Masahiro Sakurai is best known for his work on the Super Smash Bros. series, but in the early days of the Nintendo 3DS handheld console, he went around. Between Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. Wii U and 3DS games Sakurai directed Kid Icarus: Uprising, a critically acclaimed exclusive for the Nintendo 3DS, which many hailed as a worthy revival of the original Kid Icarus series. Kid Icarus: Uprising remains a 3DS exclusive. Used copies are expensive, and due to the upcoming closure of the Nintendo 3DS online store, it will soon become even more difficult for fans to get hold of the game.
However, a new rumor suggests that Kid Icarus: Uprising may well get a second life in the form of a port or remaster of the Nintendo Switch. Zippo, a frequent Nintendo insider who has made several accurate predictions in the past, claims that Bandai Namco is working on a remaster of Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo Switch. According to Zippo, this remaster will include a new control scheme and improved graphics. It is also reported that it will retain the online multiplayer features of the original. They say that the game will be released next year, but for now fans should take this information with a high degree of skepticism.
Bandai Namco and Nintendo maintain a close working relationship, and in addition Bandai Namco has worked directly with Sakurai on the Super Smash Bros. series. Given this, it is likely that if the remaster Kid Icarus: Uprising was in development, Nintendo would entrust it to Bandai Namco. On the other hand, Nintendo entrusted Bandai Namco with the development of Metroid Prime 4, but the development of this project had to be resumed at Retro Studios.
If the Kid Icarus: Uprising Switch port is real and Zippo’s information is correct, it looks like it will solve one of the biggest complaints of fans and critics about the original. Despite the fact that Kid Icarus: Uprising earned a lot of praise during its release, the controls caused controversy. The updated control scheme can make Kid Icarus: Uprising easier to manage and, therefore, more accessible to a wider audience than the original for 3DS.
As for ports, Nintendo has so far focused mainly on porting Wii U games to the Nintendo Switch, but it would be great to see some of the best 3DS games get similar treatment. After all, Nintendo has discontinued the 3DS and is closing the portable console online store, so many of its exclusive games will become much harder for fans in the near future.
Kid Icarus: Uprising is already available exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.
