Pikmin

"One of the best games on the GCN"

Pikmin has an interesting story behind its creation. The creator of this game was one day messing around in his garden when an idea popped into his. What if these plants could come to life and had a sub culture all their own. Then he came up with an idea of a stranded man befriending these plant creatures and using them to help him find a way back home. I may have a few bits and pieces mixed up but I'm sure you can read some interviews somewhere on the internet that will explain everything a little better than I'm able to. I rented Pikmin way back on its release and maybe 2 years ago I bought it since I had never finished the game. Well last week I started up a new game since I had deleted my old save and finished this bad boy in one day. Is it a good game or just another stale experience from Nintendo? Read on!

Captain Olmar's ship has crashed landed on an odd planet. His life supply will last him 30 days and he's missing 30 parts. With the help of a mysterious play like life form he must collect these pieces and make it home. It's a simple story with no real development besides a few journal entries here and there. It works though and while it's just journal entries, some of them are kind of interesting and flesh out Olmar's thoughts not only about his home and family but what he thinks is going on with the Pikmin. Really like the idea and while it doesn't add anything to the game and Olmar is far from a great character, it adds thought to the game and creates an interesting perspective on a man situation and what just might be going through his head.

The graphics in the game are some of the best, even today, that the Gamecube has been able to produce. The water effects look great, the areas, while small and limited look great as well. Some of the details in the later levels is just amazing which the way the water moves. Not only that but the game also feels like they took a picture of something they say and recreated it because a few of the areas really do look like they could be real. I'm mainly thinking of the area before last. Just breath taking to look at. The Pikmin and the enemies look nicely detailed as well. It's a very please game for the eyes and it's one of the best games to use to show case what the Gamecube was capable of doing but companies rarely tried.

The sound could be better but oh well. No voice work. Music is soothing and fits the game pretty well. I'd actually pick up the soundtrack if I could find it for cheap but that isn't the case. Sound effects are okay but they just don't do anything that exciting. Little sounds here and there. While it creates a natural feel to a small isolated world, it also creates a little less thrilling experience.

Control in the game is so simple and yet you're controlling 100 little guys. It's amazing how simple and user friendly the controls are. You can direct a group with the yellow stick. You can split the groups up; tell them to wait, attack and other commands. Even throw them. It's all very simple. Camera control felt a bit stiff but I'm not going to be picky here. One of the few games were I didn't want to throw the Game cube's controller around due to the controllers odd button layout. It actually worked well for this game.

Pikmin plays almost like a real time strategy game but on the same hand it doesn't. There are three types of Pikmin. Red, which are strong and good for fighting? Yellow which can throw bombs and blue which can go into water. You get them as you advance in the game but by that I mean by the third area you will have all of the three Pikmin. I found that in the later levels you need to micromanage a group containing specific numbers of specific Pikmin because you need some to reach something but others to carry them somewhere or visa versa.

Now the game only have 5 or so areas and they open up as you find more parts. You need almost every part in the game except maybe 5. So, there isn't too many areas to look for. The catch is that you need to use your different Pikmin to clean out areas, tear down walls, blow stuff up and cross rivers to build bridges and stuff. It's some good stuff and only in the level before last does the game offer some really interesting puzzles. One of the puzzles has you throwing blue Pikmin onto an island, then throwing them into a plant that turns them into a yellow Pikmin and then you need to throw them from the island to the shore and then from the shore up onto a cliff that's only reachable by yellow Pikmin and have them carry down the object and now you need to turn them blue again and have them carry the item back to your home base. Yes, it's complex but the final area has a few spots just like that. The game can really keep you on your toes in those final areas and with the timer counting down it can really put some strain on your nerves.

There is a time limit to the game. Its 30 days which are about 20 minutes long each. I completed the game in something like 22 days with all 30 parts. I didn't fully play those days though because I ended them quickly after going into an area to get 1 last part and you can only do one area in a day. Also, enemies reset in an area only when you leave it and then come back so if you kill the enemies in an area, try and get all of the parts (it's not possible in the first two areas) other wise you'll waste precious time defeating the enemies over so it's best to plan ahead or rethink the areas before going in so you have ample time to get what you need without wasting a day.

The world is full of enemies and it's best to use red Pikmin on them but any color can fight. The enemies aren't too smart but the bosses do provide a challenge. If you lose some Pikmin you can always have them harvest seeds and other things. Run out of a color completely and then the next day a lone Pikmin of that color will appear. Of course it isn't too smart to send the poor blue or yellow Pikmin into battle because they are weaker than the red and don't hold up as well in battle.

The game offers some interesting bonus features some bonus content that is unlocked after beating the game. A harder difficulty is one and it adds some new enemies that are a little tougher to kill. You can catch a peek at them during the credits. Besides that there seems to be a multiplayer function of some sort but I wasn't able to try that out. There is also a mission kind of mode as well that unlocks. All in all there is a nice amount of content available once you beat the game. And some of it is worth checking out which seems like a rare thing these days.

I'd highly recommend Pikmin. It's a well thought out and beautiful game. It's a bit simple but the idea is interesting and the game play is rather unique still. It's one of the best games on the Gamecube in my opinion. It's also a fairly cheap game by this point and I really do recommend finding a copy and be sure to do that soon because it's becoming harder and harder to find Game Cube games in stores these days, at least around here anyway.

Story - 5/10
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 9/10
Replay Value - 7/10

Final Score - 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/07