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For Well-Adjusted Nintendo Fans

I confess, I can't play Kid Icarus Uprising

Written by Amber

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Kid Icarus Uprising is a game I was looking forward to. While it was in development, I read every scrap of info dribbled to the press. I watched the silly promo cartoons downloadable on the 3DS. It is a game that I pre-ordered and awaited the delivery of with impatience. It is a game, I'm frustrated to admit, that I tried and failed to play.

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You see, I just so happen to be left-handed...

When Nintendo designed the 3DS, it maintained the traditional status quo of directional controls on the left and buttons on the right. Consoles had been dual analog for a while, but not so for handhelds. After all, dual analog isn't absolutely necessary. However, a consideration in favor of a symmetrical control scheme is to accommodate people who have a single dominant hand, be it right or left. This is especially useful if you insist on putting together a crazy-ass stylus/circle pad control scheme that is less than friendly towards us southpaws.

Sure, sure, there's a left-handed option in Kid Icarus Uprising. The controls are fully customizable. But you can't customize a Circle Pad that's not there and the right-side buttons are a lousy substitute for the directional pad. They are neither shaped nor spaced to accommodate diagonal movement nor is my right hand accustomed to moving the character. I tried to make it work though, oh boy did I ever try.

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The left-hand option worked out worse than trying to use the stylus in my right hand. I barely managed to play up to the first boss on a very low difficulty. Then I thought about using a thumb strap stylus on my right hand instead. Problem was, I didn't have my old thumb nub anymore, so I made one. I actually sculpted a thumb stylus out of FIMO clay and the tip of a glove. That didn't work out either. My hands are quite small and I couldn't comfortably stretch my thumb out far enough to reach across the entire screen. Plus, the accuracy left something to be desired. At this point, I'm seriously contemplating the purchase of a Circle Pad Pro. Like most people, I've used dual analog controls and my right hand is just fine manipulating a thumb stick. I can't justify spending from twenty to thirty bucks on a peripheral I'd probably use for just one game though!

Even some right-handed players have complained about Kid Icarus's controls, noting that it's hard to play while holding the system without their hands cramping up. Regardless of what hand I used, I could only play while using the little stand Nintendo helpfully included, tacit acknowledgment that the set-up can be problematic for some. Alas, the stand alone doesn't solve my primary complaint.

At some unspecified point in the future I plan to try training myself to use the stylus with my right hand, or maybe buy the CPP, but frankly my enthusiasm has waned due to the experience. I'll get around to it later, maybe. Honestly, I had never given the 3DS' lack of a second Circle Pad a thought before, but now that the problem has hit home I'm giving Nintendo and the Kid Icarus dev team a left-handed middle finger.
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  1. TathanenTathanenstaff
     said |

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    I think you've hit on an interesting issue here, by noting that your right hand isn't accustomed to moving a character. I think that any "stick to move, stylus to aim" control scheme would be difficult for a left-handed gamer. It's more of an issue that is endemic to the 3DS (or original DS for that matter) than a sin perpetrated by Kid Icarus in particular. Even if there WERE an analog stick on the right (or if you had the CPP), it still requires you to learn how to control a character with a thumb you aren't used to controlling a character with.

    So there's required adjustment/learning regardless of what the schemes they offer you are. You either have to learn how to player-control with your right thumb, or learn how to stylus-aim with your right hand. It's an issue that's probably much more pronounced for long-time left-handed gamers, as they've all presumably adjusted to this left-hand-for-movement paradigm, along with all the right-handers. A left-hander that's new to gaming probably wouldn't have that hang up.

    So I don't think there's really a solution to your problem. Learning right-thumb movement is probably easier than right-hand stylus control, but there's learning necessary either way. The only option would be to not design games that use the stylus to aim and a stick to move, period. And considering the things Kid Icarus is doing that you just flat-out couldn't do without this particular control scheme (flick-tap to instantly pivot to any conceivable degree), and action designed around your ability to move and aim with that degree of speed and precision, I don't think I'd support that option. If you can get used to it, I think stylus/circle-pad control schemes are actually the closest you can get to mouse/keyboard shooting control on any control scheme that exists. Arguably it's superior!

    It's not an ideal scenario for left-handed gamers, but really, there IS no "ideal" scenario to be had, even theoretical. You're going to have to adjust one way or another.

  2. AarowSwiftAarowSwiftauthor
     said |

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    Not speaking for anyone else, I can use an analog stick fine with my right thumb. I'm actually semi-ambidextrous. There are certain actions I can only do with my right hand, like using scissors or a mouse. The problem with the left hand option in KI is it asks you to use your off hand with a clumsy button set. I'm sure I can learn to use my right hand for directional controls, which was why I thought the thumb stylus could work for me. But trying to use my right hand to control the character on top of trying to use the buttons not meant for directional control simply made me an easy target. Controlling the character with the circle pad wouldn't be too different from using an analog stick to control the camera in an action game like Monster Hunter, that makes very active use of the camera.

    1. TathanenTathanenstaff
       said to AarowSwift |

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      Wait so if you can use a right-side slide pad just fine for movement, your only actual complaint is that.. you don't want to buy the Circle Pad Pro? I mean you outright say that you're giving the middle finger not only to Nintendo but to "the Kid Icarus dev team," but how is this their fault? They have nothing to do with the hardware specifications of the 3DS. In fact, while it would be extremely easy for them to not support the CPP at all, they did! It seems like you should be thanking them for providing you with a way to play the game with no problems at all. If you're just annoyed at Nintendo for not including the slide pad on the base unit and making you spend money on another thing, fine, but that sure aint the Kid Icarus team's fault.

      The CPP is probably a good investment for any left-handed gamer. Nintendo is on-record as saying how they literally could not fit anything else in the 3DS case, and they could have just left that as the final word. Releasing the CPP in the first place seems like a charitable move for those left-handed gamers who they knew would eventually have issues.

  3. tonedef
     said |

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    I'm a lefty, and I was very concerned about KI. This concern was based on two things: Dillon's Rolling Western (which requires the stylus and circle pad, and has no lefty option), and Metroid Prime: Hunters (which offered a targeting/movement option for lefties that, on paper, is identical to KI:U's). I thought that Nintendo would never get it right (or get it left, if you will), and just assumed that I would be unable to play Kid Icarus with any level of proficiency or comfort. But, I had a pre-order at Gamestop already, so I decided to give it a shot. I've never not loved a single game designed by Masahiro Sakurai.

    59 hours and 44 minutes of play time, and 3925 online KOs later, I'm doing well for myself. I can control my character better than all of my right handed friends, and even have somewhat of an advantage. Righties "dash" by "smashing" the circle pad, which apparently leads to a lot of accidental dashing. I've read online that this is annoying, but haven't experienced it.

    The ABXY buttons, used by lefties for movement, are not pressure-sensitive like the circle pad, so to dash, you have to hit a button twice quickly. Though it sounds burdensome, it gives you better control over exactly when you dash. And having four buttons gives you the option to move in 8 directions (instead of the full 360 degrees of the circle pad), but this is not a subtle game. You're usually dashing across a field, or dashing forward or backward to fire a charged shot. Or you're standing still to snipe. The 8 directions you're allowed to invoke, in combination, allow for approximately the "resolution" you need to play the game well. The only time I've been frustrated by the ABXY movement buttons is when I can't pick up an item or step on a launch pad. Those two things are much easier with a circle pad, I'm sure, as they require more precision than the rest of the game does.

    I never even unwrapped the stand. Maybe my Nyko expanded battery makes the unit easier to hold onto, but I can easily play with the unit in my lap, or even holding it in the air. I have to support the bottom with the pinky of my right hand to do so, however. I have pretty small hands, too, so most people should be able to do this. I know it sounds ridiculous to ask you to play with your fingers pretzeled around your 3DS, but I only took the time to respond to your comments because this is an incredible game. By far the best 3DS game I've played, and possibly my favorite game since Smash Bros Brawl.

    So, TL:DR advice from a lefty: stick with the ABXY controls and play Solo through level 9, keeping the intensity as low as you need to to get through. You'll learn how to play well, can gradually increase the difficulty, and will kick butt in multiplayer.

  4. kirbynintendo
     said |

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    The controls are awkward, ruining an otherwise great title, and I am a righthanded person. The title would have been much better on the Wii,using the infrared or wii motion plus for aiming, like originaly intended. There was no need to release this game on the 3ds, since Mariokart 7 and Super Mario 3d land already saved the 3ds.

    2. TathanenTathanenstaff
       said to kirbynintendo |

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      To be clear, Kid Icarus Uprising was never "originally intended" to be a Wii title. It was "a game for the 3DS" before it was even Kid Icarus, that was the project, and it came together from there. The Wii (and PC) prototypes were because at that point, the 3DS hardware wasn't finalized, and Sakurai didn't yet have access to a development kit.

      Sakurai said:
      At first we didn't have the Nintendo 3DS development kit, so we started making it on a PC. Oh, and for a while we were using a Wii to make it! (laughs)

      Iwata said:
      That's how early, compared to the other Nintendo 3DS titles, you began development.

      http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/kidicarus/0/7

      The game as-is is absolutely as intended, and was a 3DS flying/shooting game before the franchise was even decided upon. And if you've taken the time to really figure out the controls and how the game expects you to use them, you would see how the Wii pointer simply could not accomplish the same kinds of things.

      It's not a particularly accessible control scheme, to be sure! Huge learning curve. But sometimes that's okay, if it's worth it.

    3. AarowSwiftAarowSwiftauthor
       said to Lobdale |

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      Train yourself to write cursive with your offhand as well as your main hand. Hard to do? Well, just "get better". It's not that simple. I want to "get better" at the game, not fight with the controls, which shouldn't present a barrier. I too wish it had been a Wii game. Also, it's not like I didn't work at it. I tried to play the game up until Xenoblade came out. I think I went the extra mile actually making a freaking thumb stylus for it. It's straight up frustrating and no amount of Nintendo apologetics changes the fact that a non-trivial number of people find the controls to be a hurdle to enjoying this game. This is not a condemnation. It is a legitimate complaint. One I hope Nintendo takes to heart in the design of whatever their next handheld might be by including a second analog/circle pad.

    4. TathanenTathanenstaff
       said to AarowSwift |

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      Well.. he's not telling you to get better, he's telling that right-handed guy. Different problems! A right-handed guy should be able to get better, if he works at it. No fundamental left/right issues there.

  5. AarowSwiftAarowSwiftauthor
     said |

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    It's a comment that could just as easily be directed towards me, which is why I decided to address it.

    1. LobdaleLobdalestaff
       said to AarowSwift |

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      Nah, I replied directly inline specifically to him, and your two situations are markedly different.

    2. AarowSwiftAarowSwiftauthor
       said to Lobdale |

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      No, I meant the "get better" statement could also be applied to me. Not that you specifically were addressing me. I know you were talking to someone else. There was never any confusion over who you were talking to.

    3. LobdaleLobdalestaff
       said to AarowSwift |

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      The get better statement could not be applied to you, because it was based solely on conditions and a personal approach that were remarkably different from yours. If you want to believe that somehow it is your fault that you cannot "get better" because of your hand dominance I guess that's your own deal, but I assure you that unless you absolutely choose to distort it so that it can apply to you, it cannot.

    4. AarowSwiftAarowSwiftauthor
       said to Lobdale |

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      My view is hardly a distortion. I'll try one more time to explain this, but then I'm done. My experience and observation has been that the control scheme for this game has caused many people, regardless of handedness, to run up against physical difficulties or limitations in attempting to play it. These difficulties can be diminished through practice (practice at manipulating the device, separate from improving game skills) - the "getting better" part. It does apply to me because, even as I said in the original article, one option I saw for playing was "getting better" at using the stylus with my right hand. It may be a bigger hurtle than a natively right handed person person working to better manipulate the device, but it is not intrinsically different. The point is that the physical hurtle is there regardless of handedness. It's not anyone's fault. And some people have a harder time dealing with this hurtle than others do. If you didn't have a hard time, well congratulations. Go you. Try not to dismiss the concerns of others too offhandedly.

      All of this leads to a legitimate complaint about both this sort of control scheme and about the design of the 3Ds that anyone making a game should take into consideration.

  6. Arriant
     said |

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    I'm left handed and I was able to pick up the feel of the controls within the first level. After reading other people's views on the control scheme I got the gist of how it was going to play out so I went in expecting the worst, but hoping for the best. I was surprised at how easily I was able to get the hang of it and still can't quite understand how so many people are having trouble. Granted, the stand is almost a necessity (trying to play it while holding/stabilizing the 3DS in your left hand is difficult). I'm not standing up for the controls, as I do think the second analogue stick should have been available regardless of whether or not the stylus is considered "superior" by Sakurai, but I do think people who are struggling with it just need to give it some extra time and patience. Its definitely not impossible and once you get the hang of it, it feels very natural.

    EDIT: Its nowhere near as difficult as trying to write cursive with your offhand. Most of the hand movements are fairly linear and you have no need to try to make these gestures look aesthetically pleasing or even legible. Its more like scribbling with your offhand.

  7. DVGamer7
     said |

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    ever since i decided to get rid of Super Smash Bro Melee i have decided that trying to "collect" via video games every nintendo character is stupid and decide to keep games purely on game quality and not for character completion... thus i dont give a crap about the historical significance of ikarus and have skipped this...


    plus i heard the controls are crap

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