Pikmin review

150 views? Fantastic! Anyway, today I finished Pikmin for the Nintendo Gamecube and let me tell you, it's a fantastic game! You play Olimar, an astronaut from another planet the size of a quarter who lands on, what I assume to be earth, a distant planet. He discovers Pikmin, plant like creatures that can defend him from enemies and carry his broken ship parts back to the ship. Olimar has 30 days to find all 30 of his ship's parts before he dies from the planet's oxygen.

Everyday, Olimar must collect Pikmin by plucking them from the ground or gathering solid nectar or dead enemies to the onion to make more Pikmin. The onion, which looks nothing like an onion to me, is where the Pikmin are stored throughout the night. Pikmin die very easily, only by ganging up on bigger enemies can the Pikmin be effective. Olimar has to toss them at enemies. It's fun to watch the Pikmin wail on an enemy in large groups. Watching an enemy fall with dozens of Pikmin crawling all over him is very satisfying.

The gameplay is simple, all I have to do is toss the Pikmin at an item or an enemy and they do the rest. It's fascinating the watch the Pikmin carry an item or a dead enemy. It's like watching ants carry away the carcass of a larger creature. The land is beautiful, the enemies are cute and innovative, and the puzzles are a little tricky but once you figure them out you have that "aha!" moment.

There are some flaws I should mentions. One of my initial problems was the day and night sequence. I hate timers, I hate the pressure. Each day you have to collect items, ship parts, and new Pikmin before the sun goes down. If you don't, anything left out at night will disappear. The game makes a point of this by showing what happens to Pikmin you leave behind. Watching the Pikmin you leave behind actually makes you feel sad for them despite a lack of a story or personal interaction with the Pikmin is a statement to the game's power. It's both sad and understandable, nature is cruel. At first I was upset with the time limit but once I realized how easy the game was I quickly realized I had plenty of time. I actually finished the game with three days left, not bad for my first time.

The biggest problem I had with Pikmin is the Pikmin that get left behind easily. The game has some sharp corners that can trap Pikmin. In fact, that's the reason I saw the Pikmin get eaten at night, I lost track of them.

My last problem is with the music at the end. There's this great song that's supposed to be played but I didn't get to hear it. I don't know if its because I got the good ending, I know there are supposed to be several endings but the song really meant a lot to me and it would've been nice if I could have heard it.

Here's link if you want to hear it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL2ePovKMtg

All and all, I thoroughly enjoyed  this game despite how short it was. I may be behind in the series a bit, the third one is to come out in the summer, but I will definitely keep an eye on this series.