AbstractWhat's a space traveler to do without his trusty spaceship? Don't panic, but you're going to have to seek out all of the parts of your once solid craft in this epic search. A collision with a meteor has left your ship in pieces strewn about a foreign planet. Now, your spacesuit is the only protection against a deadly atmosphere and lots of enemies. In addition, you'll be challenged to protect the tiny Pikmin, a local life form that develops into leaves, buds, and flowers.
ESRB rating
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Mild Violence |
Full descriptionOne of two early-GameCube titles created under the guidance of master Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Pikmin offers a new style of gameplay in a brand new game world. In this strategy adventure, players take the role of an unfortunate space traveler who crash-lands on a strange planet that is teeming with plant life. The crash seems to have scattered parts of the spacecraft across the land and the hero will have to find these and bring them all back to the landing site if he ever hopes to make it back home.
Luckily, the planet is populated with strange but friendly plant-like creatures called Pikmin. When the spaceman plucks these creatures from the ground, they will gratefully scurry after him and follow his instructions. Different sorts of Pikmin have different abilities and can be developed in different ways. The player can control the little creatures individually, in small groups, or en masse. Pikmin can perform lots of useful tasks to help the hero rebuild his ship, such as clearing paths, moving items, and battling dangerous enemies.
Lose yourself in the visual wonder of Pikmin, with its incredibly life-like scenery and wealth of moving objects simultaneously shown on the screen. This twist on a strategy game is unlike anything ever seen before.
Time is of the essence. Recruit indigenous, plant-like creatures known as Pikmin, and oversee their activities as they carry objects back to base camp, defeat enemies and take care of other important functions that will get our hero home.
Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto delivers true innovation with more than 100 Pikmin swarming the screen in real-time.
Editorial review
Source:
AmazonAs stranded, miniature spaceperson Olimar, you must find the missing 30 parts your spaceship needs to get you back home. The parts are scattered across a forested area crowded with giant (when compared to our hero's size) animals and other hazards. Our hero stumbles across a race of part-animal, part-plant, all-bizarre creatures he names Pikmin. Olimar has to learn how to lead the Pikmin around the forest as he uses the abilities of the different-colored Pikmin to overcome the many obstacles in his path.
Learning when and how to make the best use of your Pikmins' skills and traits is the essence of the game. You can control up to 100 Pikmin at a time while figuring out which Pikmin are best suited for a particular task. Some are better fighters, while others can survive in water or handle explosive bomb rocks. However, even the best Pikmin herder will have to sacrifice a few of the plant-headed beasts for the greater good. It's the making of new strategies to minimize losses that makes Pikmin challenging and fun.
For a first-generation GameCube title, the graphics, sound, and music are fantastic and show an awesome amount of detail. Though it's no Pokémon, this game should appeal to wide-eyed younger gamers as well as seasoned vets. The controls are intuitive and feel perfect for the standard GameCube controller. However, learning to position the camera can be a tad frustrating during some of the more tense moments, as it has only a few magnification levels and needs constant adjustment.
The biggest obstacle Olimar faces is time. He has only 30 days (each day is about 15 minutes in real time) in which to find the necessary parts. While this keeps the pace of the game up, some may find such limits somewhat frustrating, as it means there will be a lot of repetition and rethinking of strategy. It also means that diligent gamers may find Pikmin a rather short game.
At the end of your gaming day, Pikmin is one of the best games on the GameCube. --Mark Brooks
Pros:
- Very innovative and original
- Gorgeous graphics
- Great sound and music
- Amazing blend of action and strategy
Cons: - Time limit causes players to repeat tasks
- Experienced strategy gamers may find Pikmin ends too quickly
- Difficult to control camera during tense moments
Incredibly life-like environments
Pikmin build bridges, destroy walls, carry bombs, and -- of course -- fight
Control hundreds of Pikmin and Captain Olimar simultaneously
- Portions of content provided by Rovi Data Solutions, Inc. and IGN Entertainment, Inc.