
Fans of Kid Icarus had to endure a long and painful wait between the original NES and Game Boy titles and the eventual 3DS update, but had Star Wars: Rogue Squadron studio Factor 5 had its way, we would have been playing a sequel a little bit sooner.
Unseen 64 staffer and occasional Nintendo Life contributor Liam Robertson has published an in-depth video which looks at the history of Factor 5's unreleased Kid Icarus pitch. The studio became involved with the project off the back of its work on the aforementioned Nintendo exclusive Rogue Squadron franchise, and early concept art reveals a much darker and more mature tone than previous titles in the series.

As if to reflect this new direction, the project was referred to internally as "Icarus", and one of the possible storylines involved Pit's banishment from Sky World for some unspecified crime. The resultant game would ultimately be a quest of redemption, with different concept drawings showing Pit with black wings, a sinister tattoo and a blackened, infected arm.
According to the developers that Robertson spoke to, the game would have made good use of Factor 5's experience with 3D flight. Pit wouldn't have been limited to hovering and would be able to take to the skies in order to engage and battle with enemies. The game engine was based on the one created for the PS3 exclusive Lair, and would have offered 60fps performance.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Early in development Nintendo submitted a character model to Factor 5 which was basically Pit as he appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The idea was that Factor 5 could include this model in their playable prototype, but they chose to ignore it and create their own more mature representation of the character. Shortly after this point the project began to fall apart.
The prototype was pitched to NCL, which rejected it as too extreme a deviation from the core ideals of the franchise. Former Factor 5 staffer Joe Spataro feels that this could have been the straw that broke the camel's back:
With Icarus, I feel like we were missing the point. Nintendo sent us the model of Kid Icarus, very much like the one that appears in Smash Bros., but we didn't use it. We made our own version. It was more mature, maybe even a little dark. It felt more like Devil May Cry. I knew Nintendo would never go for the adult version of Pit. In fact, I'd wager they took it as an insult that we didn't use their version.
Factor 5 would abandon work on Icarus and all that remains is a handful of character models and test animations, some of which are shown in Robertson's video below. Nintendo would famously enlist Masahiro Sakurai to create a true successor, with Kid Icarus: Uprising launching on the 3DS in 2012.
Comments 58
I can't say I really like Factor 5's rendition of Pit. I think Nintendo nailed Pit with Smash Bros. and Uprising. I do like their Idea for the game however. Its been too long between Kid Icarus games, lets hope we get a new one soon.
Sounds more like a Pittoo (Dark Pit) story if you ask me. It can still work if they use him instead as is
Sounds actually pretty cool. Shame it never happened.
It would have been interesting to see how this turned out, but it sounds too different from the other Kid Icarus games. I much prefer the direction that Kid Icarus Uprising took, though this idea could have worked as a completely new IP.
Make a Kid Icarus Wii U game PLEASE
Oooo Factor 5. The game would have been good, probably wouldn't have felt like a Nintendo IP, but still good.
would have really liked to see this. seems like factor 5 have had a hard time.
Didn't Lair run at like 20 fps on the PS3? Hard to believe they could take that engine and port it to the Wii with improved performance.
Not keen on those new designs but I kinda like the story concept. I feel now Uprising is out and everyone is refamiliarised with the characters something along those lines could work well. Something happens to Plautena, Pit gets framed and banished, maybe he then has to team up with Dark Pit (who, looking identical, needs to prove Pit's innocence to get people off his own back).
Making Pit adult with a tattoo and scar is just cringe worthy, but it's a franchise that could certainly go down a darker path without loosing the core brand. Pit gaining permanent flight would also be a cool way to push the boundaries forward.
It's a shame Sakurai doesn't want to do a sequel, but I can't say I blame him. If only he hadn't resurrected the brand so well!
Thank God they never went with that.
Some companies really don't get what makes a certain property, even just a certain character design, appealing.
Does... does Pit have a monobrow in that picture? That was honestly the first thing I noticed, his eyebrow seems oddly noticeable.
In any case, whilst I do feel the whole dark aspect probably would have 'missed the point', I will admit that I do like the concept of the story and feel that, depending on the direction, it could have worked in a way that still allowed it to feel like Nintendo's Kid Icarus. I do like the way they tied in the gameplay concept and story concept of Pit being able to fly freely due to being older, and some of those older Pit designs were okay.
Ultimately though, if the pitch took a darker take on the series, I feel that there are Nintendo IPs better suited for that, including ones that could have been revived. I wonder whether Factor 5 could have brought about a revival of Mach Rider, though if their main work have been on flight games, then perhaps they could have expanded Nintendo's X series. Anyone else have any ideas on Nintendo IPs that could have worked better with this tonal concept?
"I knew Nintendo would never go for the adult version of Pit. In fact, I'd wager they took it as an insult that we didn't use their version."
...and I'd wager that behaviour like this is the reason why not only the Kid Icarus project began to fall apart, but the whole of Factor 5. It's exemplary.
I'm also glad that we got Uprising instead, but it is a shame that Nintendo apparently has no interest in making mature games anymore...even the new Metroid Prime game for 3DS looks like a game for 12 year olds.
"possible storylines involved Pit's banishment from Sky World for some unspecified crime. The resultant game would ultimately be a quest of redemption, with different concept drawings showing Pit with black wings, a sinister tattoo and a blackened, infected arm."
I'm pretty sure I played that:
It hurts so much to this day to know they had a Wii follow up to Rogue Squadron nearly ready to release and it was also scrapped... Factor 5 remains one of my all time favourite developers,all the way back to the Amiga, but much like Free Radical and "Haze", "Lair" on PS3 was their downfall. i am unsure if I would have licked this Kid Icarus but I would certainly would have love to see the engine running this on the Wii... I would also pay quite dearly to have a "Rogue Squadron" game on 3DS and Wii U but every passing year is a dream that just keeps on fading...
Dark and gritty storylines =/= mature
People need to grow out of that idea. The current understanding that dark and gritty storylines are better written is a ridiculous notion. If that were true, then a game like Hatred would have been the better game compared to something like Majora's Mask or Twilight Princess.
El Shaddai and...crud, too early in the U.S. morning for me to keep impressions straight [EDIT: Oh! Asura's Wrath, what with crime-banishment], but a latter one was older Ben Tennyson. Looks "mature" in the sense of "late puberty", far as concept art goes. Glad this wasn't instated as a rightful Kid Icarus followup (unlike its sister series's 'Other M' Wii outing). Can't say as I've played Rogue Squadron, though, but may its gameplay ever continue.
@rjejr Beat me to it I was about to say that this sounds like a lost Legacy of Kain title rather then Kid Icarus.
Im happy with Uprising in every way. Its whacky, its epic, its funny and suprisingly deep at times.
So...they wanted to make an Edgy Pit? Sounds dangerous.
factor 5 possibly rebooting TURRICAN!!!!!! way bigger news than kid icarus in my opinion! I have it for nes, 1 and 2 for snes, I have it for amiga, I have it for atari st and for genesis. For those that wasnt blessed by Contra/probotector back in the day Turrican filled the slot nicely.
This got me to thinking.. what if the game that we eventually got as Pandora's Tower had been a Kid Icarus reboot instead? Pit needs to defeat all of the boss monsters to save Palutena from Medusa's curse. You could have had the chain attached to holy arrows to bind the monsters with and his lack of flight could easily be explained away by the goddess' predicament. Oh, man.
So make a Kid Icarius game, with Kid Icarius fighting against this darker Icarius that got loose in the game world to cause havoc. They could make it push the limits of lets say a 'T' rating, but don't push it to a mature rating. Nintendo left Zelda Twilight go to 'T' and Smash was a 'T' on Wii, so they could possibly let them do it. Alas, I wouldn't see a new Kid Icarius on the Wii U, but maybe the NX will finally get some of the classic nintendo franchises that some of us...myself included...would like to see:
Kid Icarius
F-Zero
Startropics (a new chapter)
Faxanandu (a new chapter)
Mario Baseball (a new one)
Triple Play Baseball (haven't seen since N64)
Wave Race
1080 Snowboarding
Duck Hunt (a new chapter)
Hogan's Alley (a new one and re-release)
...maybe even a re-release of The Goonies 2???
I really like the Rogue Squadron series and really wish we could've seen some gameplay as that's where they shine. I'm sure the graphics would've been pretty good.
I definitely prefer Nintendo's design of pit over theres so I can understand why Nintendo wasn't enthralled with the game Factor 5 presented them with. After playing Uprising with all of its goofy references and dialogue I wouldn't want it any other way.
Yeah, after Uprising I'm glad they didn't go with the whole "edgy" approach. Now I just want a sequel to Uprising. Pretty sure it won't happen, unfortunately.
I'm sorry, I can't get over that Pit design. I just can't stop laughing! I mean, really? They tried to make Pit look dark and edgy?
Kid Icarus NX. After the sucess of Uprising I doubt they leave Pit in the limbo for too long.
As much as I loved Rogue Squadron, I feel that Factor 5 completely missed the point of what is Kid Icarus. Maybe if they had presented it as a completely new IP they would have received a green light from Nintendo.
The concept could still work, but with Pittoo now instead of Pit
Interesting but I'm glad it never happened, if his adult look is used for all future incarnations he would most likely have much less significance with fans than his look now. Plus Uprising won't exist
I like the idea.
I didn't like Uprising. It's characters and dialogue were fun in a saturday-morning-cartoon sort of way, but other than that it was forgettable.
Like it or not, Nintendo's image has suffered over the years by having less mature titles on its systems, a KI with a dark tone (think more Twilight Princess) would have been cool.
@BigBabyPeach 12 year olds want something realistic and "mature". You underestimate 12 year old boys.
@Ogbert
That sounds like a great story concept if a sequal ever gets made! And Sakurai has hinted at it in Palutena's Guidance!
Hold everything guys! Playable octolings were just leaked! Search nwplayer123 @nintendolife cover this dudes!
I do like the design idea of an adult Pit looking more sinister, but the artstyle kinda killed it. Looks more like El Shaddai than Kid Icarus. Nonetheless, as a fan of "darkside" stories, I'm a bit disappointed this never became a thing. Though Uprising is a superb game with a truckload of charm, and a dark story as well.
@link422007 Who said it was intended to be mature? It was meant to be darker, that's all. There are too many people like you thinking people like me prefer dark stories because they're supposedly mature, when it's simply the tense and (sometimes laughably) serious tone that makes for the main appeal.
Man, Rogue leader was such a great launch title. It's still the best Star Wars game of all time in my opinion.
On a side note; What the hell is that guys accent supposed to be?
Even if this were to happen, I'm already not liking so much of Kid Icarus.......
First one was hard, second one was bland and the third one while seemingly the best one is frustrating because of its control scheme and some of its levels. Btw, what does NCL stand for?
Like others have said, it sounds like an action game with the slightly sassier Dark Pit. And that sounds kinda awesome
@Artwark It's just Nintendo's Japan branch (Nintendo Co., Ltd.)
Hah Lair I remember that game, man you guys remember when haze was supposed to be a big deal?
Looks interesting, but I'm glad Uprising happened instead.
On an unrelated note, a new trailer for Project X Zone 2 was posted revealing that Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles as well as Lucina and Chrom are going to be playable. Fiora is paired up with KOS-MOS from Xenosaga, while Lucina and Chrom are paired up.
I remember this and coincidentally have been trying to look things up about it in the past year (with little success; I think I was just unknowingly mostly seeing footage from Lair combined with fragments of info for this proposed game). Thanks for another great article, @Damo!
The gameplay ideas sound fantastic, and I like that Factor 5 they wanted a potential change of direction for the series, but that change does indeed seem rather bland and not in the same spirit as the original Kid Icarus, unlike what has largely been done with Metroid Prime and Ocarina of Time.
@rjejr I loved the Cain series!! The voice delivery in those games were top notch!
Really not a fan of the Factor 5 Pit design, but the gameplay ideas sounded really great, and I am pretty certain that the controls would not be as needlessly complicated as Uprising. Don't get me wrong, I love Uprising, but I can only handle so much flicking of my wrist before they pop.
This sounded like it would have controlled like a free movement version of Sin and Punishment 2. Also would have killed for Rogue Squadron 4 on Wii. Might have to pick up a used copy of Lair as well, I had never really known what it was but if it was originally conceived as a Rogue Squadron game on 360, how bad can it really be? We miss you Factor 5. Not as much as we miss Pandemic and Free Radical, but we do miss you.
@accc...... It's very believable, think about it, Factor 5 had extensive experience developing for Nintendo hardware with very impressive results, and Lair graphics engine was an X Box 360 port from a Star Wars game and ported to PS3 which wasn't only new hardware but difficult to develop for due to the cell architecture.
@accc They didn't port Lair to the Wii. Lair was a Sony produced exclusive. They used the technology that supported Lair and adapted it to build an engine for the Wii.
https://38.media.tumblr.com/456f1e3301118d683d59f37e5b5e2312/tumblr_inline_nm7d270adV1ryzc0b.gif
So glad Nintendo had the sense to not let this go ahead.
@Einherjar Some day I'm really going to play Uprising, probably in 15 years when I find a used 3DS in a Good will store w/ a copy lodged in it. Or NX plays both Wii U and 3DS games on my tv..
@Hachiko They already covered the hacked Octolings before.
I have to agree, they were really missing the point of the series, but it doesn't make the idea bad by any means. The gameplay idea sounds like something I would personally really enjoy. It sounds like Sin and Punishment mixed with a open world shooter/hack n' slash, a combination since the was going for a melee cross run and gun weapon like in Brawl. I even kinda like Pit design a bit, but I still prefer Modern Pit better though. I would kinda like to see the game reimagine with the Modern Pit world and lore that stars Dark Pit. I would buy it in a heart beat if the add some action rpg elements to it.
@BigBabyPeach You're confusing "mature games" with the ESRB rating of the same name. The Metroid, Fire Emblem, Golden Sun, Star Fox, and Xenoblade franchises have always had pretty mature storylines, and even "Kid Icarus: Uprising" itself got pretty dark at times. Just because Nintendo doesn't usually include a bunch of gratuitous violence and/or sexual content to avoid an M rating in most of their games doesn't make them any less mature than much of what other developers release.
Anyway, thank goodness Nintendo stuck to its vision on this one. Pit works so much better as the cartoony, wisecracking, goofy guy he is in "Uprising."
He looks like Anakin.
I am very pleased with the fact that Nintendo is willing to reject a game completely if it is too different from the existing franchise. This protects series that are assigned to a new studio so that fans of the series shouldn't be disappointed.
@DarthNocturnal totally agree! I still have my gamecube copies of the Rogue Squadron games but it would be cool to do a Metroid Trilogy styled compilation of all three.
Glad this didn't work out. Wouldn't have gotten Uprising otherwise.
This sounded like it would've been the DmC of Kid Icarus. Thank god it didn't happen.
I'm glad they kind didn't in a way. The Uprising left a lot un-explored and the world is massive. Lore, characters, and more adventure can still be made and expanded.
Interesting, as always!
On a side-note: The way the person in the video talks, its as if he is using a bad word all the time, lol!
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