Pikmin
Basic Game Info
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Captain Olimar's ship is struck by a passing comet and he crash-lands on this strange planet, with only 30 days of breathable air in his space-suit and his ship in pieces scattered all over the countryside. It seems impossible that he can gather all his ship parts and blast off for home in 30 days, but there is a species of little creatures waiting to be discovered--the Pikmin--who will help him overcome the planet's many and sundry obstacles to successfully escape.
You play as Olimar, growing and nurturing the Pikmin, leading them into battle with huge bugs, blowing up obstacles, building bridges, figuring out puzzles and exploring new territories...all in the name of collecting the scattered parts of your ship, so that Olimar can finally go home. :') |
Why I Like the Game So Much
Pikmin has been a favorite of mine since it launched (no pun intended) for several reasons:
- I get to play "mother hen" to a bunch of little Pikmin "chicks"--yay for maternal instinct, lol
- It teaches multi-tasking and leadership skills, all while you're working with a group of the cutest little minions you've ever seen.
- The game is (sort of) free-form; you can explore various areas, defeat bad guys, and as long as you've brought home at least one ship part per day, you're doing good--you're on schedule. Granted, there are ship parts you can get as a pair if you know what you're doing, but there's no hard deadlines.
- The sheer creative difficulty of the boss battles gives a new set of challenges; every time I play, there are levels I have to be careful to work through, levels I have to re-learn how to master, but that's part of the fun. Just like working in a real leadership environment is all made up of "practice," so is Pikmin.
- I love being able to rescue my little Pikmin from danger, or to mother them a little after a hard-fought battle in which many little lives were lost. (I'm a very protective Captain--there have been a couple of battles in which I let the Pikmin stay home and safe while I went out and beat up the bad guy! LOL!)
Personal Tips and Tricks
- As I mentioned in the previous section, there are ways to multi-task and get two or even three parts in one day if you're careful. You don't want to multi-task so much that you're leaving your Pikmin vulnerable to attack, but gathering a couple of parts that are in the same general vicinity is a great way to save a couple of days.
- Throughout the game, you encounter different colors of Pikmin. The red ones can withstand fire, the yellow ones can carry bombs and be thrown higher, and the blue ones can swim. I've also found that the red ones are heartier in battle, and the yellow ones carry ship parts and other burdens the fastest.
- Make sure you let your newly-grown Pikmin sup from nectar grass--usually there's a small stand of nectar grass near where the Pikmin ships (or "Onions") and Olimar's ship sets down. When the Pikmin eat the nectar, they go from being "leaf-heads" to "flower-heads," meaning they move faster even while carrying objects. Faster movement means you get ship parts home quicker!
- Leave the hardest boss battles for last in an area if at all possible. You may need multiple days to regenerate Pikmin to overcome some of them, especially later in the game, so better to gather everything else in the area first.
Links
Pikmin Walkthroughs
GameFAQs.com
Pikmin Walkthrough Episode One: Day 1 Part 1 (Youtube)
Pikmin Fansites/Fan Content
Pikmin Wikia
IGN.com
MarioWiki.com:
GameWinners.com
PikminWiki.com: Main Game Article
PikminFanon.com (fan wiki)
TheOtaku.com
PikminWiki.com