 Though
the name may sound similar, Nintendo’s Pikmin
for the GameCube has no connection to their popular Pokemon series.
Instead, Pikmin
follows the adventures of the space traveler Captain Olimar, who crash
lands on an Earth-like planet.
The crash causes 30 pieces of Olimar’s ship to scatter across
the planet
(into 5 large levels).
Because Olimar is only an inch or two tall compared to the
planet’s scenery, and because the oxygen atmosphere is toxic to him
(and he has only 30 days until his life support system fails), Olimar
has to recruit some of the planet’s inhabitants to help him; the
tiny, flower-like creatures he names Pikmin.
The
player controls Captain Olimar directly, but the game is actually a
real-time strategy game because of the need to direct up to 100 Pikmin
at a time to get much done.
Players start the game with just a few red Pikmin, but
eventually gain access to blue and yellow varieties as well.
Red Pikmin are the best fighters, able to kill the various
insect inhabitants of the world the fastest.
Yellow Pikmin can be thrown further than the other types, which
comes in handy with some of the game’s puzzles.
They are also the only type that can pick up and handle
bomb-rocks, used for blowing up some barrier walls and fighting some
enemies.
Blue Pikmin are the only type that doesn’t drown when moving
through water.
Control
is easy with a little practice.
The analog stick moves Olimar, while the three top triggers
manipulate the camera.
The B button calls
Pikmin to Olimar (so they start following him).
The A button throws
the Pikmin following Olimar, one at a time. The C
stick directs any Pikmin following him to move a short distance in the
direction pressed (the directed Pikmin then automatically attack
enemies, pick up and carry objects, build bridges, etc.).
X commands all the Pikmin following him to stop following, and
automatically groups them by color (useful when Pikmin of one
particular color are needed).
Finally, Y brings up
a radar map of the current level, showing ship parts, the general
layout of the level, and the location of Pikmin.
 Each
color Pikmin has an onion spacecraft (yes, a large flying onion) that
can store an unlimited number of that color in it, without counting
against the limit of 100 Pikmin active in the game world.
Pikmin can be put in or taken out of their onion at any time,
as long as the total number of Pikmin in the game world doesn’t
exceed 100.
After directing Pikmin to pick up defeated enemies or flower
pellets, they automatically carry the object back to their onion,
where it gets converted into seeds for more Pikmin.
The seeds quickly sprout, and if left in the ground long enough
eventually mature into full-grown Pikmin.
In the ground, they can’t be hurt by enemies, but they do
count against the 100 Pikmin limit.
The
game is divided into 30 days (each lasting roughly 15 minutes of real
time).
At the beginning of a new day, players can choose any currently
available level to land in (levels get unlocked as ship parts are
recovered).
The rest of that day is spent on the surface of that level.
The player must balance time between defeating enemies to
create more Pikmin and carrying back ship parts.
Some of the parts are fairly easy to get at-they’re just out
in the open.
But to recover other parts may require Pikmin to (among other
things) build bridges, move objects, destroy walls, or defeat
boss-type enemies.
Generally things done in one day carry over to the next, so
it’s sometimes necessary to spend time clearing a path to a ship
part-basically doing set-up work so that parts can be brought back on
future days.
For the most part, enemies stay defeated between days, so
killing as many as possible can be an effective strategy.
Many of the enemies (like the giant ladybugs) have baby and
full-grown versions.
The baby versions, if left alone for a day or two, will
actually mature into more dangerous adults.
 At
the end of the day all Pikmin need to be either following Captain
Olimar, directly in front of Olimar’s ship, under one of the onions,
or planted in the ground (usually under an onion, but some enemies
actually smash Pikmin back into the ground).
Any Pikmin left on their own get eaten overnight, and are lost.
Those planted in the ground remain in the same place when
Olimar revisits the level, and all the rest return to their onions and
fly with Olimar to whichever level he visits next.
Doing
all of that might sound overwhelming (especially with a time limit).
At first it seems that way, but Pikmin
does a fantastic job of slowly introducing the skills the player needs
to succeed.
Some ship parts that seem impossible to get early on became
incredibly easy to deal with as the player gains experience with the
game.
Also, not all of the parts are necessary to finish the game.
On my first time through I was able to finish the game with all
30 ship parts and several days to spare.
Any player of average skill should do just fine.
The
game seems to be taking place on Earth, with most of the levels set in
what looks like the floor of a wooded area.
The graphics are lush, and have an almost pre-rendered look
about them.
Some of the texture work is exceptional (especially the almost
photo-realistic stones in some ponds).
Water ripples convincingly, and the surfaces of ponds have
realistic reflections.
Subtle shadows across the ground seem to be coming from the
swaying leaves of giant trees far overhead.
There’s nothing else quite like seeing 50 little
flower-creatures slowly struggle with a giant ship piece.
The game even supports progressive scan mode for high
definition TVs.
Yet with 100 Pikmin on screen with huge enemies, there isn’t
a hint of slowdown or a low frame rate.
The camera even works near-perfectly.
The only mar on the graphics is a slight blurriness (nowhere
near as bad as the typical N64 game), and occasional aliasing.
Neither problem detracts from the game.
 Most
of the music is restrained and occasionally new-age-like.
It works well with the pristine nature landscapes, and
accentuates the gameplay.
Sound effects are appropriate and sometimes cute, but not
overwhelming.
Though
the gameplay would be classified in the Real-Time Strategy genre,
it’s almost completely original (very different from Starcraft
and its ilk).
The great learning curve slowly gives the player the skills
necessary to retrieve even the most out of the way ship parts.
Even as I was retrieving one piece, it would dawn on me how to
grab another I had previously thought to be impossible-giving the game
an addictive “just one more…” quality.
Pikmin
plays great and is addictive and well thought out.
Simply put, it’s an instant classic, and is exactly the type
of game that made Nintendo famous in the first place.
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