Pikmin 2

The storyline picks up where the previous iteration's concludes. Therefore, after having crash-landed on the strange Pikmin-infested planet, befriending them and somehow convincing them to find the thirty vital components of his space craft, Captain Olimar returns to his home world only to find that matters have taken a turn for the severe worst. The planet's economic system has crashed and everything even remotely of value must be used as currency to keep his freight company in business. The long and short is that Olimar, along with his dopey-looking co-worker Louie, must travel back to where Olimar just escaped from and use the Pikmin there once more, only this time with the imperative aim of returning with many precious items!

Now, you could look at Pikmin 2 and go 'Hey, that looks exactly the same as the first one!' But then you would certainly be overlooking several vital aspects. First of all, the original was of an extremely high calibre for a first generation title, sporting crisp, colourful graphics and a frame-rate that many developers would maul someone for (yes, I am talking about the '100 Marios' engine); secondly there are some very impressive (by Nintendo standards anyway) cut-scenes littering the game; and thirdly there are no many more Pikmin available, all of which can be clambering about at once on-screen and still nothing ever slows down in the slightest, despite the additional background detail as well! Plus, the game's split-screen mode runs perfectly well ad certainly will not raise any complaints from gamers as the usual level of detail found in the planet's locales and inhabitants does not seem to dip below 'superbly tasty'. Now, do you still want to argue that Pikmin 2 is lacking in this department...?

 

The music aspect of Pikmin was never really one of the biggest talking points when it was released...well, to be honest, barely anybody ever mentioned it since whilst pleasant, the tunes hardly set the world of gaming alight. Unfortunately, the same can be said for Pikmin 2 as you will hardly notice the music playing in the background when controlling the large groups of flower folk in the more-calm-than-its-predecessor-yet-still-tense (*phew*) action of collecting items and defeating enemies. But, then again, this apparently negative point quickly U-turns into a beneficial addition to the state of play. In any case would you seriously want the usual bouncy Nintendo tunes that grace nearly all of its other products? Instead, the gentle, lilting melodies tied together with the nice little rousing calls Olimar and Louie use to call the Pikmin and the flower peoples' specific cries of happiness, fright and pain all ensure the perfect atmosphere is created all the way through. Deceptive and clever...

 

Look at the various screenshots dotted around this review and try to tell me exactly what Pikmin is all about. Got it yet? No, it is not just some strange gardening simulation devised by a drug-induced temporary staff member of Nintendo! It is, in fact, the brain-child of the Mario creator himself, Shigeru Miyamoto, ripping out the innards of the massively popular Eastern Asian delight StarCraft, simplifying it to almost entry-level extremes and then dousing it with heaps of magical sprinkles that are constantly associated with Nintendo products far and wide.

But there was a major restriction placed on those who played the first iteration that came out all the way back around the time of the European GameCube launch. You see, originally you were forced to complete everything within a set period of time, collecting various items of necessity before the completion of three straight 'in-game' days. Thankfully, though, this enforcement has been completely lifted and literally obliterated for the advent of this Pikmin sequel. However, let us quickly establish exactly how the game plays, since all you really know so far is that Real Time Strategy + flower people = crazy new game!

You begin as a little spaceman by the name of Olimar, landing on an unusual planet full of strange creatures and vegetation

 

But, hidden underneath the top layer of simplicity is a clever depth