Pikmin, originally released on October 4th, 2001, recently saw a digital re-release on the Nintendo Switch. The beginnings of this beloved series sees graphical enhancement and an update to controls. The gameplay itself remains unchanged but getting to visit this fun, albeit short game has been an enjoyable experience. As someone who missed the original release, I was excited to get to experience the game this time around.
The story begins as Olimar is flying through space when his ship is struck by a meteor. He crash lands on this strange planet and his ship falls to pieces. As Olimar assesses the situation he realizes that the oxygen on this planet is toxic to him. He determines that his life support systems will grant him thirty days to fix his ship. During his assessment, Olimar discovers what he ends up naming an onion. This onion births a creature that Olimar calls a Pikmin. Due to the Pikmin’s tendency to follow directions, Olimar decides to work with the Pikmin to repair his ship that is missing thirty parts. The story is simple, yet well presented. The game doesn’t feel the need to hold your hand and explain every niche and nuance of how to play. You get words of advice in Olimar’s daily ship log that help you learn how to use your Pikmin better. Otherwise the game leaves you to figure it all out on your own.
The Pikmin come in three forms: Red, Yellow, and Blue. Each with their own unique abilities. Red Pikmin are immune to fire and deal the most damage. Yellow Pikmin can be thrown higher/farther, and can pick up bomb rocks. Blue Pikmin survive in water. You obtain an onion for each respective Pikmin color and it is your responsibility to feed those onions materials to make more Pikmin based on the demands of each level. Building up your army of these little creatures is easy. The problem is trying to keep them alive. I’m convinced that the reason the Pikmin follow Olimar is because they are too stupid to do anything else. These creatures will willingly walk into the jaws of death because you didn’t make sure to hold their hands across a bridge. It’s like herding toddlers. The Pikmin will often stop following you to do seemingly innocuous tasks like pulling up grass or breaking up stones in the ground. While there is no task that isn’t useful in some way, it’s still annoying when you have an objective in mind and you are having to stop because your Pikmin somehow had a thought of their own. Stupidity aside, these are very endearing little creatures that work well together under command.
The levels that you get to explore are well orchestrated. Each area has a handful of ship parts and plenty of threats including some interesting boss encounters. The puzzle aspects of this game are commendable. The game presents you with unique challenges that require you to think quickly because you only get thirteen and a half minutes per in-game day to accomplish all that you can. Challenges consist of enemies throughout the environments, walls that need to be broken down, and bridges that need to be rolled out. Some levels are daunting at face value to tackle. With proper management of time and resources, every challenge is very achievable. The puzzles are well thought out without being overly obtuse. I’d say issues with puzzle solving are more related to the incompetence of the Pikmin but it falls on the player to make up for those shortcomings. The boss encounters are also well presented as threatening puzzles. Each creature behaves in a way that forces you to look for an opening, lest your Pikmin get killed in battle. In my playthrough, I had a couple of encounters where I made fatal mistakes and ended up having to go retrieve more Pikmin. I’d say around half of my Pikmin were killed and most of those were from playing bad and getting them eaten or crushed by enemies.
With there only being a handful of levels, the soundtrack isn’t very extensive. Each track does well to accompany the locale it represents. You get very calm and soothing tones as you are exploring the environment. The tones naturally shift as you encounter danger. The Final Trial has a unique way of fitting both the environment, and also the stakes of your mission. While not inciting panic, it does give proper tension.
Due to how short this game is and how it’s presented, I would put this game under the “comfort food” category of games. It felt nice not having the fate of the world riding on your shoulders. Sure Olimar’s life is in danger but when the game can be beaten in as little as six in game days, you have more than enough time to complete the game. It also helps that you aren’t required to collect all thirty ship parts in order to win. Of course you do get a higher score if you collect all of the parts but it feels good not being pressured to total completion. This game could easily get stressful by giving you less time to do more objectives. Overall the game is well balanced and is a great first entry into a series that will soon be introducing its sixth installment in July of 2023.
The story begins as Olimar is flying through space when his ship is struck by a meteor. He crash lands on this strange planet and his ship falls to pieces. As Olimar assesses the situation he realizes that the oxygen on this planet is toxic to him. He determines that his life support systems will grant him thirty days to fix his ship. During his assessment, Olimar discovers what he ends up naming an onion. This onion births a creature that Olimar calls a Pikmin. Due to the Pikmin’s tendency to follow directions, Olimar decides to work with the Pikmin to repair his ship that is missing thirty parts. The story is simple, yet well presented. The game doesn’t feel the need to hold your hand and explain every niche and nuance of how to play. You get words of advice in Olimar’s daily ship log that help you learn how to use your Pikmin better. Otherwise the game leaves you to figure it all out on your own.
The Pikmin come in three forms: Red, Yellow, and Blue. Each with their own unique abilities. Red Pikmin are immune to fire and deal the most damage. Yellow Pikmin can be thrown higher/farther, and can pick up bomb rocks. Blue Pikmin survive in water. You obtain an onion for each respective Pikmin color and it is your responsibility to feed those onions materials to make more Pikmin based on the demands of each level. Building up your army of these little creatures is easy. The problem is trying to keep them alive. I’m convinced that the reason the Pikmin follow Olimar is because they are too stupid to do anything else. These creatures will willingly walk into the jaws of death because you didn’t make sure to hold their hands across a bridge. It’s like herding toddlers. The Pikmin will often stop following you to do seemingly innocuous tasks like pulling up grass or breaking up stones in the ground. While there is no task that isn’t useful in some way, it’s still annoying when you have an objective in mind and you are having to stop because your Pikmin somehow had a thought of their own. Stupidity aside, these are very endearing little creatures that work well together under command.
The levels that you get to explore are well orchestrated. Each area has a handful of ship parts and plenty of threats including some interesting boss encounters. The puzzle aspects of this game are commendable. The game presents you with unique challenges that require you to think quickly because you only get thirteen and a half minutes per in-game day to accomplish all that you can. Challenges consist of enemies throughout the environments, walls that need to be broken down, and bridges that need to be rolled out. Some levels are daunting at face value to tackle. With proper management of time and resources, every challenge is very achievable. The puzzles are well thought out without being overly obtuse. I’d say issues with puzzle solving are more related to the incompetence of the Pikmin but it falls on the player to make up for those shortcomings. The boss encounters are also well presented as threatening puzzles. Each creature behaves in a way that forces you to look for an opening, lest your Pikmin get killed in battle. In my playthrough, I had a couple of encounters where I made fatal mistakes and ended up having to go retrieve more Pikmin. I’d say around half of my Pikmin were killed and most of those were from playing bad and getting them eaten or crushed by enemies.
With there only being a handful of levels, the soundtrack isn’t very extensive. Each track does well to accompany the locale it represents. You get very calm and soothing tones as you are exploring the environment. The tones naturally shift as you encounter danger. The Final Trial has a unique way of fitting both the environment, and also the stakes of your mission. While not inciting panic, it does give proper tension.
Due to how short this game is and how it’s presented, I would put this game under the “comfort food” category of games. It felt nice not having the fate of the world riding on your shoulders. Sure Olimar’s life is in danger but when the game can be beaten in as little as six in game days, you have more than enough time to complete the game. It also helps that you aren’t required to collect all thirty ship parts in order to win. Of course you do get a higher score if you collect all of the parts but it feels good not being pressured to total completion. This game could easily get stressful by giving you less time to do more objectives. Overall the game is well balanced and is a great first entry into a series that will soon be introducing its sixth installment in July of 2023.