Pik this up. (Pikmin (GC))

Member Name: Dringostarr

Product:	Pikmin (GC)
Date:	29/07/02 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphical marvel, Highly original

Disadvantages: Short

The fifth Nintendo game to be released, and the last one until September and so, is Pikmin as good as it is supposed to be? You play Captain Olimar (anagram of Mario bar the L) and after stupidly colliding with an asteroid our bowl headed hero crashes on an unknown planet and his ship parts have gone flying and are scattered around various areas! Your mission is to get your ship parts back. But as tradition dictates it isn?t that simple, ingeniously named ?Poisonous Oxygen? infests the planet and after 30 days your space suit won?t be able to support you anymore. Can Olimar get his space ship parts back before the time runs out, not without the help of a few friends he can?t.

Enter the Pikmin, initially red little plant creatures that spew forth from erm, onions. To build your Pikmin army you must find token things that you put into the onions that then plant more Pikmin? well it?s Japanese? As your Pikmin army grows you?ll start fighting weird frog like creatures, insects of various sizes, and discovering new Pikmin types. Red Pikmin are fire resistant normal Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin are long throwing, bomb Pikmin and Blue Pikmin are water Pikmin. The main challenge of the game is to work out how to get to certain space ship parts and then get that back to your ship, easier said than done. As you can tell this game is incredibly original and who else should be responsible for the game than Shiguru Miyamoto the guy who made the also brilliantly inventive Luigi?s Mansion. Down on paper the game is a Real Time Strategy game, but this is not anything like Command and Conquer and will appeal to strategy fans, exploring fans and adventure fans alike. It is amazing, the fun factor is so very high and we expect nothing less from Nintendo, discovering things will have you smiling and despite the childish look it is for everyone and maybe a little confusing for younger players. Gameplay is polished to perfection, your character moves effortlessly and using the Pi
kmin is very easy, camera angles are done perfectly whilst the puzzles are challenging but not frustrating. But then Gameplay isn?t all that is to a game, and so to the other categories.

Graphically you get a very bright looking game that gets darker and lighter depending on the time of day, You can have over 110 creatures on the screen at once with 101 of them being controlled by you, no hint of slowdown and no detail is spared. This game proves that Nintendo can live up to the 128 Mario demo created to show the Gamecube off in September 2000. Detail is very high on the spaceships, scenery and baddies, in respect Pikmin are very simple but then that is the idea. Fans of Shigeru Miyamoto?s work will spot that he?s opted to the more Zelda esq. detail as opposed to the bright, bold and simple colours used in his Mario games, and in this case it has been the right choice. What we have presented is a living breathing jungle, an incredible overwhelming feel to the entire level design really does make you feel the size of a fifty pence piece.

Music wise you have a vegetation theme, the entire game is reminiscent of Honey I Shrunk the Kids when they were running around the garden. The music is not bad, in fact some love it such as myself but I also know many do not and so it is really dependant on the player, sound effects, as always, are spot on. If you fancy finding a more direct flaw with the music then it?ll have to involve the C-stick, the corny music that plays when you ?swarm? the Pikmin. The almost experimental music that plays in the 5 levels as I say may be a bit ?too experimental? and in the fourth area the sound changes when you near one of the levels many hazards but it also plays at other random things such as the water jet, weather this is Miyamoto?s attempt at warning you that you may be approaching something you don?t want to be involved with is unknown but it can be misleading.

The only flaw people find with the game is the le
ngth, it does go quickly with a game lasting you a good 10-15 hours but that is the only flaw and considering the excellent Luigi?s Mansion could be done in 4 hours it isn?t necessarily that bad. A flaw others pick up on is that they would love to explore the lushes landscape but they fear not for time, this is rubbish as a day can easily be spent exploring the landscape, it isn?t vital that the game has to be saved after everyday, just start the day again. The idea of exploring then starting the day again is what adds length to the game but this concept is not frequently picked up on. Control wise you have an intelligent system, the R and L buttons control the camera effectively, the C stick enables you to move all of your Pikmin to one of your sides, the A button allows you to throw the little creatures whilst B calls them back. The X button gives you the ability to dismiss your Pikmin and the Y button brings up the map. Controlling the Pikmin is very well done, the way the C stick has been used allows you to navigate your Pikmin around tight corners and sneak past baddies, evidence of Miyamoto?s ability to use his own controller.

Pikmin is a gorgeous game, highly detailed and incredibly original. Only Nintendo dare make a game like this and only Nintendo can do it well. If you thought Luigi and his Hoover was original you have not seen anything yet. A strategy game like none other, if you are after a brand new gaming experience that you?ll never forget then this is the game for you, PIK this (groan).

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