyright, contact, thoughts on the game, other FAQs 15. Epilogue and thanks ============================================================== ][ 1. Introduction ][ ============================================================== ~ Yes, I like the tilde key ~ Hello, and welcome to my third and biggest FAQ! You'll notice that the line width, 62, is slightly smaller than my other FAQs at 78; it gets easier to read. Kid Icarus (1986) has always been one of my favourite games throughout the years, and considerng myself a hardcore Kid Icarus player, I thought it was about time to write this. My goal with this FAQ is to cover everything there is to know about the game, even including the enemy stats, the requirements for getting strength upgrades, bargaining successfully and the requirements for getting the five endings. Either if you're new to the game or an experienced player, I hope this document will help you out, whether you want to complete it for the first time or gain further knowledge about this old-school classic. Let's begin with the story (freely after the instruction booklet): Long ago, in an age where gods and humans lived in harmony, there was a kingdom callad Angel Land. It was ruled by Palutena, who administered the light, and Medusa, ruler of darkness. Palutena lived in the Palace in the Sky, and with her light, the humans could grow food and live in happiness. Medusa, however, hated mankind. She dried up the crops, and turned people into stone statues. Enraged, Palutena turned Medusa into a horrible monster, and banished her to the Underworld. Medusa vowed to come back and take over the Palace in the Sky. In her struggle to do so, she joined the monsters and evil spirits of the Underworld. In time, Medusa's army became greater than Palutena's. A war began, and in the end, Medusa was victorious. But she wasn't satisfied. She took the three Sacred Treasures - the Mirror Shield, the Arrow of Light, and the Wings of Pegasus - and gave them to her most powerful underlings. She turned almost every one of Palutena's warriors into stone, and locked up the goddess herself in the depths of the Palace in the Sky. Angel Land became a dark realm of monsters, ruled by the wicked Medusa. Palutena's last stand was to seek the help of the young angel Pit, who'd been imprisoned in the Underworld. With her last bit of magical strength, she sent Pit a bow and arrow. Pit set out on a quest to get the three treasures, defeat Medusa, rescue Palutena and bring the peace to Angel Land. ============================================================== ][ 2. Stages ][ ============================================================== Kid Icarus is divided into 4 stages. The first three are divided into 4 sections: 3 normal ones, and a fortress. The fourth stage only consists of one section. Like so: |_|_|_| ________ | |_______________| | ~ANGEL LAND~ | 3-4 | 4-1 Medusa | |_____|________________________| | | 4.The Palace in the Sky |3-3| |___| | | Fortress |3-2| 3.SKYWORLD | |___| | | | | |3-1| V |___| |_|_|_| |_|_|_| | |___________| | | 1-4 |2-1|2-2|2-3| 2-4 | |_____|___|___|___|_____| | | 2.OVERWORLD |1-3| |___| | | (This image can be found in |1-2| the instruction booklet) |___| 1.UNDERWORLD | | |1-1| <-- normal sections |___| Between each section there's a checkpoint. When you pass it, your XP will be added to the total XP (which in turn determines your level, see "3. Leveling, HP and Strength"). Also, if you die, you will restart from the last checkpoint you passed, with all the items you had when you first passed it, but with your HP at 15. Stage 1 - the Underworld The easiest of all the stages. Just make sure you reach a high level as soon as possible. See "12. Strategies" for some tips that'll surely help you. It's got a few difficult platform jumping bits, so buy some feathers to help you out. When you exit this stage, you should have gotten 1 Strength upgrade. You should also have reached level 5. Stage 2 - the Overworld Notably more difficult than Stage 1, it contains an encounter with Pluton, and some tricky jumping because of the ice. You should have _at_least_ two feathers here. Note that if you duck while on the ice, you'll pass through it, so be careful. This does not apply to the moving platforms. When you exit this stage, you should have gotten 2 more Strength upgrades. IMPORTANT: Make sure you have between 858 and 20 hearts when entering section 2-2, or you CANNOT get that upgrade! See "3. Leveling, HP and Strength" below for more information. Stage 3 - Skyworld A beautiful cloudy stage, with the only real threat being falling of the clouds. If you duck while on the clouds, you'll fall through them. You'll also meet the Pluton fly, but it's pretty easy to avoid. Gather lots of hearts to fill your barrel with 8 bottles if you haven't already. There's a store just outside the boss room in the fortress here, so buy some glasses with the water of life if you need it. At the end of 3-1, you'll get your final Strength upgrade. See "The room of death" under "12. Strategies" for some help on that tricky Eggplant wizard room in the fortress. Stage 4 - the Palace in the Sky This final stage is just one long side-scrolling shooter, with Medusa waiting at the end. Keep an eye out for enemies, and you should do fine. Note that you can't fall of the bottom of the screen; you'll bounce back up again. Something that makes this stage more difficult is that you have to defeat at least 50 enemies before reaching the end, or the whole stage will loop back to the start. The higher your Strength, the easier it will be to defeat that many enemies. Just keep shooting, but remember that shooting the scattering pieces of Erinus doesn't count. Don't worry about confronting Medusa, she's possibly the easiest boss in the game. For a trick on how to beat her with ease, check the In-depth enemy descriptions. Note: if you press up and left or right, you'll fly slightly off the edge of screen. Pretty useless, but still. ============================================================== ][ 3. Leveling, HP and Strength ][ ============================================================== ~ LEVELING ~ In Kid Icarus, there are five "levels", reached by earning Experience points (called "Score" in the game). Each time you defeat an enemy, you'll get an amount of XP. At the end of each stage section, the XP you earned will be added to the total. Total XP required for reaching levels: LV 2: 20'000 LV 3: 50'000 LV 4: 100'000 LV 5: 200'000 For every level gained, reaching the next one will require more XP than before, just like most RPGs. ~ HP ~ But what does this do? Well, for every new level, a red block of health (HP) will be added to your Endurance. Each block contains 8 HP with the exception of the left- most block, which contains just 7. Be aware of this! When you get hit by an enemy, your HP decreases. (Simple eh?) With barrels and bottles, your maximum HP increases (see "5. Special items"). So, you'd better gain levels as fast as possible to survive, as you've already figured. Check out "12. Strategies" for some useful advice on fast leveling. ~ STRENGTH ~ The arrows on the pause screen show your Strength. The amount of arrows determine the amount of damage dealt to enemies per shot. If you have, say, a strength of 3, and shoot at a Keron, which has 3 HP, it'll be destroyed in one shot. The arrow upgrades are: Bronze arrows, silver arrows, gold arrows and sacred arrows. The maximum strength is 5. IMPORTANT: Make sure you have between 858 and 20 hearts when entering section 2-2, or you CANNOT get that upgrade (see below). How to get the Strength upgrades! A huge thanks to Disch Wersher (via e-mail), for hacking the ROM and finding that what actually determines if you get a strength upgrade or not, is a hidden stat which keeps track of your "skill", as Disch calls it. I did some ROM checking myself after I got his letter, and added a few things to his explanation. (If you're interested the stat is two-byte and has the adresses 0134 and 0135. 0135 gains one "point" whenever 0134 eclipses 255.) Here's what Disch said, with my comments in brackets: "There's another stat seperate from your XP (or score) that the game records internally. The game doesn't show you the reading of this stat, but it's there. For reference, I'll refer to this hidden stat as 'skill', because in a way, that's what it represents. The only requirement to get a Strength upgrade is to get your Skill at or above 10000. Your skill resets to 0 at the beginning of each level. [This always applies, but there seems to be a bug that doesn't let the game reset the skill sometimes, when you restart the game after killing Medusa.] Killing enemies raises your Skill the same amount as it raises your XP (so 100 pts for 1 heart enemies, 300 for 5 heart, and 500 for 10 heart enemies). Since killing enemies in chambers (training room, nose-monster things --don't know the name--) [Specknose] doesn't reward any XP, it doesn't reward any skill either. Also, getting hearts (in OR outside of chambers) raises skill: 1 heart = 100 pts 5 heart = 300 pts 10 heart = 500 pts so even the mouse things [Eeleyes?] that don't give you XP can still give you Skill if you collect their hearts after they're dead. NOTE: This is not tested, but I think that you only are awarded the skill if you can take the Heart. So if you are at 999 Hearts, getting more hearts will not raise your skill. I haven't tested this though. [I checked it, and you don't get skill if you take a heart when you have 999 hearts.] Entering chambers also gives you 300 skill. So even if you walk in a room then immideately out, you gain 300 skill points. This is kind of weird, because technically, you need 10000 skill points for a strength increase, but since you enter a room to get the strength increase, you only need 9700 (because 300 is awarded as you enter) Treasure rooms also award Skill. How they award skill I'm not entirely sure. I haven't thoroughly tested it. I'm assuming there's no special treatment inside treasure rooms... so if you shoot every pot successfully, get the treasures and leave, you'll end up with 2220 Skill: 4 large hearts = 2000 Skill entering room = 300 Skill 8 arrows shot = -80 Skill (see below) Like I said... I haven't tested this... so this is just theory. [You aren't correct here... you get 100 skill for picking up a mallet, but what's more, you loose 500 skill for every pitcher you shoot. So, the total would be -1480 Skill: entering room = 300 Skill 3 mallets = 300 Skill 4 large hearts = 2000 Skill 8 arrows shot = -80 Skill 8 pitchers broken = -4000 Skill However, at the start of section 2-2 you start out with 0 skill, so you actually gain 2300 skill there. Then, you get a maximum of 8440 in the next two enemy nests, so with a maximum total of 10740 skill, there's not much room for error when getting that upgrade.] Also, Skill can be lost 2 ways: - shooting arrows (lose 10 Skill for each arrow) - getting hurt (lose 300 Skill) Your skill can't drop below 0, so if you're skill is at 0 and you shoot an arrow or get hurt, there's no Skill penalty." So that's that! Like I suspected, it's based on your success in the current section, but I didn't know it was this deep. Many great thanks to Disch Wersher for this information!:) Now I guess my earlier "mini-guide" to get the upgrades is redundant, but I'll still help you out a little: Section 1-2 A pretty long section, so just kill enemies and you'll get the upgrade. Section 2-1 Often stop and kill the Rokmans and Kerons until they run out to gather the most amount of XP and hearts. There are two places to get the second upgrade. If you missed the first you can visit the other. I've never missed this one, so it isn't hard to get. Section 2-2 IMPORTANT: Make sure you have between 858 and 20 hearts when entering this section, or you CANNOT get the upgrade. If you have 858 or 20 hearts, you have to perform almost flawlessly in the chambers ahead, but it's still possible. This is because you don't get skill for collecting hearts when you already have 999, and you need 5 hearts to break a pitcher in the treasure chamber. Collect as many hearts as possible and take as few hits as possible in the enemy nests, grab all the treasure in the treasure chamber, using the trick mentioned in "7. The Holy chambers". The upgrade is in the fourth chamber, but if you fail, jump into the water and try again. Don't worry, any spent feathers will return when the section restarts. You'll start with only 15 HP though, but for the strength upgrade, it's worth it. Section 3-1 Pretty simple. Just slay some Holers until you've got at least 10'000 XP and the final upgrade is definatively yours. There, piece of cake; all strength upgrades the first time through the game. Note: The very first room in the game is always empty. This is because it's a strength upgrade room! No matter how hard you try though, you can't gain 10000 skill before entering it (unless you change the values in-game with an emulator, like setting the adress 0135 to at least 40). The enemies only spawn a set number of times until you scroll the screen further up. Update: Jean-Luc Romano informed me that sometimes, you do get the upgrade after finishing the game and coming back to stage 1-1. My guess is that this is because of a glitch, since the skill is reset both at the exact point where your score has been added to your total score when you finish a stage, and when you enter Palutena's chamber after defeating Medusa. ============================================================== ][ 4. Weapons ][ ============================================================== These are the three objects that appear on the pause screen, under "weapons". They're gained by completing the training chamber (see "7. The Holy chambers"), and are invaluable if you want to complete the game. The weapons are: Shield, Sacred bow, and Fire arrows. Each time you complete a training chamber, you can pick one of your choice and add it to your arsenal. However, the first weapon picked requires a HP of 15 to be activated. The other two require 8 more respectively. After they've been activated, they will remain so for the rest of the game. But! The weapons can't be used in fortresses, because of the strength of the enemy magic (or something like that), making you much weaker. Here's a rundown: Shield (Protective crystal) I like to call it "shield" for simplicity. Two protective crystals will revolve around Pit, doing damage to enemies equal to your Strength. Just don't think of it as your primary weapon; weak enemies can still slip past it. The first weapon you should get, in my opinion. Sacred bow Makes your arrows travel further and faster, attacking enemies from a whole screen away. The second weapon to pick. Take care not to shoot enemies so their hearts will be hard to reach. Fire arrows A fireball will rotate around every arrow fired, dealing damage equal to your strength. If the fireball hits an enemy, the arrow will continue in its path. If the arrow hits the enemy first, though, the fireball will disappear. A really devastating weapon against groups of enemies, if your Strength is high enough. ============================================================== ][ 5. Special items ][ ============================================================== These are items you can collect or buy in stores. Small heart Left behind by defeated enemies. It's worth 1 heart. This is the currency used in Kid Icarus. Half heart A big heart broken in half. It's worth 5 hearts. Big heart Worth 10 hearts. Harp Found only in the normal sections, it will turn all the enemies into mallets for a limited period of time. In stage 2, you'll find a harp next to a Shemums' jar. Take the harp, then jump at the jar to grab a lot of mallets. Mallet Used in the fortresses. Select it with the select button, then press the B button to smash statues or enemies (deals 5 HP damage). When you destroy a statue, a Centurian will come out. These are Palutenas' soldiers who were turned into stone by Medusa. When you fight the boss of the fortress, the Centurians you've rescued will join the fight in groups of three. Their arrows have a strength of 5, but they're easily swatted like flies by the bosses. If you have a lot of them, (and I mean a lot, not just five or six) you'll slay the bosses. Note that the Centurains you've freed in one fortress won't follow you to the next. Credit card Credit cards? In the ancient Greece? Anyway, this rare item can only be obtained by completing the treasure chamber (see "7. The Holy chambers"). It lets you shop on credit at the black marketeers, and it works like this: If you cannot afford an item, it's cost will be saved on the credit card. You'll notice that you have 0 Hearts. When you collect hearts, you'll pay back the cost of the item you bought. Not until you've payed it all back will you be able to collect hearts like normal again. You can only buy one item at a time with this. Note: when you use passwords like DANGER !!!!!! TERROR HORROR, it'll appear as if you cannot gather hearts at all. This is because the debt on the credit card is 999, and you'll have to pay it all back first. Angel's feather If you have this in your inventory when you fall down the bottom of the screen in the normal sections, you'll start flying. Press the A button to fly higher. Each time you fall down, a feather will be spent. A real life-saver, you'd better buy them as soon as you can. Note: If you press up and A as the feather runs out, you will get a speed boost upwards. Water of life (glass) A glass containing the water of life. It'll recover 7 HP. Note: If you see one of these on screen, and you enter a door and come out again, the glass will be gone, so always collect it as soon as you see it. Water of life (bottle) When your HP reaches zero, this item will take effect and recover 7 HP. Barrel With this, you can store 8 bottles, pushing your maximum HP to an incredible 95! You can only own 1 barrel though. Map Found in the fortresses. It'll appear on the pause screen. Torch Bought in the fortress stores. With it, you can see your position on the map. Pretty useless. It's magical glow runs out when you leave the fortress. Pencil Also bought in the fortress stores. With this, all the rooms you have visited will turn green on your map. Like the torch, it's useless since you can draw your own maps (or watch the ones in this FAQ). The magic of the pencil runs out when you leave the fortress. (Huh? I thought pencils worked without magic... maybe they didn't have any pencil sharpeners. Uh... yeah.) ============================================================== ][ 6. Hearts and shopping ][ ============================================================== The currency in Angel land is Hearts. You can have up too 999 of 'em, and the goods in the stores is very expensive, so gather a lot. Hearts are earned by defeating enemies. There are three kinds of places to spend the cash: Stores, fortress stores and the black market. Here's a list of what they sell: ~ STORE ~ Either: Bottle Mallet Feather 350 20 390 Or: Glass Bottle Feather 210 350 390 Or: Glass Mallet Feather 210 20 390 If you buy an item, new goods will soon appear, so you can buy as much as you want. ~ FORTRESS STORE ~ Either: Pencil Glass Torch 180 210 120 Or: Glass Mallet Bottle 210 20 350 If you press A+B on controller two at the stores, the owner will either raise or lower the prices, depending on your Strength. To bargain succesfully, your Strength must be one level above the number of the stage, which means that in stage 2, you must have a strength of 3 to bargain. So, this is not dependant on luck, xp or anything else. If he lowers them, he says "I guess I can't win!". The new prices will be: Glass Bottle Mallet Feather Pencil Torch 100 270 10 150 180 120 However, if he raises them, saying "Go on! Who do you think I am?" The prices will be: Glass Bottle Mallet Feather Pencil Torch 400 760 50 630 250 200 While he's talking, the prices are still the same. If you notice that he raises them, quickly buy something; you'll get it for the usual price. This way, you've got nothing to lose when bargaining. ~ THE BLACK MARKET ~ Bottle Barrel Feather 480 500 450 The black market is the only store that sells the barrel. Also, if one of your weapons has been stolen by a Pluton or Pluton fly, it'll be sold at the black market. Prices on weapons when bought back: Fire Long Shield 600 500 700 Alternatively, complete the training chamber to earn the weapons again for free (see "7. The Holy chambers"). Note: You cannot bargain at the black market. Also, you can only buy one item per visit. Strange, I thought a black market is where you usually bargain.... ============================================================== ][ 7. The Holy chambers ][ ============================================================== These are accessed via the doors found in the normal sections. Here's a description of the different chambers: Store See "6. Hearts and shopping". Black market See "6. Hearts and shopping". Enemies' lair A room with 8 Specknoses. Each one will give you 10 hearts when defeated, but no XP. You can leave this room whenever you want. Sacred chamber A friendly god will give you a Strength upgrade. See "3. Leveling, HP and Strength" for info on the requirements to get the upgrades. Training chamber A god will let you pass a test to see if you're worthy of a Weapon. Pass the test, and you can pick a Weapon (see "4. Weapons"). You can exit this chamber whenever you like, but the god will call you a weakling! Hot spring chamber These contain a pool of yellow recovery water. Sit back and relax as your health is replenished. Ahhh! For some reason, Pit doesn't realize that he could just fill the barrel with this water instead of having to buy it... Treasure chamber A room with 8 jars, containing either Big hearts or mallets. You need 5 hearts to break a pitcher and reveal the treasure. But - there's a catch. If you shoot the pitcher containing the god of poverty, all the treasures you've uncovered will be lost. Since you don't know where he is, it's a game of chance. However, if you manage to break 7 pitchers without uncovering the god of poverty, he will be replaced by either a feather, a bottle, a barrel or the credit card! This bonus treasure is yours if you shoot the final jar, something that beginners never do because they think the last jar will hold the god. Since mallets and hearts are so easy to come by, it's always worth the try to break them all. If you feel like some cheating, there is a way to always get all the treasures. This is because there only are four places where the God of Poverty can hide, depending on what stage you're in, NOT depending on the background color of the chamber (Again, thanks to Disch Wersher for this information!) and depending on where he hides the hearts and mallets will appear in set places. I discovered this while saving and loading with an emulator outside and inside the treasure chambers, and it seems like it always works. First, let's give the pitchers some numbers: ............... .1 2. .. .. .3 4. ... ... .5 6 . .... ... .... .7 8. ............... In the rooms in stages 2 and 3 (overworld and skyworld), shoot the pitchers numbered 2, 3 and 4. In stage 1 (underworld), shoot the pitchers 1, 3 and 8. Count how many mallets you've uncovered, then look up the god's position in the chart below. Stage 2 and 3 Mallets: 0 1 2 3 Position: 8 5 6 1 Stage 1 Mallets: 0 1 2 3 Position: 7 2 4 6 Here's a printable version of the above trick, so you don't have to check back here every now and then. Just mark everything between the brackets, copy it and paste it into Notepad or a similar text-editing program, then print it. { ............... Kid Icarus .1 2. Treasure chamber .. .. .3 4. Stage 2 and 3: 2, 3, 4. ... ... Stage 1: 1, 3, 8. .5 6 . .... ... .... Mallets: 0 1 2 3 .7 8. Pos(2 and 3): 8 5 6 1 ............... Pos(1): 7 2 4 6 } ============================================================== ][ 8. The endings and how to get them ][ ============================================================== There are five endings to watch when you complete the game. Finally, with some debugging and trial-and-error, I've worked out the requirements. The ending requirements are based on "stat max-outs". You can have any combination, as long as you have a certain number of them. The four max-outs are: a. Hearts: 999 b. Strength: 5 c. Level: 5 d. All weapons acquired So if you have 500 hearts, a Strength of 3, a level of 5 and all weapons, you have two stat max-outs, and get the Medium ending, see below. A giant thanks to Jean-Luc Romano for his password cracking skills. If you type these passwords in, you'll watch the ending, though without the music. When the endings are done the game will intentionally reset/crash, so they won't work as cheat codes. NOTE that the first letter on the second row in all passwords except the first one is a capital "o". +--------+------+----------------------------+---------------+ | | Max- | | Password to | | Ending | outs | Description | watch ending | +========+======+============================+===============+ | Worst | 0 | Pit gets a hat and a | 000000 000000 | | | | sickle. | M30000 G50CfV | +--------+------+----------------------------+---------------+ | Poor | 1 | Pit gets a helmet and a | 000000 000000 | | | | short stick. | O10000 K50C9G | +--------+------+----------------------------+---------------+ | Medium | 2 | Pit gets a helmet with a | 000000 000000 | | | | red tuft, and a spear. | O1000G K50C9H | +--------+------+----------------------------+---------------+ | Good | 3 | Pit becomes a big warrior | 000000 00dF00 | | | | and smiles. | O3000G K50Cfh | +--------+------+----------------------------+---------------+ | | | Pit becomes a big warrior, | | | | | gets a kiss from Palutena, | 6eW300 00dF00 | | Best | 4 | and angels fly around the | O3000G K50i9r | | | | screen as the background | | | | | changes. Very nice. | | +--------+------+----------------------------+---------------+ So, even if you have all weapons but one, a ton of items, max XP, 998 hearts, and a strength and level of 4 respectively, you still get the worst ending. Kinda good to keep in mind, huh? The shop just before the boss of the third fortress is pretty cunningly placed. If you buy alot of stuff there and kill the boss, you'll have trouble gathering enough hearts in the last stage to get the best ending! ============================================================== ][ 9. Enemy list ][ ============================================================== This list contains all the information about all the enemies and bosses in the game. The names of the enemies were found in the official instruction booklet. STG = Stage HP = hit points DMG = Amount of damage the enemy can deal to pit H = Amount of Hearts dropped when defeated XP = Amount of Experience points (score) earned when defeated X = All stages F = Fortress FX = All fortresses Enemy STG HP DMG H XP Shemum X 1 1 1 100 Specknose X 1 2 10 0 Reaper X 10 2 10 500 Reapette X 1 2 1 100 Monolith X 1or2 1 1 0 Eggplant wizard FX 10 2 10 500 Monoeye 1 1 1 5 300 McGoo 1 1 1or2 5 300 Nettler 1 2 1 5 300 Commyloose 1 2 1 5 300 Ganawmede F1 1 1 5 300 Ganawmede2 F1 2 2 10 500 Kobil F1 2 1 1 100 Kobil2 F1 6 2 5 300 Twinbellows F1 100 2 0 8000 Rokman 2 2 3 10 500 Girin 2 1 1 5 300 Minos 2 2 1 5 300 Mick 2 2 1 5 300 Keron 2 3 1 5 300 Pluton 2 - 0 - - Snowman 2 10 1or3 10 500 Tamambo F2 2 1 5 300 Tamambo2 F2 3 2 10 500 Shulm F2 3 1 1 100 Shulm2 F2 8 2 5 300 Hewdraw F2 200 3 0 8000 Collin 3 1 3 10 500 Eeleye 3 1 2 1 0 Holer 3 1 1or2 5 300 Octos 3 4 3 10 500 Pluton fly 3 - 0 - - Keepah 3 1 3 10 0 Komayto 3 3 2 5 300 Tros F3 3 2 5 300 Tros2 F3 4 3 10 500 Uranos F3 4 2 1 100 Uranos2 F3 10 3 5 300 Pandora F3 200 5 0 8000 Totem 4 4 3 5 300 Moila 4 2 3 5 300 Syren 4 2 3 5 300 Erinus 4 4*1 1or4 3*1 4*500 Daphne 4 2 2 5 300 Zuree 4 1 2 1 100 Tanatos 4 1 3 0 100 Medusa 4 150 5 0 Hits*100 ============================================================== ][ 10. In-depth enemy descriptions ][ ============================================================== Since you'd probably not got a clue about which enemies I'm talking about in the above paragraph, here are the descriptions of 'em, complete with hints and strategies. STG = Stage HP = hit points DMG = Amount of damage the enemy can deal to pit H = Amount of Heart dropped when defeated XP = Amount of Experience points (score) earned when defeated X = All stages F = Fortress FX = All fortresses ~ ALL STAGES ~ Shemum STG: X HP: 1 DMG: 1 H: 1 XP: 100 Looks like: A small, blue snake. The most common enemy in the game, it's easily defeated. See "12. Strategies" for some advice about the Shemum's jar. The instruction booklet refers to them as "extremely dangerous". Pfft. Specknose STG: X HP: 1 DMG: 2 H: 10 XP: 0 Looks like: A nose with two big eyes on top. These inhabit the Enemies' lair chambers. Note that they leave no XP, and that the Shield weapon is ineffective against them. Reaper STG: X HP: 10 DMG: 2 H: 10 XP: 500 Looks like: An old witch with a scythe. If it sees you, it'll summon four Reapettes telephatically. Avoid it's look and shoot it in the back. Every now and then, it'll turn around, to see if anyone's there. Reapette STG: X HP: 1 DMG: 2 H: 1 XP: 100 Looks like: Small, blue flying reapers. Pretty easy to defeat, but they can deal some damage if you're not careful. 2 HP is quite a lot in the early sections of the game. Monolith STG: X HP: 1or2 DMG: 1 H: 1 XP: 0 Looks like: A spinning steel plate. Used to train Pit in the training chambers. They appear out of thin air and fall down. Note that they cannot be harmed by the Shield weapon. Check "12. Strategies" for some more advice. Eggplant wizard STG: FX HP: 10 DMG: 2 H: 10 XP: 500 Looks like: A tall monster with a white robe and one eye. The single most irritating, annoying, and downright difficult enemy in the game. If you get hit by his spell, you'll be turned into an eggplant, a fate worse than death. If that happens, you'll have to find the hospital in the fortress to remove the spell, which makes you unable to shoot. Keep your distance, and never stand above an Eggplant wizard. Be aware that they can either throw a low eggplant or a high one. Time your movements carefully, and avoid at all cost. Remember, it's better to suffer damage than being turned into an eggplant; if you're flashing, the eggplants can't hit you. For more help, see "The room of death" under "12. Strategies". ~ STAGE 1 ~ Monoeye STG: 1 HP: 1 DMG: 1 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A red, flying enemy with one big eye. Simple enough. They fly in a pattern, and after a while they'll get bored and head for you instead. Sometimes, a few of them heads for you immediately. Don't move too much. McGoo STG: 1 HP: 1 DMG: 1or2 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A small red plant that comes out of the ground. Read the "12. Strategies" section to find some useful advice on this enemy. Strangely, their fireballs travel faster to the left than they do to the right. If you get hit by the fireball you'll recieve 2 HP damage, but the McGoo itself deals only 1. Nettler STG: 1 HP: 2 DMG: 1 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A red snail which ducks under your arrows. If you try to shoot it at close range, your arrows will fly over it, so shoot it from a distance. Commyloose STG: 1 HP: 2 DMG: 1 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A high-jumping octopus. Their jumping pattern can be predicted. Watch out below, that's all there is to it. Don't fight them before you've got the first Strength upgrade. Ganawmede STG: F1 HP: 1 DMG: 1 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A floating skull with tentacles. Flying around inside the fortress in groups of eight, it's better to fight them than to try to avoid them. Ganawmede2 STG: F1 HP: 2 DMG: 2 H: 10 XP: 500 Looks like: A red Ganawmede. Same goes with these, the stronger version of the Ganawmede. Note that they leave a lot of hearts and XP behind, so exit and enter the room again to earn some more. Be careful not to get too hurt. Kobil STG: F1 HP: 2 DMG: 1 H: 1 XP: 100 Looks like: A small, slow devil. Very slow and easy to defeat, since you should have the first Strength upgrade by the time you face them. Kobil2 STG: F1 HP: 6 DMG: 2 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A red Kobil. Like the Kobil, but stronger. Twinbellows STG: F1 HP: 100 DMG: 2 H: 0 XP: 8000 Looks like: A red dog with two heads. The boss of the first fortress. Jump over the fireballs, and shoot him rapidly when he recharges. He's pretty slow, and shouldn't be tricky if you're high on HP, in which case you just have to fire away; most of the time his fireballs will pass over you, since he's pushed into the air when you hit him. If you bring alot of Centurians and hammer the fire button, he goes down in no time. By the way, Twinbellows is based on Cerberus, the multi-headed beast of Hell in the Greek myths. ~ STAGE 2 ~ Rokman STG: 2 HP: 2 DMG: 3 H: 10 XP: 500 Looks like: A falling rock. It's heart harvesting time! Shoot as many as you can to reel in the cash, but beware; it's the first enemy that deals 3 HP damage if you touch it. A new wave will drop down when the hearts of the previous group of Rokmans are gone. Girin STG: 2 HP: 1 DMG: 1 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A giant ant, emerging from the ground. Much like McGoo, but slower to appear, and with faster fireballs. Minos STG: 2 HP: 2 DMG: 1 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A round, spiked enemy that jumps up from below. Jumps out when you least expect it. Watch them carefully; they appear in patterns. If you walk forward to make the screen scroll, their jumping pattern will be adjusted to the right. Mick STG: 2 HP: 2 DMG: 1 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A flying enemy with a big mouth. These aren't too dangerous. They come flying at you in packs of four. Keron STG: 2 HP: 3 DMG: 1 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A jumping frog. These roam the plains of the overworld, attacking Pit when he closes in. They're not very dangerous, but have high HP. Pluton STG: 2 HP: - DMG: 0 H: - XP: - Looks like: A small ogre with a sack. Watch out, he's invincible. If he touches you, he'll steal one of your weapons! They can be bought back at the black market, or aquired again in the training chambers. It can jump either fast or slow, and high or low. Just keep your distance. Snowman STG: 2 HP: 10 DMG: 1or3 H: 10 XP: 500 Looks like: A snowman. Throws snowballs "Hadouken"-style, and causes general annoyance. The snowballs deal 1 HP damage, while touching the Snowman himself deals 3. Tamambo STG: F2 HP: 2 DMG: 1 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A round, flying enemy with one eye. The second fortress' equavilent of the Ganawmede. Piece of cake. Tamambo2 STG: F2 HP: 3 DMG: 2 H: 10 XP: 500 Looks like: A red Tamambo. A tougher version. Shulm STG: F2 HP: 3 DMG: 1 H: 1 XP: 100 Looks like: A mushroom. Goomba, anyone? They are pretty slow and go down easily. Shulm2 STG: F2 HP: 8 DMG: 2 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A red Shulm. Much stronger than an ordinary Shulm, but no big deal. Hewdraw STG: F2 HP: 200 DMG: 3 H: 0 XP: 8000 Looks like: A long snake. Boss of the second fortress. Possibly the easiest of them all, just avoid him and fire. When you defeat him, the lava turns yellow, but it does _not_ work as a hot spring just because it's yellow.:) ~ STAGE 3 ~ Collin STG: 3 HP: 1 DMG: 3 H: 10 XP: 500 Looks like: A flying warrior. Not much of a threat, since it won't attack you. It'll just hover in place, looking dumb (and it probably is). Eeleye STG: 3 HP: 1 DMG: 2 H: 1 XP: 0 Looks like: A small worm with an eye and a pair of wings. These spin around Collin's body, protecting him. If you defeat the Collin and collect his heart, or the heart disappears, the Eeleyes, too, will disappear. Note that they give you no XP. Holer STG: 3 HP: 1 DMG: 1or2 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A yellow plant that pops out of the ground. A god of plants, and the McGoo of the third stage, appearing just about anywhere to cause you trouble. Try not to duck the fireballs it spits, since most of the time you'll be standing on clouds. It's got the slowest fireball attack of this kind of enemy, dealing 1 HP damage. If you tough the holer, it'll deal 2 HP damage. Octos STG: 3 HP: 4 DMG: 3 H: 10 XP: 500 Looks like: A yellow, jumping octopus. Just like the Commyloose in stage 1, these jump from the bottom of the screen and continue upwards, aiming for you. Pluton fly STG: 3 HP: - DMG: 0 H: - XP: - Looks like: A small ogre with wings. Very easy to avoid. Just jump up to the same level as the Pluton fly, fall down again, and it'll fly away. Keepah STG: 3 HP: 1 DMG: 3 H: 10 XP: 0 Looks like: A blue, flying Kobil. Strangely enough, it doesn't make a sound when you defeat it, and it gives you no XP. Also, they may sometimes self-destruct. On rare occasions they'll also shoot fireballs. Komayto STG: 3 HP: 3 DMG: 2 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A floating jellyfish. Well, if it isn't a Metroid! The instruction booklet says that they may come from a planet other than Earth. If you're a Metroid fan, you'll know the planet as SR-388. Lucky the Komayto aren't as dangerous as the real ones... If you don't know what a Metroid is, it's the main enemy of the Metroid series, made by Nintendo. That's another great NES game, but back to Kid Icarus. Tros STG: F3 HP: 3 DMG: 2 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A spiked, armoured ball. Another floating enemy, appearing in groups of eight. Tros2 STG: F3 HP: 4 DMG: 3 H: 10 XP: 500 Looks like: A red Tros. These can be quite dangerous because of the damage dealt. Shoot them quickly, gather the hearts and always watch their movement. Uranos STG: F3 HP: 4 DMG: 2 H: 1 XP: 100 Looks like: A small, slow dwarf. Where is the "terrible fighting power" that the instruction booklet speaks of? This enemy is easy to defeat, and shouldn't cause you any trouble. Uranos2 STG: F3 HP: 10 DMG: 3 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A red Uranos. Much stronger, but just as slow. Pandora STG: F3 HP: 200 DMG: 5 H: 0 XP: 8000 Looks like: A bubble-like monster. Boss of the third fortress, and "the source of all evil" according to the instruction booklet. It moves very slowly, but sometimes it turns black, making it difficult to see. Watch out for the bubbles, they will deal 5 HP damage upon contact, just like Pandora itself. Ouch! Don't worry though, your HP will be replenished when you defeat this boss. On a side note, the Centurians are next to worthless here. ~ STAGE 4 ~ Totem STG: 4 HP: 4 DMG: 3 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A green slab of stone. They fall down from the sky and form little pillars. Dont' be too close to the cieling. Moila STG: 4 HP: 2 DMG: 3 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A flying starfish. They attack from behind, and try to eat you. Keep to the right side of the screen at the start of the level. Syren STG: 4 HP: 2 DMG: 3 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A flying witch. Basically, it's a siren with wings, attacking Pit with claws of steel. They generally come at you four at a time. Erinus STG: 4 HP: 4*1 DMG: 1or4 H: 3*1 XP: 4*500 Looks like: A man with one eye. The first shot will shatter him, but as the god of revenge, he doesn't go down that easily. He'll split into three pieces, each one awarding you with 500 XP when destroyed! His fireballs, shot either straight forward or diagonally, only deal 1 HP damage, but touching him deals 4. If you don't shoot him, he'll reappear on the right side of the screen until you do so. Daphne STG: 4 HP: 2 DMG: 2 H: 5 XP: 300 Looks like: A green flower. They jump up from below and slowly float down again. Like Minos, they appear in patterns, so watch them closely. Zuree STG: 4 HP: 1 DMG: 2 H: 1 XP: 100 Looks like: A ghost. Simple to avoid and defeat. They just fly up and down, looking silly. See how many you can destroy in a row with one shot. Tanatos STG: 4 HP: 1 DMG: 3 H: 0 XP: 100 Looks like: A green snake. Tanatos is greek for "death", but this serpent, emerging from Medusa's hair, doesn't put up much of a fight. They'll usually get caught in your line of fire when you're pummeling Medusa. Medusa STG: 4 HP: 150 DMG: 5 H: 0 XP: Hits*100 Looks like: A giant face with one eye. Very easy, really. If you position yourself slightly under the center of the left-most part of the screen, her attacks will miss you. Just fire away! For every hit scored, you'll earn 100 XP. When she is no more, you've completed the game, and will earn yourself an ending. See the "8. The endings" section for info on the endings and how to get them. ============================================================== ][ 11. Fortress maps ][ ============================================================== Feel free to copy the maps to Notepad or another text-editing program and print them out. It's best to copy and print one map at a time, so they don't get chopped up. The total number of statues is 79, and the total number of rooms is 144. If you get lost, buy a torch in a store to see your position on the map. [Update: fixed a map.] E = Entrance B = boss M = Map S = Store X = Eggplant H = Hot spring N = Nurse (hospital) number = Amount of staues V = A ladder you can't reach from the room below; if you climb it, you can't get back up again. ^ = You can't reach this ladder from above unless you just climbed it. = You can't cross this room from the right. < = You can't cross this room from the left. / or = This room is split in half. v = This door can only be reached from the right if you entered the right-hand room from above. | = The left door is sealed off from the rest of the room. % = You can only enter this door from the left if you just emerged from it (by entering it from the room on the right). ~ Fortress 1 ~ Boss: Twinbellows Statues: 28 Rooms: 30 +---+ | S | +---+---+-.-+---+ | 1 . X2. X2. 2 | +-.-+---+---+-.-+---+ | |#######| 1 | N | +---+-V-+---+---+-.-+-.-+---+ | 1 v 2 | E . . M2. 1 . S | +-.-+-.-+---+---+-.-+-.-+---+ | 1 | 2 . 1 .1 1. | 2 | +---+-.-+---+---+-^-+---+-.-+ | H . . . . X1. 1 .11| +---+---+---+---+---+---+-.-+---+ | 2 . B | +---+---+ ~ Fortress 2 ~ Boss: Hewdraw Statues: 32 Rooms: 50 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | X2. H . . S . . X . 3 | +-^-+---+-V-+-.-+---+---+-.-+ | 2 |###| | . . 1 | | +-.-+---+-V-+-.-+---+-V-+-V-+---+ | | S . / % 2 . | 2 | 1 . N | +-.-+-V-+-^-+---+-.-+-.-+-.-+-.-+ | 1 | 2 | X | E | . 1 .11. | +-.-+-.-+-.-+-V-+---+---+-.-+-.-+ | X . 3. . . . S . .1|1| +---+-.-+---+-.-+---+---+---+-.-+ | 1 |###| M2|###| 1 . B | | +---+-.-+---+-V-+---+-.-+---+-.-+ | N . 2 . 1 . 1 . 6 = invincibility Strength *: 0152 Skill: 0134, 0135 Mallets **: 014F Feathers **: 0150 Bottles ***: 0151 Credit card: 014E 0=no, 1=yes Weapon1: 0141 Weapon2: 0142 Weapon3: 0143 Kill count on 4-1: 00C9 You need 50 kills to get to Medusa Eggplant: 006F 0=no, 1=yes (only in fortresses) Invulnerability****: 0728 Set to >2 to move through enemies /Change to 1 through 7 for Activated weapons: 00A5 |different combinations. Add 8 to |this number to fly constantly. You can't enter doors when flying * The debt decreases as you collect hearts. When debt reaches zero, you collect hearts as normal again. * Strength "wraps around" at every step of 8. It can't go any higher than 5, but against bosses, it will deal as much as you type in (up to 254), plus 1. ** All values greater than 128 actually are 0 for feathers and 1 for mallets. *** Add 64 here to get a barrel. If you want a barrel with 8 bottles, enter 72. **** You're not invulnerable against "damage tiles", such as lava pools. "Angel mode": Change adress 0152 to 4, 0728 to 2, and 00A5 to 15, and keep these changes constantly on, except when entering the door to the next level. ~ The myth of Perseus ~ Kid Icarus is based on an ancient myth about Perseus, son of Zeus, and the one who killed Medusa. Here are some similarities with the game: Perseus recieved (among several things) a pair of winged sandals from Hermes, Zeus' messenger. He also got a shield of mirrors, which would reflect the image of Medusa, since her look turned you to stone. Also mentioned in the story is Pallas Athena. In the game, the kidnapped goddess' name is Palutena. On the island where Medusa lived, there were statues of stone, in the shape of humans. It turned out that they once had been warriors, who had been turned to stone when they saw Medusa. Since she had once been a mortal human, she was the only Greae who was mortal; the two others weren't. Towards the end of the story, Perseus cuts of Medusas head with a scythe, and puts her head in a bag. Perseus appeared in many other myths. In one of them, he felt sorry for Atlas when he saw him holding up the world, so Perseus showed him the head of Medusa and turned him to stone, so he wouldn't feel the weight of the burden. In the game, Pit destroys Twinbellows who is probably based upon Cerburus, the beast of hell. I cannot recall that Perseus ever did the same though, so Kid Icarus is a mix of several myths (like Pandora, "the source of evil", who also is the third boss). ~ Where no-one has gone before ~ So, you've finished the game and explored every nook and cranny? Probably not; there are some places you may not have visited. What I'm talking about is the roof at the end of most normal stages. Sure, there's no point in heading up there, but somehow I find it rewarding, as if I've been some- where I've never been before. To reach the very top of a level, simply use a feather so you can fly up there. Have fun! Be careful at the end of stage 3-3, though. If you enter the next-to-last door (the shop) and then fly to the top of the screen, a glitch will cause the screen to continue scrolling, which means that you'll get trapped up there until your feathers run out, at which point you'll die. If the screen starts scrolling, quickly get back down again. ~ Extra difficult ~ Still not satisfied? Well, then try to complete the game without entering any chambers or bying anything from the fortress shops. Additionally, you must get the worst ending. (For help on that, see "8. The endings".) Since you've got infinite continues, it's not impossible, but it's real hard, escpecially when fighting the bosses. Give it a try if you consider yourself a Kid Icarus master! ~ European Instruction booklet errors ~ "If you get a high score, your name might be registered in the best 5 in the select display." What select display? Look closely at the screenshots of the game. The energy bar is blue and the "stage" and "boss" text is written in japanese. None of this appeared in the european version, so the screens probably were from the jap version (especially considering the text, duh). One screenshot also showed four Nettlers on screen at once. First I thought it was faked, but it's actually happened to me once. "Two player alternating game" says the box. Nope. ~ Bugs and minor glitches ~ Falling Reapers Sometimes when Reapers appear, they'll do so slightly under the ground the are supposed to appear on. This makes them fall through the platform, often landing right on your head. Reincarnate Medusa Just when you've beaten Medusa and she disappears from the screen, pause the game, then unpause. A part of her will reappear on the screen. Disappearing stuff Pause and unpause the game at a shop, holy chamber or training chamber. Sometimes the shopkeeper/god will disappear. Also, when bargaining at the shops, buy something while the shopkeeper is talking. What he'd said so far will disappear, but the remaining text will continue to be printed. When defeating a boss and the treasure chest appears, pause and unpause. the chest will disappear. Pause the game the moment you enter a door in a fortress, and all objects will disappear. Chest glitch Just when you've defeated Pandora (the third boss), hold down to make Pit duck. Sometimes the treasure chest will turn into a ducking Pit when it appears. Break through If you jump at the top corner of a block, you'll fall slightly into it. If used with skill at the top right corner of a block, you can pass through it entirely. When you do, you'll start sliding to the left, passing through eventual walls. If you leave the left side on the screen, you'll pop out on the right (this seems to be the default behavior for all objects in NES games). Note that this only works in certain levels. It doesn't have any real use either. Catch me if you can In stage 4, you can go through the roof if you hold up and left/right. When you're about to enter Medusa's chamber, hold up and right. When Medusa's fully scrolled into the screen, you'll be sitting in the top right corner. If you let go of the controller, you'll slide back out again. Kill the mallets When you pick up a harp and turn the enemies to mallets, shoot a mallet. It will be destroyed and leave a heart behind, as if it still were the enemy. Ghost Tamambo In the third fortress (stage 3-4), there is a room with Red Tamambos and two statues. first, kill all the enemies. Then smash one of the statues. Another Red Tamambo will appear, but if you shoot it, it'll only leave one heart and 100 XP. If you destroy the second statue, it'll happen again. You'll note that you can't reach the top ladder when the statues are gone, but if you exit the room and re-enter it, a platform will be there instead, since the statues "overwrite" the platforms - the statues belong to the background, and can't share a tile with a platform. No lava damage Sometimes, when you duck and hold left or right against the wall when in the lava, you won't take any damage. This also applies to other "damage tiles" and the hot spring, but don't rely on it. Strange pause sound Simply hit the Start button rapidly. The pause sound will be interrupted and distorted. *Bling* If you don't collect a glass with water of life, it'll make a sound as if you collected it when it leaves the screen. ~ Completing the game and password notes ~ After the ending, the game will start over, but with these things intact: Total score, weapons, hearts, level, strength and credit card debt. Important note: After completing the game, when you go back to stage 1-1, don't die and write down the password. You'll find that when you type it in, you'll begin at 1-1, but with none of the things you had when you got the password! Counter this by completing 1-1, then writing down the password you get when dying in 1-2. Remember this. ~ Ultimate password ~ Need a little help beating the game? Here's a password I got together by hacking a bit... Stage: 1-2 Weapons: All Score: 16777215 (9999999) Level: 5 Strength: 13 (will only do 5 against regular enemies, but you'll slay the bosses) Hearts: 4095 Mallets: 128 Feathers: 128 Bottles: 63 Credit card: Yes Barrel: Yes If y