The Original Pikmin still holds up incredibly well
The Original Pikmin still holds up incredibly well
So I consider myself a very casual Pikmin fan. I haven't played the first 2 since they came out for the GameCube, and have only played some of the 3rd one back on WiiU. So with Pikmin 4 around the corner and Nintendo shadow dropping the first two on Switch, I figured it was time for a replay.
I just completed Pikmin 1, and what an absolutely fantastic experience. I think back when I was a kid playing the first one may have been just a bit too much strategy for me to comprehend. But now may years later, I just absorbed myself into it.
Pacing out every day to explore the areas and devise a strategy of what I could reasonably tackle, judging if I should spend the day going straight for ship parts or doing pikmin harvesting... It all comes together with such an incredible sense of flow. The 30 Day time limit really makes you consider all of your actions. And it seemed like an intimidating limit at first, but the 30 Day cycle was much more forgiving than I expected. Even if I had a rough day, I could at least put my Pikmin away and just run around and assess the areas as Olimar.
And even as just an upscale, the visuals are brilliant. I love that early GameCube era look of games like this and Luigis Mansion.The way the environments and camera are designed do a great job making you feel like a tiny man in a big strange world.
I feel like I've fallen in love with a franchise all over again. I'm starting Pikmin 2 tonight, and can't wait to play 4 next month. If you haven't tried out this series, please do yourself a favor and grab at least the first game on the eshop. It's a perfect slice of pure Nintendo.
The problem I have with Pikmin is, that I can't progress unless all my Pikmin survive. It makes it stressful to play and play is very slow. The time limit was a huge factor.
I like Pikmin, but have some things that push me away on the long run. It's the kind of game I enjoyed, but can't recommend because how stressful it is.
For me, it's an original flaw in the design that has been kept persistent in the serie, while it could have been interesting to transform this to something else, IMHO.
I only played Pikmin 3 (and 2, but briefly, never finished it), and tbh I never perceived it as stressful. In fact I would say I loved it because I found it quite zen.
Obfuscating the number of deaths might help. The running total and the graph of deaths over time in the day are painful to look at.
I’d also add that if they drop a seed when they die, the death isn’t counted against you. Or have helpful Pikmin ghosts because that sounds like a Nintendo thing to do.
It was definitely one of the most memorable gaming experiences from my childhood. I agree with you that the graphics were standout to me on the GameCube. Great environments they created. On a replay I did several years ago, I found it was far easier than I felt it was when I was young, which makes sense, but I remember feeling very stressed out by the 30-day mechanic then, haha. Great game, makes me want to do a replay.
And Pikmin 2 was great in its own right as well. I remember finding the bosses and dungeons much more challenging (and frustrating) and did miss the time limit mechanic, but it still was great fun.
One of my favorite series ever. My only issue is that the later games tended to be very short with not much replayability. I paid $60 for Pikmin 3 and beat it in a day, with effectively 0 replay value. Feelsbad
Don't sleep on Pikmin 3 mission mode, it's quite challenging and fun, it's all about multitasking like a mad man.
the story in pikmin 3 is the tutorial, the real game is the missions. i put like 50h into those
That's great to hear. I am new to the series (only played Pikmin 3 demo), so would love to start from the first game, but was afraid how well it will hold up.
Thanks for the review!
This release is essentially the Wii versions of the original GameCube games but yeah I agree it holds up very well.
I have a lot of nostalgia for Pikmin and love the series and now my kids are playing it too so I couldn't be happier!
I’m so glad Pikmin is starting to get more recognition!
Finally feels like Nintendo is realizing how important it is to make their older games available to modern audiences
Just played it for the first time a few weeks ago, and it was a lot more fun than I expected!
I grew up watching lets plays of Pikmin 3 when it came out, so that was my first real foray into the Pikmin franchise. When seeing footage of Pikmin 1, it looked crude in comparison at first- especially things like the onion models, which looked so simple compared to how they appeared in 3.
But, I decided to actually play the pikmin games, and seeing as I have a homebrewed Wii, I just got the gamecube version and played it on that (I know the new play control version exists too).
Really fun, and while there are aspects of the game that could have been polished, it was really fun, and struck a nice balance between challenging but not oppressively so.
Like you also mentioned, I too was surprised by how forgiving 30 days was. It felt short enough to actually make me feel pressured to work as fast as I could, but not to the point where I was genuinely concerned of getting the bad ending.
There were times when I did use a guide to at least figure out where some of the ship parts were, and the only ones I couldn't figure out were the ones inside of regular enemies, like the normal puffy blowhog in Distant Spring.
Distant Spring, in the end was probably my favorite stage in the game, as some of the methods for acquiring ship parts made you think, and the different ways you could traverse the map and different shortcuts you could take gave the level some nice choice on the player's end.
It’s pretty yank tbh, but I immediately bought 2 and 3 after finishing one, I’ve truly been sleeping on this series.
How do they hold up without nostalgia to help out?
I find older games that people like to gush over, like Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, don't hold up for me (without nostalgia) nearly as much as it does for those with nostalgia - almost always because the camera, menu, or movement controls are so hopelessly outdated that the game is frustrating to play.
Might that apply to Pikmin 1 and 2 too, or are they pretty good to try out even for someone with no nostalgia for them?
I would say so yes! To be fair, I didn't really have heavy nostalgia for these games myself. I had them on GameCube but they were never a big focus for me. Although I tend to spend a lot of my time playing more retro/older titles rather than new ones, so I have a soft spot for anything that has a bit of history to it. I think if you can find a groove with the gameplay loop, Pikmin can still be a lovely time. If you haven't spent much time with pikmin in general, maybe download the Demo for 4 and see how you like it first!
It’s pretty yank tbh, but I immediately bought 2 and 3 after finishing one, I’ve truly been sleeping on this series.