Pikmin is one of the best new franchises, still considered new despite debuting nearly 7 years ago. However, the original Pikmin game has a few problems that other people seem to have overlooked, and they stopped it from being one of the best games on the Gamecube.
As always, let's start with the good points.
Well, it's a good, solid idea from Nintendo. Playing as a spaceman named Captain Olimar, you crash land on a strange planet, and have to take charge of small creatures named 'Pikmin' in order to get 30 pieces of your ship in order to repair it, and get off the planet safely.
The graphics are perfect, and the controls are responsive and active. The whole idea is very original, but fun at the same time. The music is also good, and some of it even makes a return in Brawl.
The Pikmin themselves are lovable little different coloured creatures, with obvious, but fun, powers. The red ones are the normal ones that you start off with, while the blue ones can survive in water, and the yellow ones can carry bombs.
Now, the cons. Well, I only really have 2. The first one is the time limit. You only have 30 days to get all 30 pieces of your ship back. Each day only lasts around 20 minutes, and although it starts off pretty easy, it very quickly gets harder and harder to keep up your schedule of getting at least 1 piece a day.
Some people defend this by saying "You don't have to get every piece in the game, there are a few that you can skip." This is true, as I think there are about 5 or 6 pieces that aren't essential, and the game will let you win, even if you don't get them. The problem is, you don't know which pieces you can safely leave behind, so you won't know until you either leave the planet safely after 30 days, or lose. You could look up a walkthrough, but that feels like cheating and isn't as satisfying as completing the game yourself. Long story short, if you don't collect one piece per day, you'll feel like you're behind.
The only other problem is that you can accidentally make some Pikmin go extinct. I'm not talking about people who throw their Pikmin in water to watch them drown for fun (bastards!) but when I first came across the yellow Pikmin, I only had a few, and they soon died. I couldn't get more, because whenever I tried to pick up a pellet (I think that's what they're called, you use them to make more Pikmin) then I had to pick them up using my non-dead red Pikmin, and they took the pellet to the red onion. I had to restart my whole game, but on the plus side, this only happens a few days in, so it's not too bad.
I'm throwing in an extra rant for free here, as you may or may not have heard that the new Pikmin game for the Wii is going to be a port of the original Pikmin for Gamecube.
Now, I hated the Wii for a while because it seemed like it was more focussed on casual gamers, but when I started being more patient, I realised that if Nintendo get out a good balance of casual/hardcore games, both audiences will be satisfied, and they'll make loads of money.
However, Nintendo, you are really screwing up on the delivery of these 'hardcore' games. What on earth makes you think that a port of a game you released for your last console, exactly the same, but with different controls, is a good idea? I know for a fact that you could easily just make another Pikmin game, so you really have no excuse. It's bad enough that you already ported Resident Evil 4 (pretty good game, not deserving of a remake is all you change is that control scheme) but now you're porting a game that hasn't even started out yet?
In case you misunderstand, here's what I mean. The full list of all Pikmin games is as follows:
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
That's it, there are only 2 games in the series. That's not really a bad thing, it just means that the franchise should be slowly but surely adding to their library, making a few more games. The last thing we need is to play the first game again and call it new.
Well, that's really all I have to say, so to summarize, Pikmin is a good game, but not without it's flaws, and not deserving of a re-release on the Wii.
Pikmin: 6/10.
-Elmo 3000
Next time on Games You Love That I Don't: Resident Evil 4.
pikmin 3
umm dude yes they are porting the first 2 pikmin games to the Wii but they are also making another one. some people got confused after that was reviled but it was said in an interview with IGN that there is also a new one coming and the ports are not what was talked about at E3. i cant find a link to the interview but here is a related link.
http://wii.kombo.com/article.php?artid=12871
Resident Evil 4
Did deserve a remake. The game is absolutely kickass and the Wii version is even better. Even if one of the only real differences was the controls, the pointer is just perfect.
Those didn't didn't make the
Those cons didn't didn't make the game look like it deserved a 6/10. And they are porting a lot of old GameCube game to the Wii, but they aren't replacements for new games.
Besides..
They're only porting those games to give people with Wiis who don't own a Gamecube or those games the opportunity to play them on the Wii with Wii controls, at least that's how I understand it.
I imagine they'll also use feedback regarding the controls in those games when designing the controls for the new Pikmin game too.
----
Looks like I'm playing with my Wii alone again tonight.
Uh...
Actually, the Wii has backwards compatibility, meaning that it will play all GC games.
I actually haven't played Pikmin, but even then I still can see some flaws in this review. I can't really comment on the first point, but I'm a bit iffy on that one anyways. The second point is just flat-out wrong. Nintendo is making a Pikmin 3. They just happen to also be porting the previous ones as well. Then you give the game a 6/10. Seriously?! You said the game was fun and original, with great controls, graphics, and sounds. If you ask me, whenever a game has all those elements, it shouldn't be getting anything under a 7, or maybe even an 8. Your pros much outweigh your cons... or con... You need to check your rating system. Seriously.
Again, I'm not "bashing" on you because of your opinion, because I haven't played the game myself, but this review is really flawed. I was actually okay with your other reviews (though I really disagreed with some of them, but that's opinion based, and I never judge something based on opinion until the logic is just beyond flawed).
Ok, Pikmin 1 gets a 6/10.
/fanboy status="on"
Ok, Pikmin 1 gets a 6/10. That's perfectly fine, but one of your few points is because it's hard?! A 30 day time limit was a perfect balance between rediciously easy and painstakingly hard. As many a reviewer out there has said, "Just because a game is hard doesn't mean it's a bad game." I personally think that you're being too hard on the game for few flaws, and more basing your review score off of some personal preferences that you are not showing in your blog. That's why scores are usually bullshit, and although I like your honesty, your score just simply does not match up with your article. Based on your article it deserves at least a 8/10. Maybe even a 7.5/10, but 6/10 is the kind of score Too Human would recieve. This game is no Too Human, it's better.
/fanboy
Yeah, I liked Pikmin 2 a lot better, even though it was a little bit easier and a little bit more confusing.
I have Pikmin 1 and 2
and i loved them both. while Pikmin 1 was an insane "COLLECT THE SHIP PARTS NAO!!!!" game, with no tim eto dilly dally, Pikmin 2 was more casual, as you could take time to observe the scenery while you worked (due to no real time limit)
I beat Pikmin 1 after a second attempt and it was rewarding. I got Pikmin 2 and was overly pleased at just how continuous the story was.
The Game play was solid for both, and graphics, sound, story and all other factors were great too! I honestly never found a flaw other than the difficulty of getting a higher count of purple or white pikmin.
You what...
You killed off all your yellows on day one of having them? Ugh...
Sorry
Alright, I really did screw up on that Pikmin 3 rant. I guess I misunderstood what I heard about it, but it still sucks that Nintendo are spending more time porting Gamecube games than they are trying to come up with something new, especially as the Wii has backwards compatability.
On a stranger note, this is my first ever top g1 post, and it's also probably the lowest rated blog I've ever done...
I don't know whether to rejoice or not...
This is the one... that seeks to do combat... with me?