I'll never understand the yearning for a new Kid Icarus. The NES game was a miserable piece of shit, and a spot of shit on NES history.
Not with you there. I was a huge Kid Icarus fan back in the days of the NES.
In fact, I asked for and received the game for my birthday half a year before I even got an NES. I used to take it over to friend's houses and abuse their hospitality to play it, and then write down the password and continue it at other places. I loved having a platform game with an actual progression structure beyond 'next level'... it had currency, a life bar that you could buy upgrades to, items, etc.
The GBA one was not bad but was balanced a bit too easy IMO. It also seemed a lot shorter cause you never had to stop and grind like you did in the NES original. That said, the elimination of grinding was good, they just should have increased the length to compensate. Even adjusting for my vastly improved skills and the more lenient platforming mechanics, it didn't last long enough. I blew through the GBA one the first day I had it: even after I had memorized the NES original and owned it for months, it was still tough to get through in one day.
