Backlog Game Reviews 42: Pikmin (Gamecube)

 

         Hey there, and welcome to Backlog Game Reviews.

  Today we're going to continue the retro game marathon with a review of Pikmin on the Nintendo Gamecube. It came out in Japan on October 26^th, 2001, it then came out in North America on December 2^nd of the same year. Europe wouldn't get their hands on Pikmin until June 14^th, 2002. Pikmin was a very unique game for its time and was praised as such by critics. It would go on to sell 1.19 million copies worldwide. While not one of Nintendo's most popular franchises it has a strong and vocal fan base. Let's take a look and see what made Pikmin so popular.

Story

 The game starts with Olimar flying his ship through space.

 

   In this game you play as an alien named Olimar, he comes from the planet Hocotate. One day while flying his space ship he collides into a meteor and crash lands on what looks like Earth. The emergency landing knocks Olimar unconscious and when he comes to he finds himself in a very dire situation. His ship has been completely wrecked from the crash, its parts have been scattered around the planet making it unable to travel through space.

 Olimar crashes lands on an alien planet.

 

   And things only get worse. The oxygen on this planet is poisonous to Olimar. He has a life support system, but it'll only last for 30 days. All hope seems lost until Olimar comes across a strange creature that he decides to call a Pikmin. The Pikmin is friendly towards Olimar and helps him do things he wouldn't be able to do on his own.

 Olimar meets a Pikmin for the first time.

 

   They can fight hostile creatures and carry the missing ship parts back to the S.S Dolphin, the name of Olimar's spaceship. With the Pikmin by his side, Olimar can now see a ray of hope. With only 30 days to repair his ship, Olimar sets off on a journey across this strange and dangerous planet.

 Pikmin can create new pathways by breaking down walls

 

  There isn't much to say about Pikmin's story. It set's the game up and gives you a reason for helping Olimar get off the planet he's stranded on. In a game like this, that's all you can ask for. You don't play a game like Pikmin for the story, it's all about the gameplay. With that said let's talk about what kind of game Pikmin is.

The Gameplay

    The best way to describe Pikmin would be calling it a time and resource management game. It's all about collecting the ship parts as fast as you can while keeping your Pikmin numbers up, and it's a very good game in that regard. It's a lot of fun playing over and over again trying to beat the game in as few in-game days as possible. The time limit might be a little stressful at first, but you'll get used to it quickly.

 Pikmin carrying the engine back to the ship.

 

   While not a puzzle game Pikmin does require some thought in how you approach it. The most obvious thing you need to take into account is the fastest route to take when collecting ship parts. Another thing to keep in mind is the kind of Pikmin and the number of Pikmin you need to take with you.

 Olimar meets his first yellow Pikmin.

 

   You have 3 different types of Pikmin to choose from, and they each have their own special abilities. Red Pikmin are good fighters and aren't harmed by fire. Blue Pikmin have gills and can go into bodies of water without drowning. Yellow Pikmin are light so they can be thrown higher and reach places other Pikmin can't. They also have the secondary ability of being able to pick up and use bomb rocks.

 You'll sometimes have to make time to pluck Pikmin out of the ground.

 

   The task management aspect of Pikmin is a lot of fun and it gives the game great replay value. Your first playthrough will be pretty rough. But, the second time around you'll know where all the ship parts are and what Pikmin are needed to get to them so you'll be able to form strategies and plan out what to do before starting a level. And then on your third or fourth playthrough, you'll be able to refine your strategies or think of better ones. No matter how many times you speed run through the game it never gets old.

 The final Pikmin type, Blue Pikmin.

 

   Pikmin is a fun game to play over and over again but it does have some flaws. The major one being the battle system. You fight hostile creatures by throwing your Pikmin at them, the Pikmin will grab on to the enemy and start attacking. This is all well and good, the problem lies in how hard it is to judge where your Pikmin will land. The in-game cross-hair isn't all that helpful and only gives you a general idea of where your Pikmin will land. You can't lock on to a target either so most of the time you end up missing whatever you're aiming at especially if you're moving and throwing.

 The key to beating this boss is to throw your Pikmin at its head. But due to how hard it is to aim you'll most likley miss and lose alot Pikmin.

 

   Another gripe I have with the game is that you can't select what color Pikmin you throw, Olimar will throw whatever Pikmin is standing the closest to him. You can disband your Pikmin and make them group up with other Pikmin of the same color, and once their disbanded you can then call the Pikmin you want to you.

 When you disband your Pikmin they turn a greyish color and break into groups.

 

   Having to do all of that just to pick a certain color of Pikmin is annoying and time-consuming, and it doesn't work all the time because the Pikmin sometimes group too close to each other, so you end up calling the wrong color of Pikmin and have to disband them all over again.

 You need to gather all of your Pikmin before the day ends. Any Pikmin that you leave behind will die.

 

   Another annoying thing is how easily your Pikmin get distracted. If they walk past tall grass they'll stop to pluck it, they also break formation to break patches of rocks. If they start doing this then you'll have to stop what you're doing and call them back. Calling them back to the group doesn't take too long, but it's still annoying and in a game like this where your goal is to get things done as fast as possible every second counts.

 There are a few bosses in the game. Some are easy, others like this one are on the hard side.

 

   Pikmin has a lot of small problems that can get on your nerves, but if you can look past these annoyances it's a lot of fun. If you have a Gamecube then this is a game worth checking out sometime, especially if you like speed-running games. But, if you're someone that doesn't enjoy time limits in video games then you should give this game a pass. Like I said before the fun of this game comes from trying to beat it as fast as possible, so if you just want to relax and take your time then this game isn't for you.

The Presentation

    Starting with the graphics Pikmin is an average-looking Gamecube game. It doesn't look bad, but it's nothing mind-blowing either. A small nitpick I have is that the Pikmin can look strange at times. When attacking or interacting with objects their body parts stretch out and look weird.

 As long as you don't zoom in the graphics hold up well.

 

   The music in this game is really good, each song sets up the mood for every level. The second stage, the forest of hope is a peaceful tune and makes it feel like your exploring a forest that no one has ever been to before. Then you have the song for the final stage, it has a hopeful aspect to it as your adventure comes to an end. But, there's also a feeling of unease to it, almost as if it's foreshadowing the final boss.

 At the end of each day the game updates you on how many new Pikmin you've gained and the tottal number of Pikmin that died.

 

Conclusion

 That's all I have to say about Pikmin on the Gamecube. It's got a few annoying problems that slightly bring down the gameplay, but overall it's a great game that I can easily recommend to just about anyone. The only people that should stay away from this game are those that aren't fans of time limits, and games that require you to work quickly. If you're not one of those people then give Pikmin a try sometime.

   Thanks for reading! Next time we'll be looking at another retro game, either on the N64 or Dreamcast. I hope to see you again here at Backlog Game Reviews.