Pikmin

Related Topics:
Pikmin_Series :: Pikmin :: Pikmin_2

For the second game of Pikmin, see Pikmin 2.

Pikmin (ピクミン in Japanese) is the first of the Pikmin series of video games which are designed by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto (of Mario and Zelda fame). It was released December 3, 2001 in North America and June 15, 2002 in Europe. It also has the unique distinction of having been the first Player's Choice Nintendo GameCube game in North America. Its sequel is Pikmin 2. In Japanese commercials for the game, the song "Ai No Uta" was used, which became popular and was released as a single in its own right.

According to an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto in the June/July 2002 issue of Nickelodeon Magazine, the tiny creatures featured in the game, called 'Pikmin', are named after Miyamoto's dog, Pik. However, the Japanese Wikipedia cites the word's origin as being based on the expression "Pick me".

Pikmin was a very different game than others released at the time. The game's challenge was to collect missing rocket ship parts within 30 days of preset, uniform length. The innovative system of using days to demarcate sessions of play and to develop the game's flow was very unusual at the time. Unlike many other video games at the time, Pikmin in this way put an upper limit on the time that a player could spend in one game, as at the end of 30 days, the game was over. This is similar to games in the Harvest Moon series.

Game play

The game Pikmin is a 3D game, with the player controlling "Captain Olimar" (known in Japan as Captain "Orima", a backwards kana spelling of "Mario") from a third-person viewpoint. Olimar is in turn followed by the Pikmin, whom he directs. The basis of game play in Pikmin is to retrieve ship parts by using the three varieties of Pikmin available in different combinations. There are standard obstacles present, such as water and fire, to which the blue and red Pikmin, respectively, are immune. In addition, yellow Pikmin can be thrown higher and further than the other two colors, and also can carry explosive Bomb Rocks to attack enemies or remove obstacles.

In retrieving ship parts, there are generally three steps. The first is to locate the part and scout its location, noting any obstacles Pikmin may need to remove or any enemies which must be defeated. The second step is in selecting the appropriate numbers and colors of Pikmin needed to complete the tasks, and then executing them. This must be done with some care, as only 100 Pikmin may exist outside the Onions at any given time. The third step is to secure the part, which is usually in a difficult to reach location or held by a powerful enemy. After securing the part, it can be brought back. All 30 parts are retrieved in this manner.

Time in the game is divided into 30 days. With the exception of the first day, which lasts until the player finds the first ship part (the engine), all Pikmin days are 15 minutes in length. At the end of the day, all Pikmin must be immediately rounded up, work halted, and Olimar must return with the Pikmin to the ship. The reason for this is that many of the creatures which inhabit the Pikmin's planet are nocturnal predators and are much more difficult to defeat. This explains why Bulborbs are always found sleeping during the day.

Challenge Mode

Apart from the main gameplay, Pikmin also contains a Challenge Mode that is unlocked once all three Pikmin types are found. Each of the five levels in the main game are available for play. The object of challenge mode is to grow the greatest number of Pikmin in one day as is possible. The number of creatures in Challenge Mode is significantly greater than in the main game, and their distribution is changed as well. Although discovering new areas in the main game opens them for Challenge Mode play, Challenge Mode does not effect gameplay in the main story mode in any way.

Areas

Olimar travels through five main areas to collect all 30 parts, which are scattered across the landscape of each area.

The Impact Site: The Impact Site is the location where Olimar wakes up, having lost consciousness when his ship plummeted to the surface. As soon as he wakes up, he begins to look for his ship, and is shocked by the amount of damage that has occurred. After this, sets off to find a way to begin repairs and instead stumbles across the Red Pikmin. Although at the beginning Olimar only has control over one Pikmin, he soon gains control over enough of them, through reproduction, to haul his engine back to the ship.

The actual area of the Impact Site is one of the smallest in the game, It possesses few explorable areas and only two ship parts. The Impact Site is notable, however, for containing enemies which are found nowhere else in the game.

The Forest of Hope: The Forest of Hope is the second navigable area in the game, and is much larger than the Impact Site. There are eight pieces of the ship to be found here. The Forest is divided into three main regions: a shallow lake, a wide beach, and a tangle of narrow paths and pools of water. This is also the first area of the game in which the player encounters Bulborbs, the natural enemy of Pikmin. Olimar also meets the yellow Pikmin here.

The Forest Navel: The third region of the game is so named because when Olimar flies over the area for the first time, he remarks that this open spot in the very center of the dense forest resembles a navel, facing outward.This adds some difficulty as the parts have to be carried up a cirular mountain. This area contains nine ship parts, and contains many dangerous enemies. This, and the fact that the area contains multiple stone gates which can only be destroyed by explosions, makes transortation of ship parts extremely difficult. The area is pock-marked with fire geysers, and contains large watery areas. To help with this, this is where Olimar meets the blue Pikmin. The entire area is very dark and dusty, and is slightly foreboding, especially considering that vast stretches of it seem hauntingly empty. Many enemies in this area attack with fire, or are simply very large. The area also features a special boss battle with a creature named the Beady Long Legs. This is special because it is the only "boss" in the game besides the final one.

The Distant Spring: The Distant Spring is the last area in the game which contains necessary ship parts. The area contains ten parts in total, the largest amount in the game. As the name would suggest, there is a great deal of water in the Distant Spring, and thus blue Pikmin get a great workout here. The area revolves around puzzles, as many times parts are near water, but require other colors of Pikmin to carry them, such as when a part requires passage through a fiery area. In such a situation, careless directing of Pikmin could lead to undue casualties. The Distant Spring is much more inorganic in appearance, featuring many land masses that appear to be geometric shapes.

The Final Trial: This is the last area in the game, and it contains only one ship part, which is not necessary for Captain Olimar to leave the planet. It can take two days to clear the obstacles and bring the ship part back, but the level can be cleared in a single day by a sufficiently experienced player. The area calls on the talents of all three types of Pikmin, requiring careful navigation of fire geysers, traversing wide, watery pools, and precisely placing bomb-rocks. The entire area is a run-up to a single creature, which is called Emperor Bulblax by Captain Olimar. As one would expect for the final boss, it is more proficient at Pikmin-killing than any other enemy in the game. The Emperor Bulblax attacks by crushing its opponents or by eating them after catching them with its large sticky tongue.

Species

The Pikmin

Olimar discovers a tricolored plant-animal hybrid that willingly follows his orders and helps him recover the ship parts. He names these creatures "Pikmin" after "Pikpik carrots" (his favorite food). Each color has its own weaknesses and strengths, and all three colors must be used in order to complete the game. This is not the case for every ship part, however. There are some missions and some ship parts that can be retrieved with only two colors of Pikmin, and in some cases, a large monochromatic army of a single shade is enough to capture the needed part.

The basic physical characteristics of Pikmin are somewhat of a mystery, as very few clues are given by the physical elements present in the Pikmin's environment. To us, the Pikmin are very short, standing at only one inch (2.54cm) tall. Pikmin are very simple physically, consisting of little more than a head, slender body, two arms and two legs, all four of which are very thin. Pikmin have tiny little hands and feet. Pikmin facial features are somewhat strange. All Pikmin have two disproportionately large eyes, with round, black pupils. However, only red Pikmin have noses, only yellow Pikmin have ears, and only blue Pikmin have gills shaped like mouths. Blue Pikmin do not have teeth. On top of the heads of all Pikmin are plant-like sprouts, which are either topped by a leaf, bud, or flower. The latter is the most developed stage of Pikmin; flower Pikmin move faster and attack more strongly than leaf or bud Pikmin.

Pikmin are social creatures, seemingly interacting with other Pikmin of all colors if left alone, but focus their attention entirely on Captain Olimar when called into active duty. Pikmin naturally form groups within their own color, but cooperate readily with Pikmin of another color. If allowed to separate into groups during periods of inactivity, they separate along color lines, but do not object to being placed all together. Pikmin live in special pods which Olimar names Onions, since they bear a passing resemblance to the earthly vegetable. Each Onion is color specific, and Pikmin are never seen entering an Onion of a color different from their own. Pikmin reproduce (or replicate depending on how one looks at it) by bringing colored pellets or the carcasses of defeated enemies to their Onion. The Onion then absorbs the object and produces seeds, from which new Pikmin sprout. Onions only produce seeds that match their own color, and the number of seeds produced is dependent on the object being converted. If 100 Pikmin are in the field, the seeds will be stored internally, where they will mature to the basic leaf Pikmin.

Other Species

The wildlife of Pikmin, asides from the Pikmin themselves, is a wide, diverse set of organisms that sometimes are extreme diversions from Earthly creatures, such as the bulborb, but are at other times almost identical to real life creatures, such as the wogpole. Sometimes there are mixed creatures, such as the snake-bird hybrid, the snagret. Most of these creatures are harmful to Pikmin, as Pikmin are suitable prey, but this is not always the case. In Pikmin Olimar finds that many of these creatures, especially the more dangerous ones, have swallowed ship parts, or block paths to ship parts, making battle necassary. Other times, it is safer to avoid them.

Story

In Pikmin, the main character is Captain Olimar, a spaceman from the planet Hocotate. The story starts when Olimar is taking a vacation in outer space. However, during his flight, a meteorite hits his spaceship, the Dolphin (a reference to the Nintendo GameCube's codename, "Project Dolphin"), and it crashes on a planet unknown to him. Parts of the spaceship fall off as it plummets to the ground.

When he regains consciousness, Olimar finds out that the planet's atmosphere contains oxygen, which is poisonous to people from Hocotate, and he can stay on the planet for only 30 days before his air supply runs out. Olimar must retrieve many of the spaceship parts so he can rebuild his spaceship and return to Hocotate. Although there are 30 Parts, there are five that are optional and Olimar can escape without them.

To help Olimar are indigenous creatures called Pikmin, which are nearly extinct and unable to survive in the enviornment without his leadership when he arrives. As this element of symbiosis develops, Olimar discovers parts of his ship and travels across the Pikmin Planet. The game has multiple endings depending upon how succesful the player is, ending if either the 30 days are up or he collects all 30 parts.

The worst ending happens if Olimar does not collect the 25 necessary parts within 30 days. He attempts to fly off the planet, however the Dolphin plummets back down and crashes. Olimar's carbon dioxide runs out and he breaths the oxygen. The Pikmin take him to the Onion and he gets sucked in. A Pikmin seed is spit out and sprouts, however this Pikmin is half Olimar. The good ending happens if Olimar collects the 25 necessary parts within 30 days. He attempts to fly off the planet and succeeds. The best ending happens if Olimar collects all 30 parts. He flies off the planet and the Pikmin are shown attacking a predator on their own.

Some believe that the planet Olimar crash-landed on is in fact the planet Earth, with further debate that it takes place in the future, where humans have become extinct and insects have further evolved. This is disputed, however. There are some suggestions of it, though, in the form of discarded human objects (cans, cardboard boxes, etc.) in the field. It can be said however, that the people of Hocotate are very small, as these objects are often more than twice Olimar's size. Further, the instruction manual describes Olimar as being about the size of a quarter (or from a Japanese perspective, a 100 yen piece).

Reaction

IGN gave Pikmin a 9.1, or "Outstanding," rating, impressed by the use of textures and orchestration. The gameplay was noted for being fun for players of many different experience levels. The game was heavily faulted for the requirement to complete the game in 10 to 12 hours (or 30 game days), and this was changed for Pikmin 2, which was one of the highest rated GameCube games on IGN.

Awards

E3 2001 Game Critics Awards: Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game

Sequels

With the generally positive reaction to Pikmin, Pikmin 2 was modified, apparently using the criticisms of the original game and was better received by reviewers such as IGN than the original.

References

External links

Official Pikmin website
Pikmin Returns
Hitchhiker's Guide to Pikmin
Pikmin speed run (9 day completion) at Speed Demos Archive.
Pikmin at IGN.
at Pikmin Wiki, or Piki
UNofficial Pikmin website with FAQs, Pics and more

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