73/100
Players10 ratings

Where to get it

2023 · Remaster · Nintendo European Research and Development · Adventure · Real-time strategy

Pikmin 1

Nintendo exclusiveRemaster

Find your way home in the original Pikmin-plucking adventure

Released: 21 June 2023
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Genres: Adventure Real-time strategy Strategy
Developers: Nintendo European Research and Development
Publishers: Nintendo
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action
Age ratings: PEGI 3 GRAC ALL CERO A ESRB E10+
Languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Dutch, English, English (UK), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain)

About

Pikmin is a 2001 real-time strategy puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. The game was created and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, and is the first entry in the Pikmin series. The game's story focuses on an alien pilot, Captain Olimar, who crash lands on a mysterious planet and must make use of a native species called "Pikmin" to find his ship's missing parts in order to escape within 30 days. Players take control of Olimar and direct the different varieties of Pikmin to explore the game's various levels, overcoming obstacles and hostile creatures, in order to find and recover the missing ship parts.

Pikmin was well received by critics and was commercially successful, selling over one million copies worldwide. It spawned a series of sequels, starting with Pikmin 2, which was released in 2004. The game was ported to Wii in 2008 in Japan and 2009 for the rest of the world as part of the New Play Control! series, followed by a high-definition remaster for Nintendo Switch in 2023.

Keywords

post-apocalyptic
micromanagement
loot gathering
tiny protagonist

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The main goal in the game is to retrieve ship parts by using the three varieties of Pikmin available in different combinations. Captain Olimar discovers multi-colored plant-animal hybrids that willingly follow his orders and help him recover the parts. All three of the Pikmin colors that Olimar discovers must be used in order to overcome various obstacles and complete the game. The Pikmin creatures come in three colors: red, yellow and blue.

Red Pikmin are the first type found in the game, resistant to fire and the strongest type of Pikmin with respect to combat. Yellow Pikmin can be thrown higher than the other two and can carry explosives called "bomb rocks" . They are used in various tasks, including carrying objects and enemies, breaking down walls, and defeating enemies. Blue Pikmin are the only ones that are able to survive in water and throw Pikmin of other colors across it.

Story

Captain Olimar, a tiny, one-inch tall humanoid from the planet Hocotate is vacationing in outer space. S. Dolphin, which then falls towards an uncharted planet. Parts of the spaceship fall off as it plummets to the ground and crashes.

When he regains consciousness, Olimar finds out that the planet's atmosphere contains high levels of poisonous oxygen and he can stay on the planet for only thirty days before his life support system fails. Olimar must retrieve the lost parts so he can repair his spaceship and return to Hocotate.

Development

Pikmin was developed by Nintendo EAD. Shigefumi Hino and Masamichi Abe (who had directed 1080° Snowboarding) served as directors while Shigeru Miyamoto and Hiroyuki Kimura served as producer; it was one of the first planned GameCube first-party games.

The artstyle of the game was inspired by the works of Tim Burton, and the theming was inspired by Fantastic Planet, and The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.

Reception

Upon being revealed at E3 2001, Pikmin garnered positive reception. IGN praised it for its uniqueness and its stunning graphics, with only a few negative points such as a poor camera. It was awarded the title of "Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game" from the Game Critics Awards, beating out ChuChu Rocket! for the Game Boy Advance.

It was also runner-up for "Most Original Game", losing out to Majestic. It was a nominee for GameSpot's annual "Best GameCube Game" and, among console games, "Most Innovative" awards. These went respectively to Super Smash Bros. Melee and Grand Theft Auto III.