967th played so far
Genre: Strategy
Platform: Gamecube
Year of Release: 2004
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
While I enjoyed playing Pikmin, it was a flawed classic: The controls weren’t great and the time limit was one that made me quite nervous. I was hoping that a sequel would improve on that and although I can’t say much about the controls, I do know that this game drops the time limit. After Battalion Wars, I feel I’ll do better at that anyway. It should be a good one though.
Our Thoughts
I’ll be honest, I really liked the lack of a time limit, it was nice to be able to explore the area and figure out the puzzles without having the feeling I need to rush through. The alternative progression in which you’re tasked to pay off debts works incredibly well, both as a general progression mechanic and as a way to cram in a lot of jokes about the everyday objects that make up their treasures (secretly enforcing the idea of the miniature world this takes place in).
And man, there’s a lot to explore. Aside from the overworld feeling as expansive as ever – I certainly had to deal with the day and night rhythm that still kept going – you also have a lot of dungeons to explore, three or four per area. You need to get the right abilities – or rather, Pikmin – to get to them, which works well to pace them and gives you a reason to return to old areas later on.
There are two new types of Pikmin, both of which are obviously useful. Where the original three are born from the bulb, the new purple and white Pikmin require you to throw another type of Pikmin into specific flowers. Purple flowers give you the heavy purple Pikmin, which have a far better carrying capacity, while the white Pikmin are necessary for the treasure they find and speed they have, even if they are otherwise useless. Luckily you’ve got a second character with you as well to control them so you can split the groups, which really helps getting the different types in place.
Final Thoughts
Pikmin 2 feels a lot more relaxed than the first game, while giving a nice bit more content to play with. It was a lot of fun to see and I kept wanting to see a bit more of the game. Another one for the list I can start in another six months or so.