Kid Icarus was last seen as a Mario-style platformer on the Gameboy 20 years ago, and while its original audience might since have become parents and homeowners, the game itself has grown into a frantic 3D shooter with unique stylus controls.

Although "grown" maybe isn't the word. The tone is self-consciously adolescent, set by the gawpingly irreverent back-and-forth between winged hero Pit and his goddess patron-cum-flight control handler, Palutena. And you'd be hard-pressed to call the controls an advance, the 3DS again wrestling with a lack of a second directional pad (unless you shell out for the Circle Pad Pro) and using the touchscreen for aiming. This works fine while Pit's in the air, but every level finishes on the ground, where swiping the screen to turn is teeth-grindingly inaccurate. Add to this the fact that these controls put such a strain on players' left hands that the game comes packaged with a plastic stand and much of the bright, explosive promise of Kid Icarus is squandered.