Kid Icarus on the 3DS emulated was always unplayable for me. This Mod is aiming to make the experience better without using a stylus. I included some notes while testing this out. Disclaimer: I did not play the game extensively, just tested a bit around and made notes. I also don’t know how much it interferes with my personal configuration and the core itself, as the Right analog function in Citra is set to “C-Stick and Touchscreen Pointer”.
- System: Nintendo - 3DS
- RetroArch Core: Citra
- Game: Kid Icarus - Uprising (USA) (En,Fr,Es).3ds (other regions are supported)
- Mod: Kid Icarus Uprising - C-Stick & Gyro Patch
- Mod Version: v163
- Mod Date: 2026-10-26
Resources:
- GBATemp detailed manual and description: https://gbatemp.net/threads/kid-icarus-uprising-c-stick-gyro-patch.685775/
- Citra Game Modding doc: https://citra-emulator.com/game-modding/
- RetroArch Citra doc: https://docs.libretro.com/library/citra/
Control changes I noticed:
- Before: Camera or pointer cannot be moved, or its somehow inconsistent for me. I can’t move and change target at the same time. It’s unplayable. Holding RB just enables me to move cursor to left and right.
- After: With right analog stick I can move the camera/cursor, while shooting with LB. This enables me to move the character while shooting and also while moving the cursor independently.
My install notes:
This is for RetroArch on Linux. Adapt the file system to your system. I’m not familiar with Windows structure. Other emulators or cores might have different file structure, I did not test yet. Also make sure to choose the correct region matching the ROM and patch from the downloaded Mod archive. I did not install any other Mod, just this one. The installed Mod is about 115 MBytes big for me.
- Download “Kid Icarus Uprising - C-Stick & Gyro Patch.zip” from https://mega.nz/file/7GpmlLpb#44cagxe3Z4qKtR9MayS_ZECmKQoiTpx-rqUo0cBVYDU (linked from the GTATemp page).
- Unpack archive. Go into the resulting directory “Emulator/1 - Install First - Base Patch”, and choose the region for the ROM you have. In our example I choose “USA”.
- Copy or extract the directory “load” and all its subdirectories “load/mods/0004000000030100”, which contain the Mod.
- Go to directory “~/.config/retroarch/saves/Citra/Citra/” (note for Windows users: this represents Citra’s save directory of your RetroArch installation). This represents your user directory for Citra.
- Place the “load” folder into this “Citra” directory. All Mods are contained under “load/mods”.
- To deactivate the Mod, just rename the sub directory “0004000000030100” to something else (in example just add a word so it no longer matches, like “0004000000030100_disabled”) to disable the Mods for this game specifically. Or change the directory name “load” to something like “load_disabled” to deactivate all Mods, if you have for other games.
You can check if the Mod is active:
- Go to main menu of game.
- Go to sub menu “Options” > “Controls” > “Control Configuration” and in “Step 1” just click left option titled “Circle Pad (Default)”. The following “Step 2” will display images and adapted to the new the C-Stick and additional Touch Screen description.
Before Patch -> After Patch:
Credits and Disclaimer:
The contents of the Kid Icarus: Uprising C-Stick and Gyro patch was created and designed by Darkshade. The reverse engineering efforts involved in creating this patch were AI-assisted, but all design decisions, feature implementations and graphics were made with very deliberate intent. A considerable amount of time was spent developing, testing, and polishing this patch, as well as making any new graphics by hand with the aim of making these additions feel as natural and integrated into the original game as possible.
Kid Icarus: Uprising and all associated characters, names, trademarks, artwork, and other intellectual property are the property of Nintendo and their respective rights holders. This project is an unofficial, fan-made modification and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Nintendo or any other rights holder. No ownership of the original game or its associated intellectual property is claimed. All rights remain with their respective owners. This modification is provided for non-commercial purposes and is intended for use with a legally obtained copy of the original game.YT