New Play Control! Pikmin

I love this kind of game but, I can honestly say that, "I hate PIKMIN" This could have been a pretty cool game, maybe a 3 or 3.5 except for one major thing. The game is set up and divided into a series of very short "Days" and this is the problem. Each day is maybe 15 min, or so. Now it would be really cool if you could just go around exploring these different worlds trying to find these different pieces of the ship and then trying to figure out how to get them back to your ship using the different PIKMIN but, rather than that every 10 min you have to start rounding up your PIKMIN so that you can get them back to your landing site before dark because any PIKMIN that get left behind will be lost. This destroys the game. And with each passing day you begin to hate this game more and more and more. I have played this game for over 10 hrs and am currently on day 28 of 30 days. But, that's as much wasted time as I'm willing to give this game, I'm DONE.

I had never played pikmin before. It is a lot of fun - reminds me a lot of the old Lemming's PC game. You get to control three diferent types of alien flower creatures that worship you. I haven't completed it yet, but for the price, you can't go wrong here if you like real time puzzle games.

The original Pikmin was an underrated game on The Gamecube Console back in 2001. Now it seems to be suffering the same fate. The title and cover suggest a cutesy and shallow game experience for the very young ones only. However this is an in-depth real time strategy game that is a lot of fun and I'm a big fan of games like StarCraft and even Warcraft III! It is certainly far from shallow! The Wii controls on this game work perfectly and complement the game well. Overall If you missed it on Gamecube (or finished it back in 2001 like me) this is your chance to enjoy an amazing game experience and at this price, it's a steal!

Actually when I passed this version a couple weeks ago I immediately started playing it again from the beginning, no breaks with other games, and then I passed it and immediately started playing it again, each time passing it at a better time. You won't want to put it down! I know I sure didn't. Now I can't wait until they release Pikmin 2 for the "New Play Control" series!

I've been a huge fan of the "Pikmin" and "Pikmin 2" games ever since they came out for the "Gamecube"; I have both of them and I have this one for the Wii too. The gameplay hasn't changed much at all: you play as Captain Olimar, an astronaut from the planet Hocotate, who, while on vacation, going somewhere in space, accidently has an asteroid crash into his ship, the S.S. Dolphin, which makes him crash onto the Pikmin Planet and scatters his thirty rocket parts all throughout it. He befriends the Pikmin, part-plant, part-animal friendly aliens, that you use to help you get all of your rocket parts back in the thirty day time limit, so that he can get off of the planet before his life-support systems fail and he dies due to the poisonous oxygen on the Pikmin Planet. The only changes to the game are the Wii controls and some sound effects. The controls are, mostly, very easy to use and they feel more natural when you play. Instead of having the cursor a few feet away from Olimar, you now can point at the screen with the Wii Remote to move the cursor to where you want it to go, so throwing Pikmin and calling them to you with your whistle is much easier than in the original game. The only control that I had trouble using is the bottom button on the control pad that you use to swarm/march your Pikmin, that replaces the C-Stick; you press it and your Pikmin will march in the direction where your cursor is, so you have to point the cursor to where you want them to go and hold down the bottom control pad button, and sometimes, all of your Pikmin won't go to where the cursor is, so you have to move Olimar with the control stick on the Nunchuk controller while doing all of those things, if you want all of your Pikmin to go to where the cursor is, so that takes some getting used to. Some of the sound effects are different too: some of the Bulborb sound effects are a little bit squeakier than in the original and some of the sounds from Olimar's ship, the S.S. Dolphin, are a little squeaky, too. It's still as much fun as the original on the "Gamecube", though! You still collect rocket parts, battle enemies, grow more Pikmin, tear down wooden and stone gates, use bomb rocks, and everything else that you did in the original game. The Challenge Mode is still there, too. It's an incredibly fun and addictive game and I love it as much as the original on the Gamecube, so the only reason that I'm giving it a four out of five stars is that, since Nintendo remade this game and is remaking "Pikmin 2", I wish they could have added a few things to it, such as, maybe some unlockable "Pikmin 3" concept art and photos, or some previews of new Pikmin in "Pikmin 3", or an extra level or two and some more stuff to collect, or at least a trailer for the "New Play Control! Pikmin 2" game that is supposed to be released sometime this year. I love this remake of "Pikmin" for the Wii and I hope that "New Play Control! Pikmin 2" and "Pikmin 3" are released very soon!

Pikmin was among the earlier GameCube titles, among others such as Super Smash Bros. Melee and Metroid Prime. Pikmin was very fresh and innovative, though, because the concept was different than your usual game, causing it to stand out a bit. Commanding an army of little creatures called Pikmin to help a very small man when he crash lands on a strange planet just hadn't really been done in games before. Pikmin sure got it right the first time, though, in a great, creative game that earned a pretty strong fan base. Now, with Nintendo's New Play Control, Pikmin has come to Wii with new controls and... new controls. Is this Wii rendition still a great game or just a tired concept?

Pikmin's story involves Captain Olimar crash landing on a strange planet on a trip of some sort. His ship is in shambles, and he is able to locate 30 parts from the ship that he needs to get home. His life support will only last him for 30 days, though, because a toxic substance called 'oxygen' exists in the air. He quickly encounters a small creature which he names Pikmin, and this interesting species of little beings help him find the 30 parts of his ship and return home, and along the way the Pikmin learn independence and gain the ability to survive on their dangerous home planet. The story is very unique and that's what makes it great. The game is all centered on these concepts and they work extremely well in every aspect of the game.

Commanding Pikmin is easy enough. Simply press A to throw one or pick one out of the ground, press B to call them to you, C to sort them, and down on the control pad to direct them. The Wii's unique controls come into play with the pointer; you point at the screen to direct your throwing and where your Pikmin will go. All of these functions work almost perfectly; all potential frustrations are very few and far between. The Wii's small additions to the controls are quite good too, and the game fits perfectly with the new control scheme.

The gameplay is all about getting the Pikmin to carry parts back to your ship and create even more Pikmin (they carry things back to their 'Onion' which spits out new ones). Getting your Pikmin to do what you want them to is the key to your success, and there are many strategies involved with that. Strategy comes in especially with the three types of Pikmin: the reds (resistant to fire), yellows (can be thrown higher and can also use bombs), and blues (weaker but able to go in water). There are many challenges involved with using the different types of Pikmin, which at least keeps the game from being a walk in the park the first time through.

Once you've beaten the game, though, it truly is a walk in the park to beat it again. This is where all the replay value lies: seeing how fast you can beat the game and how many Pikmin you can produce within the 30 in-game days. Aside from the main story there is a challenge mode, in which you see how many Pikmin you can get in one day, but that feels like a waste of time when the real game is so much more fun. Overall Pikmin suffers from a lack of content, even if the bulk of what it has is simply fantastic.

Pikmin looked pretty good on the GameCube as a launch title; the difference between it and games from the generation before is pretty drastic. Nowadays the graphics still look passable and sometimes pretty nice (especially the water) but there isn't any improvement from the game that came out so many years ago. With the New Play Control version there are supposedly HD graphics, but HD always makes even the sharpest of Wii games look like a mess.

Pikmin still sounds great, though. Everything from the gut-wrenching death sounds the Pikmin make to the sounds they make when they triumph are just great. All the effects fit very well with what they go to and sound great all the time. The music is also awesome, especially the unforgettable theme from the Impact Site.

Being a total rehash with updated controls, New Play Control Pikmin has its ups and downs. The bad part is just that: it's simply a rehash of a 7-or 8-year-old game with new controls. The good part comes to the people who don't already own the game, though: they get to experience a fantastic game in a new way, and those are the people who should buy this Wii version. If you own the GameCube game then don't bother with this, just play through that version again. But if you don't own the original game, I highly recommend you give New Play Control Pikmin a shot, because you don't want to miss out on this fun, innovative, and high quality game a second time.

Positive:
+ solid, fun gameplay
+ commanding 100 little Pikmin is pretty awesome
+ new Wii controls suit the game nicely
+ great replay value
+ plenty of challenges along the way

Negative:
- no graphical improvements from GameCube game
- very little content