Pikmin
Pikmin is a special beast. I loved my GameCube, but as with all my Nintendo systems, I only ever end up with a small number of games for each of them. Usually less than ten games total for each, all the way back to the SNES. Yet each of the titles I owned were very strong and even one of them is typically worth owning the console for. Pikmin is one of these games. Pikmin was a very unique title. The only other game I consider close to design that I've ever played was Overlord, though a more evil and twisted version.
In Pikmin, you control a horde of little plant-like creatures who work together to complete little tasks you assign them. Graphically it stands up well against newer HD games even though it went for a stylized character design with realistic surroundings. It seemed suggested that you crash landed on a Earth like planet, and although humanoid, you are insect sized. A lot of the charm of the game comes from traversing the tiny landscapes created in nature's forest-floor microcosm as you search out the broken pieces of your ship, so that you can return home to your family a la Toe Jam and Earl.
Pikmin gives you 31 days to complete your mission and return home, or risk failure. Each day cycle is 15 minutes, so you can't waste time and on a first run through may find yourself retrying certain days. I had owned this game since 2001 and I hadn't finally beat it until this year. I love it, but I did get frustrated since I never did want to retry days. But this year, I was looking for a new game to play with my daughter Leia. She picked this game out of my GameCube pile and was immediately charmed by it. And so, with renewed vigor I made my way through the game and seemed to have none of the trouble I had in the past. 12 years later and this game held strong. I mean seriously, this game could have been made yesterday and I wouldn't question it. Pikmin not only looked good and handled well, it just oozed personality. It's no wonder Leia loved it so much. Right to the very end when Captain Olimar makes it off the planet, leaving the Pikmin behind and leaving Leia in tears. It was really nice for the two of us to share this game together, from beginning to end. Perfectly enough, Pikmin 2 had already been released years back. So I scooped that up so we could continue the story together and after that, Pikmin 3. Which we are currently enjoying a second time around.
Pikmin is a game that I enjoy on so many levels. It's enjoyable for games-sake, being very playable and overall relaxing with it's game mechanics. It's also enjoyable because of it's visual and audio design. But this is the case of a game being enjoyable from both myself and my daughter's perspective. A game that there isn't enough of. A game that is unique and appealing to adult and child without pandering to either audience. I'm not sure, but I have the feeling that both of us will always look back to our time playing Pikmin.
No comments:
Post a Comment