This trick originally appeared in Nintendo Power many years ago. Look at how I have the treasure pots numbered in this picture:
 Here's how the trick works: If the background of the room is black, break the pots numbered 1, 2, and 8. If the background is blue, break the pots numbered 2, 6, and 7. Depending on the number of mallets that appear, you will be able to figure out which pot the God of Poverty (Reaper) is in. Break the other pots, saving the one with the Reaper for last. Break the Reaper's pot after breaking all the others to get a special item, such as a bottle, barrel, feather, or maybe even the Credit Card! Use these charts to find the Reaper's pot: |
| Black Room | Blue Room | |||
| # of Mallets | Reaper's Pot | # of Mallets | Reaper's Pot | |
| 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2 | 7 | 2 | 5 | |
| 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | |
| 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | |
| UPDATE: It turns out that the color of the background in the room doesn't matter for this trick. The true determining factor is what level you are in. If you are in a vertically scrolling level (Level 1 or Level 3), you should use the "Black Room" code. If you are in a sidescrolling level (Level 2), you should use the "Blue Room" code. How did I discover this? Well, the first two areas of Level 2 have a blue sky, but the third has a black sky, meaning, the Treasure Room has a black background. But the black background code didn't work in this Treasure Room when I tried it. I tried the blue background code, and that worked, so this could only mean that the actual stage is the determining factor, not the color of it. |
Special Tricks
Bargain With Shopkeepers
| You can try bargaining with the shopkeepers by pressing the A and B buttons on Controller #2. This may lower the price of the items, or it could increase it! This will not work in the Black Market. |
Weird Warp
| At the beginning of Level 2-2, leap up onto the door that's in front of you, and from there, leap up on top of the first lion head statue. From there, try to leap face-first up into the second lion head statue. If you do this just right, Pit will go right through the wall! (Similar to how Mario goes through the wall in the SMB Minus World trick.) The screen will scroll right a bit, and Pit will reappear from the right side of the screen and land safely on the ground! This trick is useless, but fun to try! |
Platform Warping
| Some stages have platforms that move up and down. Sometimes, if you move forward, the edge of one of these platforms will appear on the left side of the screen. Go back to the left and jump onto it, and Pit will "warp" around to the right side of the screen! This works well in the Level 2 Overworld sections that have the floating platforms. It's a useless trick, but fun to try! |
Dangerous Doorway Ducking
| If you duck just as you're entering a doorway, it's possible that Pit will go "flying" into the next room in the ducked-down position and become stuck! I've had this happen to me in the fortresses, and there is no way out of it, except if there's a nearby enemy and it kills me or if I reset the game. Be careful! |
Dealing With Eggplants
| The Eggplant Wizard is a tough enemy! If he turns you into an eggplant, Pit cannot use his weapons at all, until he gets the curse removed by a Nurse. When you enter the room with the Eggplant Wizards, watch to see how high they shoot their eggplants. If they shoot them low, it is harder to dodge them. Back out of the room and re-enter. If the Wizards shoot the eggplants high this time, try to run under them. If they still shoot low, keep exiting the room and re-entering until they shoot them really high. |
Zeus's Treasure
| Don't bother with Zeus's training unless you have at least 2 full life blocks. Get the Sacred Bow, first, because it will help you alot more than the other two weapons. |
Case of the Disappearing Chalice
| If you find a chalice or harp, always grab it before entering a door! If you enter the door before grabbing it, when you leave you will find that it has disappeared. |
Mystery of the Heart
| With the exception of Specknoses, Ganewmedes, Tamambos, and Tros, there is never more than 4 of a single type of enemy on the screen at once. If you destroy the enemies, but don't pick up the hearts, no more of that kind of enemy will appear until all the hearts disappear. This is especially useful information to know when dealing with the Reaper. If he summons his Reapettes, defeat them, but don't pick up the hearts. Kill the Reaper before the hearts disappear. As long as there is at least one heart remaining on the screen, he cannot make any more Reapettes appear! |
Collin Oddities
| If you defeat Collin, the Eeleyes will disappear when the heart left behind by Collin is either picked up or vanishes. Likewise, if you defeat the Eeleyes without defeating Collin, he will send out more Eeleyes once the hearts that were left behind are gone. |
Follow the Red Brick Road
| On the final level, if you fly through the red bricks, you'll be safe
from Erinus and the Totems! Also if you stay in the very bottom-left corner, you'll be completely safe from the Harpies, too. They'll go right over you:
Be careful, because if you touch the clouds below you, Pit will bounce back up the middle-section of the screen. |
Battle With Medusa
| To defeat Medusa without getting hit, stay on the left side of her chamber,
and float just below the level of her iris, so that her shots start going
downwards at an angle. They should pass by right underneath you without
hitting you. Now aim your shot so that it destroys the snake. Keep firing
until Medusa is history!
TheAlmightyGuru also sent in a screenshot of another "safe spot" when fighting Medusa:  Time your shots to hit the snake and you can actually take her out faster from this position. |
Easy Win
| To defeat Twinbellows without taking any hits, try to trap him in one of the corners, facing away from you. This works best if you trap him under the ledge on the left. Just keep shooting him from behind and he'll be defeated in no time! |
Dealing With Enemies
| The enemies in Kid Icarus are not unlimited. If you are attacked by enemies, find a safe spot on the screen, and keep defeating them over and over again. Eventually, they will stop coming, and you'll be able to move on, unharmed! This is a great way to earn points and hearts. |
Multiple Endings
| There are five different endings for Kid Icarus. They are determined by how many stats you have maxed out. The five stats are:
If none of these conditions are maxed out, Pit gets a hat that looks like a Gilligan hat in the ending. If one condition is met, Pit gets a helmet. If two conditions are met, Pit gets a helmet with a big red feather. If three conditions are met, Pit grows up. If all conditions are met, Pit grows up and receives a kiss from Palutena. Also, more details appear in the background graphics, such as columns and a group of angels that fly around and drop hearts. |
Electric Slide!
| Pit has the strange ability to slide back and forth while ducked down. This isn't really a special trick, I just find it funny! |
Trial of Mirrors
| In the mirror room, stand a little right of center and duck. If you stay in one place ducked the whole time, you won't get hit by more than a couple of mirrors, and if you've got good dexterity you can avoid all mirrors without ever having to shoot at one. You can use this tip and start entering mirror rooms right away. - Submitted by Beau |
Hold Up
| To help jump onto those really tiny platforms in space, hold up as soon as you jump. Pit will stick to whatever he lands on. This will also work if Pit is sliding on ice. If you hold up, he stops dead in his tracks. - Submitted by Beau |
Safety From Moilas
The pink flying starfish on the final level (Moilas) only go so far across the screen, then they turn around and fly back the other way. They never go to the very right edge of the screen, so if you hang out there, you're completely safe from them:
 Stay anywhere on the right edge and the Moilas can't get you. Once the third wave is gone, you'll want to move back to the left to avoid being hit by an upcoming enemy. |
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