New Play Control! Pikmin

Pikmin makes a return on the Wii.

Back in the Gamecube era, I never got to get a Gamecube, which caused me to miss out on this masterpiece. When I began playing this, it made me want to get Pikmin 2 right off the bat. I've played it non-stop ever since I rented it, and it was one of the best moments of my life... ever. of my life. This game may not be perfect, but it is very good.

The soundtrack is one of the best in any video game. It sounds very peaceful and makes you want to just dream your worries away. The main theme, Ai No Uta, was actually released in stores in Japan and immediately became a best seller. The sounds that the Pikmin make are just adorable and helpful at the same time. If you're far away from Pikmin that are in battle, their cries for help will remind you to save them. If a Pikmin starts to drown, it'll alert you immediately.

The gameplay is much like games like Halo Wars, only better. You can have about 100 Pikmin with you, possibly more. You can give each of them different commands, whether it's picking something up, destroying a wall, or pulverizing an enemy. You may think that throwing your Pikmin doesn't do anything, but it does. It can be an attack against an enemy, or if you throw it near an object that they can pick up,they'll immediately pick the object up an carry it to their ship, which will take the object and make Pikmin from it. Depending on how many Pikmin you command to carry something, they will go either fast or slow. Blue Pikmin, however, have much better strength than Red or Yellow Pikmin, and carry objects 2x faster.

The story is actually surprisingly creative, in which you have 30 days to obtain your ship parts and meet some 3 kinds of Pikmin: Red, Yellow, and Blue. You play as the astronaut known as Captain Olimar, whom has a family of one wife and two kids. During the day, you explore the planet you have crashed on in search of ship parts, and during the night, you will get into the ship called the Dolphin, and your gathered Pikmin will get into their own ships called Onions and blast with you into the sky in wait of dawn, while the Pikmin you left behind will fight for their lives against the wild, and eventually lose them. Depending on what you did during the day, Captain Olimar will write in his diary about what he observed. He'll usually write about his Pikmin or about how many days he has left to get off the planet.

The graphics haven't improved much from the original Pikmin on Gamecube, but they're still pretty good. There's a lot of detail throughout each level and the textures look very neat. The whole environment feels fresh and full of color, with nothing too bright or too dark. Even Olimar looks like he lives on the planet, and the same goes for his ship.

At first glance, this game may seem weird and strange, but that's beauty of it. It IS weird and strange, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you have a Wii or Gamecube, then by all means buy this game. I strongly recommend this game to anyone in search of something different in gaming.