Just two years after the release of the original Pikmin comes Pikmin 2 from Nintendo. The original Pikmin, first premiered at E3 2001, was a launch title for Nintendo’s next-generation console, GameCube. Essentially, Pikmin sewed together many genres, borrowing elements from the RTS, adventure and even puzzle genres. The end result was a strangely enjoyable experience that even today can not be explained by words. A simple blend of fun and entertaining gameplay kept gamers intrigued as they collected ship parts to save the game’s protagonist, Captain Olimar, from dying on a foreign planet he crash-landed on. Though simple the plot was, it gave backbone for the game’s structure. In just 30 days, with the help of some small, mysterious creatures called Pikmin, gamers had to collect all of Olimar’s ship’s parts or the pilot would die on the unknown planet.

Following the events in Pikmin is Pikmin 2. It picks up right where its predecessor came to a halt. Furthermore, the title makes use of the very same gameplay style its older brother invented. Shigeru Miyamoto’s (Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong) pioneering gameplay returns throughout Pikmin 2 as he continues to innovate his series further. With new kinds of Pikmin, 200 treasures to collect, four massive areas to discover and 15-plus caves to explore, Pikmin 2 has accelerated itself to the very top of the most exceptional GameCube software. Indeed, the 15-plus hour adventure is a must own.

The Facts

• Shigeru Miyamoto’s sequel to the GameCube hit Pikmin
  
• Four massive hub worlds to explore, each filled with different kinds of Pikmin, enemies and puzzles
  
• New dungeon-like caves filled with puzzles, enemies and bosses, as well as other surprises
  
• No more 30-day time limit. Instead you have as many days as you like to complete the title
  
• A total of five Pikmin, two of which are new
  
• Dolby Pro Logic II support
  
• Progressive Scan support
  
• Rated E for everyone

Welcome Home, but Don’t Stay Long
Where Pikmin left off, Captain Olimar had just launched off of the Pikmin’s native planet. A cut-scene showed him drifting into space, waving good bye to his newfound friends. The credits rolled.

A short time later, as said before, is where Pikmin 2 picks up. Olimar has just returned to his home planet, Hocotat. However, home sweet home this is not. Upon landing on his planet, he learns his freight company has taken a financial hit and is 10,000 pokos in debt. Fortunately, for the company, Olimar’s boss learns of the world he was stranded on. He learns of the treasures that lay buried on it, which happen to go for a pretty penny on Hocotat, and sends Olimar, along with his co-worker, Louie, back to the strange planet.

Once back on the planet Olimar had tried so hard to leave in the first place, he and Louie set out to collect treasure, each worth a different amount of pokos, to save their company from debt collectors. Through some in-game cut-scenes and a range of full-motion video, which looks stunning, Pikmin 2’s story is told. In terms of story-telling, it does nothing desperately different from other games.



Pikmin on GameCube

What it does do, however, is step-it-up from its predecessor in terms of story and presentation. The opening full-motion video, for example, is several times the length of its predecessor. Additionally, it is presented better. Though there is no voice acting, which may disappoint, the dialogue is better than the silence of Pikmin’s opening cinema. Nintendo may not be known for scripting solid storylines, but, while Pikmin 2 may not be the Final Fantasy of Eternal Darkness of the developer, it shows the company is taking a step in a new direction with its sequel. Through some skits, brought to be by e-mails you’ll receive at the end of each day and Olimar’s space ship, which talks throughout the game, Pikmin 2 is bound to make gamers laugh – if they do not at least enjoy its charming plot.

More of What You Loved
Miyamoto’s fundamental gameplay structure returns in full. You start the game out with only a handful of Pikmin, but by its end you’ll have hundreds. Essentially, Pikmin are little plant-like creatures that inhabit the planet you’ve landed on. They are loyal, obedient, willing to please, and each has its own abilities. The Pikmin grow from the ground, to boot, which makes them extra cool, if their little leaf-baring heads didn’t already. By collecting colored tablets, carcasses of dead enemies and whatnot, they’ll grow from soil. You can then pick them, and they’re ready to go.

The Pikmin will carry out tasks that you assign them to. They’ll fight against monsters, carry things back to the ship and do just about anything else you tell them to do – they’ll even jump off a bridge. And like in any society with peer pressure, all the other Pikmin will follow suit.