YMMV / Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

• Even Better Sequel: The only thing the NES game really has that its Game Boy sequel doesn't is color. Of Myths and Monsters removes a lot of the frustrating features of the original, in particular the cheap falling deaths, improves the things that were good about the original, and adds its own mechanics. It's notable in that it was one of the earliest Game Boy games that wasn't a "light" or "budget" versions of its corresponding NES game. It showed that the green-screened portable was capable of hosting games that not only matched, but exceeded the games on its bigger siblings. Sadly, it didn't get a follow-up on the SNES.
• Goddamned Bats: Plutons, Pluton Flies, as well as Sticky Talons in Myths and Monsters, who steal Pit's powerups and sell them to the black market. They're easily avoidable (Plutons can only move and jump to the left, Pluton Flies fly in a straight horizontal line), but if one so much as brushes Pit, say goodbye to your hard-earned weapons. If this happens, the only options to get the powerups back are dying, buying them back at the black market for an exorbitant amount of hearts, or completing the test of endurance again.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The ending of Of Myths and Monsters to those who've played Uprising. Pit flying too close to a cartoony sun and having his wings fall off was both funny and a nod to the original Icarus legend, until Uprising has Pit's wings burn up — from going over the five-minute limit on the Power of Flight to rescue Dark Pit from falling to his death — as a plot point, which nearly kills him and is played for both horror and tragedy.
• Sequel Difficulty Drop: Of Myths and Monsters is a bit easier than the first game thanks to the removal of the Ratchet Scrolling.
• Sophomore Slump: Kid Icarus (1986) is respected as a Cult Classic for its Nintendo Hard difficulty, and Kid Icarus: Uprising is also majorly agreed to be a fresh modernization that introduced many Iconic Sequel Characters such as Viridi, Dark Pit and Hades. Of Myths and Monsters, being sandwiched in-between them, largely fell under the radar despite its improvements, with a common criticism being that it was way too similar to its predecessor. No wonder it wasn't released in Japan until 2012, led to a massive 21-year Sequel Gap between it and Uprising, and the Kid Icarus representation in Super Smash Bros. is taken almost entirely from the original game and Uprising. The only thing openly referencing this game's existence are some stickers from "Brawl". This game does form the basis for Pit's redesign from Super Smash Bros Brawl onward, however.

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