Ultra's Reviews: Pikmin (Gamecube, Wii)

Back during the Gamecube Era Im sure that some of you Remember a Tech Demo named "Super Mario 128". it was a Tech Demo Created to show the Processing Power of the Gamecube, However Some Aspects from that Tech Demo Were Reworked into a New IP, Pikmin, And today Im going to Cover the First game of this Series.

(North american Gamecube Version Box art)

Plot

Once there was a Space Captain named Olimar the only Employee of the Hocotate Freight, One Day while on a Space Exploring Vacation Olimar Hits a Asteroid and his Ship Crashes into an Uncharted Planet, Olimar Wakes up to Find that his Ship, the S.S Dolphin, is Totally Wrecked with all 30 Parts Missing, On top of that, this Planet's air is Filled with Oxygen, Which is poison to Olimar's Race, and Olimar's Life support will only Last for 30 Days on the planet.

After Exploring a bit Olimar Finds a Strange Object, which he Dubs an Onion. Because it Apparently Looks like one. the Onion Spits out a Seed, Olimar Plucks the Seed and Voila! Olimar comes Face to Face with a Plant-Like Creature which he Names the Creature's Race "Pikmin", Olimar Finds that the Pikmin Follows Olimar's Orders, and that he can Make more Pikmin by Feeding the Onion Various Objects.

Now it is up to Olimar and the Pikmin to Find the S.S Dolphin's Missing Ship Parts and Escape within 30 days.

Wow this Plot, it is a Bit more Complicated then I thought.

Gameplay

Pikmin is a Real-Time Strategy game, or RTS for short. In this Game You control Olimar, you can move, use your Whistle, throw Pikmin, and direct Pikmin in Various Directions.

Pikmin are used for Combat, Solving Puzzles, and Carrying things back to Base, and you can only have 100 Pikmin on the Field at a time, And any Pikmin who are not with your or near the Onion will Perish in the Night.

There are 3 Kinds of Pikmin,

Red Pikmin Are Immune to Fire, and have the Highest Attack Power, which Makes them the Best for Fighting.

Yellow Pikmin are Light, Which Allows them to be Thrown Higher then the others, They are also Able to Carry Bomb-Rocks, Which are used for Puzzles, Combat, and opening shortcuts back to Base.

Finally there are Blue Pikmin, These Pikmin Are able to Go into Water, and Save other pikmin that are Drowning.

It is up to you to use these Types of Pikmin to Their best Ability, and Knowing which one is the Best for the Task at Hand.

Multi-Tasking is your Friend here, You gotta be Able to Split your Pikmin Apart to be able to take on some Task Alone, such as Building a Bridge, or Taking down a Wall.

You are going to Have to Make some Tough Choices, Like for Example, you See an Enemy Near some Water, Do you Risk some Red Pikmin to some Water to Kill the Foe Faster, or do you Play it Safe and use Blues?

Every Day in Pikmin has a Time Limit of about 12-13 Minutes, and at the End of Each Day Olimar will give out a Captains Log, Which Changes Based on what Happens during that Day. The logs you get in One Playthrough Might be different to Someone else' Playthrough.

Pikmin has 3 Endings,

To get the Good Ending you need to collect 25 of the 30 Required Ship Parts and the 30 day Time Limit Ends

To get the Bad Ending You will have to Not Collected Enough of the Required Ship Parts and the Time Runs out,

To get the Best Ending You just have to Collect all 30 Ship Parts before time Runs out.

Presentation

This Game Looks surprisingly Beautiful for a Gamecube Launch Title

While the Textures look Dated While Up close, from Far away and on a CRT Television, Like the game was Intended to be played on. It looks Great.

The Music Is Pretty Forgettable, They Work but they are Nothing I really want to Listen too on my own Time.

Final Battle and Endings (Spoilers)

Here we have a Final Boss that is Actually optional! Once you have Collected 29 of the 30 Ship parts You will be able to go to the final Area, The Final Trial.

Once you Arrive there are no Enemies here, But you have to Solve a Puzzle using all 3 kinds of Pikmin.

Once you Reach the end of the Area You will Face the Game's final boss, The Emperor Bulblax

This Fight is Challanging, You must have Yellow Pikmin throw Bomb-Rocks in it's Mouth to Stun it, Once it is Down You use Red Pikmin to attack it, Rinse Repeat till it Dies, When it Dies it drops the final Ship-Part.

I say this Fight is Optional because the final Ship-Part is not Required to have the Ship Run and is Not Required to get the Good Ending.

Once you Take the Final Part to the Dolphin you Will get the Best Ending, Completing Pikmin

Overall

Pikmin Is Overall a Very Good game.

The Few Problems I have with this Game is that it is Kinda Short, and The AI of the Pikmin sometimes Kinda Screw you over in Certain Situations.

Pikmin Gets a 4/5, Good Experience for those who Enjoy this type of thing.