In this review, we see if the GameCube game Pikmin grows on us. We find out how well this puzzle game plays.
This game was released in 2001. It would also launch a small series of games.
You play the character Captain Olimar. While flying through space, his ship gets hit by an asteroid. Losing control, his ship then falls into a plant, his ship breaking apart in the process. When Olimar awakes, he finds that the planet is covered in deadly oxygen (well, deadly to him anyway). Olimar then decides to scour the area for any evidence of any of the remaining ship parts. His time available to him is limited to a mere 30 days. Coincidentally enough, his mission involves recovering 30 rocket ship parts. Should he fail to recover all 30 parts, then he’ll be forced to attempt a launch with his ship incomplete. This is because his suit will only last 30 days.
While it may not seem like you can do much, you need to find an onion ship. Touching it will activate the red Pikmin ship. Pikmin are onion-like creatures that can sprout from the ground and these ships are key in generating more.
Generally, Pikmin can haul items such as food, dead enemies, and ship parts back to the landing site. The ship parts go straight to the rocket ship while the other items you can collect go to their respective onion ships.
Your next objective after finding the Pikmin onion ship is to pull the Pikmin from the ground. After that, you need to increase the Pikmin population. This can be accomplished by throwing Pikmin at numbers disks on the ground. The number indicates how many Pikmin are needed to carry it. You obviously start with “1” disks, but you can gradually work up to “5”s. There are disks that are “10” and even a few “20”s hanging around.
One thing to note that isn’t that well explained in the game is the fact that you can use more Pikmin to carry objects than is required. So, for instance, if an object requires 5 Pikmin, you can put 7 Pikmin on carrying duty. Initially, that seems like a waste, but the practical benefit here is the fact that the Pikmin carrying the object moves faster. In a time sensitive game, that is hugely beneficial. Anywhere where you ca shave off time to complete a task is likely welcome news. There is a limit, so if Pikmin stop assisting after you throw them, it means the maximum number of Pikmin are carrying that object.
Now, as mentioned, there are a number of enemies in this game. Most enemies have their own attacks. Some will straight up eat the Pikmin. Others will blow them around, confusing them. A few even jump and squash them. Generally speaking, the fastest way to defeat the enemy is to hurl lots of Pikmin at them as quickly as possible (not always the case, but for a large number of instances, that is true). This isn’t always the safest thing to do because you could wind up losing a lot of Pikmin in the process. Sometimes, (frogs for instance), you might need to go it alone and take out the enemies yourself. It’s slow, but it’s more than possible to defeat enemies and not lose Pikmin in the process. Be warned, though, you can burn a lot of time doing this.
Another thing to note is that some enemies have actually swallowed ship parts. So, defeating them is a requirement just to access a part.
On a side note, if you manage to move a ship part or defeat a boss, but can’t get those parts to your ship, you can go back the next day and pick up from where you left off last time.
Time, of course, is a big factor in this game. Not only do you have only 30 days, but each day can go by quickly. Generally speaking, you should have enough time to collect a part every day. Of course, you might encounter unexpected obstacles that prevent you from accomplishing this. This means that you’ll probably need to collect 2 in one day. Most of the time, unless you are also eliminating enemies and obstacles in the process on a previous day, it can be difficult to squeeze in 2 ship parts in one day. So, it’s ideal to either collect one part and make your next round easier or collect two parts. If you can’t really remove any more obstacles, but have some time to spare, work on increasing your Pikmin population as much as possible.
As you explore around, you might notice your Pikmin get distracted and start pulling up blades of grass. There are yellow blobs of nectar in various locations. If the Pikmin with green leaves access them, they can eat the nectar and upgrade to the flower. There are three forms Pikmin can take. The first is the green leaf. After that, they can upgrade to a bulb, and then, a flower. Flower is the best form. Pikmin with flowers move the quickest and can run about as fast as you. This is extremely convenient as it can be annoying when you have stragglers running to catch up. An alternate way of upgrading Pikmin is to not pluck them right away. Leaving them in the ground for a while will allow them to upgrade on their own (provided you pick them at some point that day of course).
As you move deeper into the game, you’ll encounter other onion ships. In all, there are three ships: red, yellow, and blue. As you might expect, each colour has a specific specialty. Red, which the game only explains late in the game, permits resistance to fire. Yellow, meanwhile, allows Pikmin to pick up and throw explosives. They are also lighter and allow you to throw them higher and farther. Finally, blue gives your Pikmin gills. This allows them to explore water unharmed.
There are a number of hazards, obstacles, and features in the game. One hazard is fire traps. The traps will spew fire periodically. Some can be navigated around, but red will make your life a whole lot easier as they negate the consequences of touching that fire. Puddles of water also exist, so you’ll need to use your blue Pikmin to go through those obstacles. Additionally, there are rock walls. This requires your yellow Pikmin to use bombs to blast them down. Colour of the wall only indicates strength, so you’ll need to use varying numbers of bombs to take those walls out.
In addition to this, there are obstacles and features all Pikmin can access and use. Piles of wood can be attacked to create a bridge for Pikmin from a lower area to a higher area. Rock blocked geysers can be destroyed, leaving a simple water geyser. This is used so you can be splashed up to a higher area. Wooden fences require time and effort to attack and break down. You’ll need lots of Pikmin to knock them down in a timely manner.
As you find more space ship parts, you’ll notice that there is a certain threshold you’ll need to meet before you can explore the next area. One part is needed to access the next area, but the requirements are higher for subsequent areas. With the exception of the last level, you’ll gain access to the opportunity to collect multiple parts. You’ll need to collect all 29 parts to access the final area which contains the 30th part.
When you get to the end of a day, you’ll get a final hour warning, then a 10 “second” countdown. Mercifully, these final seconds are much longer, but there is a hard cut off. Once sundown has occurred, you’ll be assessed a day-to-day score. You’ll be shown how many Pikmin sprouted, how many were lost in battle, and how many were left behind. If a Pikmin is in your control, they won’t be left behind. If they sprouted, but haven’t been picked, you’ll see them again the next day. Pikmin near the ship will also board the onion ships. If, however, they are randomly somewhere in the field (not in unpicked mode), they will perish overnight.
The assessment screen will also show how many days are left and how many parts you’ve collected. It even offers a graph of the overall Pikmin population as well.
There are multiple endings for this game. To my knowledge, there are three endings. There is the bad ending for collecting very few ship parts. There is also a “good” ending if you collected most, but not all parts. Finally, there is the best ending for collecting all 30 parts.
When you are done playing this mode, there is also a challenge mode. Challenge mode is just the chance to try and grow the Pikmin population as much as possible in a single day. You start with 3 sprouts of each colour. The level is loaded with food more so than usual. You can pick from any of the first four levels. Also note that there are enemies and obstacles as well. Like normal mode, you can get a top 5 finish by doing well. Instead of being judged by ship parts collected/days to completion, you get judged based on how many sprouts you were able to grow. Note that the ground limit of 100 Pikmin is still the same.
While there are other smaller aspects to this game, that is the general gist of the game.
For me, it’s an interesting take on a puzzle game with adventure elements. Most of the time up to this point, games have a strict puzzle style. Other times, it’s an adventure. Save for maybe Super Monkey Ball (which combines racing and adventure), there isn’t necessarily a lot of games that blur the lines of genre’s in a 3D environment like this. So, it’s nice to see something that is nicely unique in a game as it helps create that sense of variety in the experience.
Additionally, this game is definitely a more unique play. While this always runs the risk of being a simply a weird experience, this one winds up working quite well, so that gets a thumbs up from me.
The difficulty curve is nicely done. You have a chance to learn the basics early on and the game isn’t all that punishing early on. This allows the game to be approachable in the beginning. At the same time, it can be quite challenging for players towards the end. So, in that aspect, the game is well done.
A problem I have is the somewhat strict time limit applied. While it’s more than possible to reach all 30 parts in a single run, this can be quite challenging for newer players. Eventually, you’ll probably find yourself behind (i.e. possessing 8 parts and being on day 10). This can encourage players to take what can amount to unnecessary risks to catch up. As such, it wound up artificially increasing the difficulty in the process. To make things more irritating, players can find themselves replaying area’s just to try and get to ship parts faster, extending play time in a rather repetitive manner.
Another problem with the game is the AI with the Pikmin. Pikmin simply run straight towards you when called. Unfortunately, if you go around an obstacle, sometimes, Pikmin will just get “stuck” behind the obstacle. This can be problematic with larger populations being managed where Pikmin can get stuck on walls or under bridges. So, the AI can be quite hit and miss.
Apart from those slightly bigger problems, it’s hard to really think of any real problems with the game. It’s got a good difficulty and learning curve, the levels are nicely designed, it has good variety and there are plenty of ways of forming strategies to tackle different levels. The time constraint is annoying as it makes the game more difficult than necessary, and the AI of the Pikmin could have been better. Still, it’s an otherwise solid game.
Graphics is definitely where this game shines. One needs to keep in mind the fact that this is right at the beginning of the GameCube life cycle. So, we are going from the N64/Playstation era to the PS2/Gamecube era. The water effects are impressive and the enemy animations are well done. The special effects are also well done such as different characters dying on the field or receiving damage yourself. The modelling and environments is also well done. The environments are very well detailed to say the least. So, an impressive effort here.
Audio is pretty decent. The music provides an overall sense of calmness. Besides maybe the final boss fight, the music doesn’t get overly energetic. I largely stays on the background providing mood. In this case, it’s nicely done. Sound effects and voice samples work quite well too. So, a good effort all around there.
Overall, this is a very solid game. It’s got good gameplay and has a unique twist to the overall experience. The Pikmin AI do leave a bit to be desired and the time constraint is definitely a bit tight for my taste. I’m not sure if I’d be replaying through this one that much, but it was a good experience the first time around. Graphics are impressive and the audio is quite decent. So, overall, a very solid game that’s worth playing.
Overall
Furthest point in game:
29/30 parts. Sprouted 918 Pikmin by day 28. Good ending even without the perfect score.
General gameplay: 20/25
Replay value: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Audio: 3/5
Overall rating: 78%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
