Pikmin: Stepping Stone Towards Better To Come
Pikmin began as a series created by Mario creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. The foundation of Pikmin can be found in a GameCube-era tech demo called Super Mario 128, it showed the performance of the GameCube, being able to animate 128 copies of Mario at once, and this concept of multiple characters running at once moved over to what we know today as Pikmin. Pikmin is probably one of the more unique Nintendo series out there. There's your normal Mario's, Zelda's and Metroid's, as well Fire Emblem and Xenoblade for the weebs, but Pikmin as a series is kinda the middle child of Nintendo IPs. It's not as popular as Mario or Zelda, but it's not as niche as Fire Emblem or Xenoblade over here in the west. I initially knew Pikmin only as the series Olimar from Super Smash Bros was from, said 9-year-old me.
I remember trying out Pikmin before, I believe I played either Pikmin 1 or 2 on my old Wii before, I don't know which one exactly, but I never completed it, and I didn't like the controls. I was only a kid at the time, so it was only natural for me to be dogshit at games that weren't Mario or Pokemon. I decided to pick up Pikmin 1 + 2 on the Switch because this was the most accessible version available to me as a newcomer to the series. (I'm writing my review here because backloggd's system when it comes to ports/remasters is dogshit) I am able to play the Wii version of Pikmin 1 & 2, but I've heard about the mixed reception of the motion controls, and with a game like Pikmin, I didn't hate myself enough to subject myself to motion controls, so I got the Switch version. I'll be writing about Pikmin 1 here and Pikmin 2 later, for now, all I have to say about Pikmin 1 is that Pikmin 1 was such a nice change of pace from all the games I've played this year so far.
It was sorta calming to play this game, the soundtrack was composed by Hajime Wakai and adds so much to crafting the atmosphere when you explore this planet as Olimar. Olimar is a Hocotatian (I checked the Pikmin wiki to make sure before I made a fool of myself and say Olimar was human. Pikmin lore goes deep) who crashes his ship onto the planet where the Pikmin inhabit. Since Oilmar's ship is out of work, he befriends the Pikmin and uses them to collect the missing pieces of his ship on the planet to make sure he has all the pieces, or else in 30 days, the oxygen in his space helmet will run out, and he will die. You have limited time each day you play Pikmin, each day matters, and it's best to use each day to its best by either getting a missing piece of the ship or harvesting some more Pikmin. In Pikmin 1, there are only 3 types of Pikmin, Red Pikmin, Blue Pikmin, and Yellow Pikmin.
Red Pikmin are the first ones you get in the game and can withstand flames and anything similar to heat, Blue Pikmin can be brought underwater while the other ones melt to death, and Yellow Pikmin can withstand electricity. Compared to Pikmin 2, and the later games, this is quite basic, but as the first game in the series, it works and works perfectly for newcomers. This is the perfect entry point for me, I was able to understand the 3 basic Pikmin types perfectly, and going into Pikmin 2 after this game felt like a smooth transition. Pikmin isn't a game you play for a story, it's all about gameplay, and the gameplay is so satisfying. Compared to Pikmin 2, it's quite basic since this was the first game, but I still had a fun time with it. It was fun to explore the little planet with the Pikmin and explore to find treasure.
I found myself caring for the Pikmin I had around me, I felt like a guardian protecting its little ones, and whenever I lost one of them to an enemy, I made sure me and my children got sweet revenge by killing it and harvet its body to create more Pikmin. Surprisingly kinda dark for a Nintendo game. (insert Spongebob roller coaster meme here) To be honest, I don't have a lot to say here, because most of my praises are for Pikmin 2, but what I will say is that one of my issues with Pikmin 1, was that I felt that the Pikmin could just ignore you sometimes. Sometimes I threw a Pikmin at an enemy just for the Pikmin to walk around blind like they Stevie Wonder, but also another issue was that compared to Pikmin 2, there's not a lot of replay value. Of course, you can try to speed-run it, but everything after Pikmin 1 just does a better job. Overall, Pikmin 1 was a nice change of pace from what else I was playing this year. I believe this was the first RTS I ever played, and I loved it.
Stats:
8th Game I've Completed In 2024
Played on Nintendo Switch
Hours into Game: 10 hours
Score: 8/10 (4/5)
Last Statement: Red Pikmin best pikmin
Pikmin began as a series created by Mario creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. The foundation of Pikmin can be found in a GameCube-era tech demo called Super Mario 128, it showed the performance of the GameCube, being able to animate 128 copies of Mario at once, and this concept of multiple characters running at once moved over to what we know today as Pikmin. Pikmin is probably one of the more unique Nintendo series out there. There's your normal Mario's, Zelda's and Metroid's, as well Fire Emblem and Xenoblade for the weebs, but Pikmin as a series is kinda the middle child of Nintendo IPs. It's not as popular as Mario or Zelda, but it's not as niche as Fire Emblem or Xenoblade over here in the west. I initially knew Pikmin only as the series Olimar from Super Smash Bros was from, said 9-year-old me.
I remember trying out Pikmin before, I believe I played either Pikmin 1 or 2 on my old Wii before, I don't know which one exactly, but I never completed it, and I didn't like the controls. I was only a kid at the time, so it was only natural for me to be dogshit at games that weren't Mario or Pokemon. I decided to pick up Pikmin 1 + 2 on the Switch because this was the most accessible version available to me as a newcomer to the series. (I'm writing my review here because backloggd's system when it comes to ports/remasters is dogshit) I am able to play the Wii version of Pikmin 1 & 2, but I've heard about the mixed reception of the motion controls, and with a game like Pikmin, I didn't hate myself enough to subject myself to motion controls, so I got the Switch version. I'll be writing about Pikmin 1 here and Pikmin 2 later, for now, all I have to say about Pikmin 1 is that Pikmin 1 was such a nice change of pace from all the games I've played this year so far.
It was sorta calming to play this game, the soundtrack was composed by Hajime Wakai and adds so much to crafting the atmosphere when you explore this planet as Olimar. Olimar is a Hocotatian (I checked the Pikmin wiki to make sure before I made a fool of myself and say Olimar was human. Pikmin lore goes deep) who crashes his ship onto the planet where the Pikmin inhabit. Since Oilmar's ship is out of work, he befriends the Pikmin and uses them to collect the missing pieces of his ship on the planet to make sure he has all the pieces, or else in 30 days, the oxygen in his space helmet will run out, and he will die. You have limited time each day you play Pikmin, each day matters, and it's best to use each day to its best by either getting a missing piece of the ship or harvesting some more Pikmin. In Pikmin 1, there are only 3 types of Pikmin, Red Pikmin, Blue Pikmin, and Yellow Pikmin.
Red Pikmin are the first ones you get in the game and can withstand flames and anything similar to heat, Blue Pikmin can be brought underwater while the other ones melt to death, and Yellow Pikmin can withstand electricity. Compared to Pikmin 2, and the later games, this is quite basic, but as the first game in the series, it works and works perfectly for newcomers. This is the perfect entry point for me, I was able to understand the 3 basic Pikmin types perfectly, and going into Pikmin 2 after this game felt like a smooth transition. Pikmin isn't a game you play for a story, it's all about gameplay, and the gameplay is so satisfying. Compared to Pikmin 2, it's quite basic since this was the first game, but I still had a fun time with it. It was fun to explore the little planet with the Pikmin and explore to find treasure.
I found myself caring for the Pikmin I had around me, I felt like a guardian protecting its little ones, and whenever I lost one of them to an enemy, I made sure me and my children got sweet revenge by killing it and harvet its body to create more Pikmin. Surprisingly kinda dark for a Nintendo game. (insert Spongebob roller coaster meme here) To be honest, I don't have a lot to say here, because most of my praises are for Pikmin 2, but what I will say is that one of my issues with Pikmin 1, was that I felt that the Pikmin could just ignore you sometimes. Sometimes I threw a Pikmin at an enemy just for the Pikmin to walk around blind like they Stevie Wonder, but also another issue was that compared to Pikmin 2, there's not a lot of replay value. Of course, you can try to speed-run it, but everything after Pikmin 1 just does a better job. Overall, Pikmin 1 was a nice change of pace from what else I was playing this year. I believe this was the first RTS I ever played, and I loved it.
Stats:
8th Game I've Completed In 2024
Played on Nintendo Switch
Hours into Game: 10 hours
Score: 8/10 (4/5)
Last Statement: Red Pikmin best pikmin