Kid Icarus: Uprising Control System Explained

Anyone who's currently enjoying Kid Icarus: Uprising will no doubt have one major gripe: the controls, and while the game has gained faveourable reviews, there's one aspect of the title which has caused a great deal of discussion. Producer Masahiro Sakurai has now explained that dual analogue controls was technically impossible and you can read just why inside.

"Considering how close to the limit we pushed the 3DS during development, it's a miracle that we were even able to provide support for left-handed controls at the point of completion. Providing support for independent analog control was something that was technically impossible.

I do have my doubts over whether it'd be that easy to provide support. I think any game needs to provide new experiences and stimulating things to discover, but if we provided run-of-the-mill controls for it, that cuts down on the game's potential. If a player used to touchscreen-based aiming played against someone used to right-analog control, the first player would probably dominate. The speed is on a whole different level.

If there are players who say that it makes their hand tired, that's because you're applying too much force. Try to relax and work on building a rhythm to your control. Place the pen in the middle of the touchscreen; when you're flicking it, take the pen off the screen as you're sweeping with it, and stop right there. That's the basic idea.

Smash Bros. led to similar misunderstandings when it first came out. Some people, including within the company, commented that they couldn't imagine a worse game. The project was really saved by the fact that people "got" how to play it after it was released. If we had just listened to the complaints and instituted health gauges or command-based special moves, I don't think we would have invented a new style of play that way. The controls here really aren't that difficult, either, so I'm hoping that people will be able to get used to them."

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