Pikmin

My Overall Thoughts:

-    I played, nay, conquered Pikmin 2 and 3. I've played them both several times through, but I've never picked up the very first Pikmin game. After watching Arlo play through, I had a major itch to play Pikmin. Luckily our friend had a copy, and I was able to play. 

-    You can tell it is an older game, but it holds up alright.

My Thoughts on Game Play:

-    The story is fun, and Pikmin 2 picks up the story perfectly. Olimar crashes on a planet, and he needs to repair his ship by collecting all his ship parts. The catch is you only have 30 days to collect all the parts. Some of these parts aren't necessary, but it isn't hard to collect all 30. 

-    At first I thought the 30 days would be hard to beat, but it wasn't. I was playing pretty casually, and I was able to collect 1-3 parts a day. I had plenty of days left over when I finished.

-  There are no extra pikmin in this one. There are just the standard red, yellow, and blue pikmin. I loved how quickly I was able to collect all three. 

My Thoughts on Control:

-    I will admit that I didn't pick up the first Pikmin game because I was afraid the controls weren't going to be as good as 2 and 3. It wasn't too bad. The pikmin were a little dumber, but it was okay. For instance, when you throw a pikmin on a pellet, it doesn't automatically take the pellet back to the onion, you have to throw another pikmin to pick it up. Also, when going over a bridge, some of the pikmin fall off the sides. The pikmin controls just weren't as intuitive as 2 and 3. After I got used to it though, it was fine. I was still able to thoroughly enjoy the game.

-    It was fun picking up that gamecube controller again. I loved it! It is my favorite Nintendo controller. I was so excited to have that c-stick again! Being able to move my little army around me and run them into things with the c-stick was pure joy.

-    Sometimes the camera was in an awkward position and it took me a few tries to get it where I wanted, but for the most part, the camera controls were great.

My Thoughts on Graphics:

-    The graphics are older, but I think they still look great. Pikmin has great environments and characters. If they ever remaster this for Nintendo Switch, it wouldn't take much. They would need to up the graphics to HD and fix some of the lighting. I know that is a big job, and it will take a while, but I don't think anything would need to be re-rendered or re-created. I would LOVE for Pikmin 1 and 2 to be remastered!!! 

My Thoughts on Sound:

-    The music was good ole Pikmin music. It is very soothing and fun. I enjoyed it. I think the music is broken in places though. Sometimes when I was just walking around, the boss/baddie music would just start playing, and I'd look around, but nothing was there. It weirded me out.

-    The Pikmin don't sing as they walk like they do in Pikmin 2. I missed that.

Pikmin 3

My Overall Thoughts:

                

-    I was really excited for another Pikmin game because we haven’t had one forever! This was really fun, but I still love Pikmin 2 the best.  

-    I admit I got a little addicted. I just couldn’t stop thinking about it or playing it. I stayed up WAY too late some nights trying to accomplish new tasks. 

-    I wish the game were longer. There needs to be more fruit to collect. 66 aren’t enough! I was sad when it ended so quickly. 

-    On the plus side, I will probably replay it a few times.

My Thoughts on Game play:

                

-    I loved the storyline! Our main characters are searching the planet for fruit because their home planet is almost out of food. While searching the planet, they find different types of Pikmin who help them with their tasks. Pikmin function like a little army of workers. It was fun finding and collecting the food. Adding a third character was interesting and enjoyable. It created a new dynamic in getting to different areas and fruit. Of course the crew run into a few problems, and they need to find a mysterious Captain Olimar. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that this ties into the Pikmin 2 storyline! I was so excited to see the old characters!

                

-    I loved the map on the gamepad! It was so helpful in finding Pikmin and fruit! It is one of the best features for sure!

                

-    The yellow, red, and blue Pikmin function the same. There are some fun added uses for them. There are two new Pikmin introduced in this game. The rock Pikmin were super useful in breaking things down, and they were great for killing small bugs in one shot. The flying Pikmin could fly over water, lift gates, and pick certain plants. They were also very useful in killing flying bugs. I thought the new Pikmin were cool, but I also missed the purple and white Pikmin, mostly the purple.  I am happy to say that the purple and white Pikmin make an appearance in mission mode!

                

-    Mission Mode consists of several different challenge stages. One set of challenges is collecting as much fruit as possible in a given time. Another set is killing as many bugs/foes as possible in a given time. The last mode is fighting the bosses from the game. All missions may be played as co-op where you and your friend work together.

                

-    There is also Bingo Mode. This is a competitive game where Alph and Olimar go head-to-head to collect fruit and bugs.  You are given a bingo card with pictures of all the things you can collect. Whoever gets 4 in a row first wins. It can be highly competitive and very fun. There are 12 stages to choose from and there is a random option that will generate a random stage.

                

-    Pikmin 3 has a lot of replay value, and I love that about Nintendo games. You just want to play them over and over again.

My Thoughts on Control:

-    You can play with different controllers, but I recommend sticking with the Wii U Gamepad. The map on the gamepad is essential! I love the added “go here” move. It was very helpful to multitask.

                

-    The controls were my biggest complaint about the game. In Pikmin 2 you could use the C Stick to move your army of Pikmin around. I didn’t have that control power in Pikmin 3, and it was frustrating. A lot of Pikmin died because I wasn’t able to move them out of harm’s way as easily. Instead, the game lets you lock onto targets and charge your Pikmin. That was useful for a lot of things, but I still wish I could have just moved my army into things at will. Throwing individual Pikmin got old fast! The game also lets you unlock a dodging move where you and all your Pikmin tuck and roll to the side. Again, it was useful but not as good as the old C Stick control.

                

-    The targeting system was frustrating at times. I wish it had been more like Pikmin 2. I struggled to target things sometimes.

                

-    Camera control and everything else was fine.    

My Thoughts on Graphics:

-    Nintendo has upgraded to HD, and everything looks awesome! The environments were amazing! I loved how unique and colorful everything was. I enjoyed all the unique fruits and bugs. I love the Pikmin! They are so cute! It is a very visually fun game.

My Thoughts on Sound:

                

-    The language the characters use sounds an awful lot like Japanese. I got a kick out of listening to Alph and Brittany talk. I especially loved it when Alph would say Brittany’s name.

                

-    The music was good. I didn’t notice it too much, but I liked how soothing it was.

                

-    The Pikmin used to sing while you marched places, and they didn’t do that in this one. I was sad about that. They sing a little, but nothing like Pikmin 2.