Pikmin

"Just when you thought it was safe to tiptoe through the tulips..."

I'll have to admit that even I was skeptical about this game; first of all, the game resembled pokemon (in name only) and second, it seemed like a dangerously childish game to launch with the more ''mature'' Gamecube console.
At any rate, I eventually had to play this game, and I have to say it caused me to think of games in a way that I haven't thought of games since the days of the NES; days when I would play through the same stage 30 times just because back then, the pleasure of the side-scrolling platformer was new and beautiful, and now Shigeru Miyamoto has created something new and beautiful that you'll want to play again and again.

The basic premise: You're this goofy professor named Captain Olimar, and you've crash-landed on an alien world inhabited by large mouthy critters that eat things like you; your only allies are these cute flower-gnome hybrids which Olimar calls ''Pikmin''. Once you pluck a few of these pikmin out of the ground, the fun begins.

Pikmin plays almost like a chess game; Miyamoto's age is showing through his game design in the sense that this is one of the most mellow, serene, and peaceful games ever created. You have 30 days to recover the 30 parts of your broken spaceship, and you summon armies of pikmin to do your foul bidding. This is where the game becomes insidious and very much like a nature documentary. Call this a kiddie game? Say that when your entire pikmin herd is devoured by a giant grubdog because you made a stupid tactical error. Listen to their screams of agony and try not to feel a little ripped up inside. Accidentally drowning a hundred pikmin at once is all too possible until you've gotten the hang of the game, and it can be a heart-rending experience. ^_^

The game is easy to pick up and play; you move olimar with the analog stick, pluck pikmin with the A-button, and manipulate the camera with the shoulder buttons. The C-stick is used ingeniously to control your pikmin; you can get them to swarm around you in a massive herd.

Graphically, I was hoping for more. The game runs at 60fps with lots of atmospheric haze and sweet water effects and 100 pikmin onscreen at once, and it's decently textured, but considering they were going for a really natural, lush outdoorsy feel I still was left wanting a bit more; a few more big trees, a few more flowers you could run through, things like rain and random weather (pikmin 2, pleeease?) but as it stands, it makes good use of the system for a first-gen title.

Sound is another winner; although there are a lot of obnoxiously cute meeps and squeaks from your pikmin, they do make some downright horrible noises when they die, which creates a pavlovian motivation for you not to lose any :P the soundtrack is very much like the water levels of Super Mario 64; lots of bright chiming notes and a very soft, atmospheric feel. It's yummy and it changes in relation to time of day and in combat situations.

In terms of length, you'll get a good 10-15 hours of play to make it through the game in one try; I was a bit disappointed by my own skills because I was secretly hoping I WOULDN'T get all 30 ship parts in my first try. The beauty of Pikmin is that, even though I did get a 'perfect' on my first try I still feel like going back and playing the game again; and that's what makes this game so beautiful. You play and play and play, and you try different strategies; and you can reset every five minutes if something doesn't work, or you can play for two hours, totally screw up, save your game, and try to make the best of the days you have left. You can make your own challenges and completely live IN the game on your own terms, and explore it however you want; in the end this game totally surprised me; it's a wonderful example of Nintendo's ''games for everybody'' philosophy; although visually it is a bit on the ''kiddy-cute'' end of the scale, it's a game that could be enjoyed by a six-year-old, a 20-year-old nintendo veteran, a 40-year-old playing games with his family, or a senior citizen.

The only thing I really wanted more of was that lush feeling; more flowers, more trees, more dynamic shadows, more bugs flitting about, more water, more lighting, and more nature; the atmosphere was fantastic but I think my expectations will be fully realized with the sequel (already in the works)

Get this game, unless you'd rather sit in front of your screen for sixty hours pressing the A-button repeatedly and watching FMV clips. Easily the most original game since Jet Grind Radio.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/07/02, Updated 03/07/02