return to angel land

So, I got a little bored this evening and sat down to play some GBA. Tonight, I was feeling especially old school, so I started digging through my collection of really old, original Game Boy games. The game du'jour, as it were, was Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, a game I hadn't played in many, many years. I was amazed, however, when I found myself unable to put the thing down. I played through the entire game in just a few hours (granted, there are only 14 levels in all). It was still a blast, just as I remember it. And it got me thinking, why did the franchise die after two games? Nintendo tends to be the kind of company that milks it's franchises for everything they're worth. Don't get me wrong, it's very, very rare for one of big N's franchise-based games to be anything short of phenomenal. This particular series just seemed to me to be rather short-lived, especially since it was tons of fun, and continues to be one of my more fondly remembered games of the 8-bit era.

Of course, I can't really imagine playing Kid Icarus in a rendered 3D world and being much fun, but hey, I thought the same thing about Metroid before I actually got to play (no, make that experience) the beautiful Metroid: Prime. At the very least, the original Kid Icarus should have been included in the Classic NES Series for the GBA. I mean, come on, we get Ice Climber instead of Kid Icarus?! What gives? Who's gonna pay $20 for Ice Climber? Anyway, I did run across a rather cool (and nostalgic) website dedicated to Kid Icarus, if anyone's a fan.