Around 2007, Retro Studios designer Jason Behr pitched the idea of a new Kid Icarus title for the Wii to Nintendo, providing little more than an elevator pitch and some conceptual documents. When reached by Unseen64, Behr stated that the original NES title was a childhood favorite of his and a constant source of inspiration. However, Nintendo turned down the offer before it could proceed into creating test assets, as the pitch focused primarily on the idea of reviving Kid Icarus, which ran counter to Nintendo's approach of conceptualizing gameplay elements first and determining a suitable property for them second.