Grow it, pick it, touch it, flick it (Pikmin (GC))

Member Name: Sarccyslayer

Product:	Pikmin (GC)
Date:	20/07/05 (172 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Addictive

Disadvantages: Addictive

If there was a game I could sit and play for hours on end, over and over again and never get bored it would be Pikmin. Why? Well Pikmin is one of those addictive games that you just have play because they are cute, you get involved and the bad guys are really irritating you so much that you just have to kill them.

The brains behind Pikmin is the same person who brought you Super Mario World and Zelda, he is Shigeryu Miyamoto and when you begin to play Pikmin you can see similarities with all the games.

The concept of the game is really simple, you take control of the main character known as Captain Olimar who has had his space ship hit by a meteorite when travelling through space and sadly he has crash landed on an alien planet.

Captain Olimar only has thirty days to retrieve his ship parts, however there are thirty of them, which makes the job of finding them a very hefty challenge. In order to meet this challenge Olimar has to enlist the help of the Pikmin, the planet natives. Should you fail this challenge Captain Olimar’s oxygen will run out and he will die. Each day upon this alien planet is monitored by a constantly moving sun meter that runs along the top of the screen. You have until the sun goes down to complete your tasks and gather any stray Pikmin together or they will die.

So what are these Pikmin? Well in short they are small, plant like creatures (or aliens) of whom there are three main types on the planet. The first Pikmin you (or Olimar) will encounter are the red variety and it is worth nothing that each Pikmin type has a special ability. The red Pikmin have the ability to survive fire attacks. Then there are Yellow Pikmin who can carry Bomb rocks, which help break down barriers, or used against enemies, you can also throw these Pikmin a lot further than the other two should you need to retrieve objects to aid your recovery of ship parts. Finally we have the Blue Pikmin and these can travel through water without drowning.

Pikmin become Olimar’s trusted companions and will do anything he asks of them using simple commands (using your gamecube pad), these simple commands usually involve breaking down barriers, fetching and carrying ‘Pods’ and fighting enemies.

To increase the number of Pikmin you have there will be flowers scattered around the Alien planet which when destroyed turn into ‘Pods’. Olimar simply commands the Pikmin to carry them back to their spaceship where seeds are dispersed into the ground and like any other plant Olimar simply uproots them and new Pikmin are born. However if you leave them in the ground Pikmin will mature. From leaf, to bulb and then to flower, giving them faster running ability and attacks. Of course one Pikmin just isn’t enough to defeat some of the enemies on the planet so Olimar can control up to 100 Pikmin at any one time. If you have more than 100 Pikmin they remain within their spaceships (known as onions) until the time comes to call them into action, such as the loss or death of them.

I didn’t have too many problems getting to grips with the controls of this game, the only thing that does cause difficulty is when a Pikmin goes astray and you have to go and search for him before dark falls, whilst doing this all the Pikmin will follow you. Using the basic A,B,C (the yellow joystick) ,X,Y,Z, L and R buttons you can throw your Pikmin to launch them onto an enemy, seed pod or shop part by using the A Button. This button can also used to pick up a planted Pikmin and the quickest way of doing this is to repeatedly press the A button. To control the Pikmin more directly you use the C stick. The Y button is used to view Olimar’s monitor and the satellite provides a map so you can see the remaining ship parts in the area. The remaining buttons are used for different camera angles.

There are five different levels to this game and each level is only accessible after collecting a set number of parts so that the ship is upgraded enough to fly further. To see how many pieces you have left to collect, you simply call up the game map which points out to you where there are. As the game progresses the levels get harder, the enemies are more difficult to defeat and there are obstacles to hamper your attempts to collect the ship parts. Throughout the earlier levels you can easily manage to get ship parts using a few Pikmin from one colour but in later ones you will need to combine all types to successfully achieve getting a part.

The graphics of Pikmin aren’t the best you will ever see but they are adequate enough for the game. The details of the Pikmin, enemies and subsequent pieces needed to complete the game all compliment one another, they are easy to work with and see clearly.

The sound effects of the game are also adequate, not to over the top and noisy, but they do give you a good insight as to what is happening.

Overall this game is really enjoyable to play, it either gets you hooked to the point you just have to play it to complete it or you simply play it as and when you feel like it. I am yet to meet someone who doesn’t like Pikmin. It is one of the better games I have bought for the Gamecube. There is no bad language, strong violence or anything sexually related to prohibit children from playing this game.

Prices for Pikmin vary depending on where you buy the game from, online it retails from £16.99 on Amazon to £29.99 from Cdwow, it is also worth noting that there is a follow to this game which goes by the imaginative name of Pikmin2 and that again retails at similar prices online.

Summary: Great little action game