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Pikmin

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Console: GameCube

Genre: Strategy/Puzzle

Number of Players: 1

Released: December 3, 2001

Memory Card Blocks: 19

Introduction

Here comes Shigeru Miyamoto’s much anticipated newest game franchise showing off “The Nintendo Difference“. A totally new take on the so-called Strategy genre. I bet there are some humans out there that will not play this game just because it appears “cute”, but they are certainly missing out on one hell of a game. I honestly wasn’t sure if I would actually like this type of game. It turns out I love this type of game and is one of the most original and fun games I have ever played. There is absolutely no load time what so ever!

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics in this game are really impressive. All the plants and surrounding scenery looks like the real thing. When you walk through some plants it shakes and moves like the real thing. Sometimes fly’s even come out and buzz around the plant. The real time shadows from the sun are very realistic and the shadows sway when there is a breeze. If you zoom in and look at the ground it can be a little blurry, but it doesn’t affect the game play. The water really looks real as you herd your blue pikmin through the water you can see ripples in the water. The water has the shimmering in the water that was missing from Wave Race: Blue Storm.

As the day changes the sun sets and it gets darker. Captain Olimar’s little antenna is very bright and leaves a cool looking red blur as he moves. The Pikmin don’t have much detail on them but they do look bright and have good animation. All of the different kinds of enemies in the game are very detailed. There is absolutely no frame rate problems even when there are 100 Pikmin and numerous enemies on the screen at the same time. Very impressive.

Sound: 8.5/10

The music is very good and catchy, although there are only 5 songs(1 song for each level). The music does go a little faster while encountering enemies though. The Pikmin let out a little sound every once in a while. When the Pikmin drown they start squealing right before death. I think it would have been cool to let Captain Olimar have a voice. The different sound effects are well done. When you walk in water or over rock it sounds just like it should. I found it quite humorous to make the Pikmin attempt to tear down a wall by hitting it even though the only way to do so is with bombs. All you hear is the slapping of the metal and the disgust of the Pikmin giving up because it won’t budge.

Gameplay: 9.5/10

You get to control Captain Olimar as he crash lands on a foreign land and has to find his 30 ship parts so he can escape the planet. He has only 30 days until his oxygen is gone. You eventually will wander around till you find an object on the ground. It then moves out of the ground and sets up a pod like structure with wooden rails that support it going down into the ground. A little object buries into the ground and it sprouts a leaf. When you go over to it a pull at it, it pops out and it’s a red Pikmin. You then find out that it follows you wherever you go. There are many different color tablets that have a number on them. Your Pikmin will carry them back to the pod and it will produce more Pikmin. There are 3 different colors of Pikmin. Red ones are fire proof and are the strongest. Yellow ones can pick up bombs to blow up walls and enemies and can be thrown the farthest. The blue ones can walk through water without harm. There are 3 different stages of Pikmin. They start out as a leaf, then to a bud and finally to a flower. When they are a flower they are stronger and move faster.

There are 5 fairly big game areas that feature a lot of different creatures that try to eat the Pikmin. Each day only lasts about 15 minutes long. So needless to say you need to hurry if you plan on getting all the ship parts. You are allowed to have 100 Pikmin out of their pods at one time. The Pikmin sometimes fall down and are left behind as you go across the level. I found out that sometimes the yellow Pikmin refuse to pick up the bomb that I assigned them to. They just stand there. The good thing about this game is that you can have the Pikmin doing different tasks at the same time. You can have some tearing down a wall, some building a bridge, and you can be killing creatures all at the same time. There is at least one pretty big boss per level. They are quite challenging, but not too difficult where you will throw you controller across the room in frustration. At the end of each day, if you don’t gather all you Pikmin up you will leave them behind to die.

Controls: 9/10

The controls take a while to get used to. You can have the camera at 3 different depths by pressing the R button, and the Z button brings up an overhead camera view that makes the Pikmin look like ants. The L button comes in handy if you are at an awkward angle; it will swing the camera right behind Olimar. The camera is surprisingly well done for this type of game. In order to call all the Pikmin, you have to use the B button to whistle. You can toss your Pikmin with the A button. The control stick is used to move Olimar around the levels. The Y button brings up the map, and the X button will separate the Pikmin into different colors. The C stick is used to control all of the Pikmin that are following you at once. You can assign them to do a task such as build a bridge.

Replay: 8/10

It takes only about 15 minutes to play 1 day and you get 30 days to find all the ship parts. So you could easily beat this game in a couple of days. After you pass a level you unlock a challenge mode where you get one day to grow the most Pikmin. I have personally beaten the game 3 times and I am ready for more. As I watched the ending to the game, they showed the different animals that are in the game. I noticed that there were 2 animals that I did not even see after playing through it 3 times! This game is very addictive and does not get boring after playing more then one time. I think there should have been more colors of Pikmin to extend the replay value. Sadly there is no multi-player for this game. Maybe Pikmin 2 will have multi-player?

Conclusion

Well what can I say, this was a very fun and original game. I wish there were a mode that allowed you no time limit, so you are not rushed through the game. I was disappointed that you aren’t allowed to give your save files a name. It takes away the thrill of competing against friends when you can’t name the file. A neat little extra is to press down on the D-Pad and 4 Pikmin will pick up Captain Olimar. They will attempt to turn him into a Pikmin and it will set off a little firework show! It really is fun and maybe a little evil to “accidentally” command some red or yellow Pikmin into some water and watch them drown! I recommend buying this game, but if your not sure just rent it once and then you will want to own it. Its that damn good! Bring on the sequel!

Pros Cons

Good frame rate Short game

Realistic graphics Captain Olimar doesn’t speak

No loading Might be too “cute” for some people

Innovative

GameCube exclusive

Final Score: 9/10, 90%, A-

Reviewed by: Eric Brown on May 22, 2002

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