With the amount of Pikmin content on and that will be on this account, I had to review my favorite Pikmin game.
The first Pikmin game released in 2001 for the Nintendo Gamecube, and the second one released in 2004 on the same console. Now, the Third entry in the series coming in 2013, taking 9 years for it to finally release. But, seeing the final product of the game, it was well worth the wait.
The plot of Pikmin 3 is a bit different from Pikmin and Pikmin 2. Instead of following the story of Captain Olimar, you follow the story of Alph, Brittany and Charlie. They're home planet, Koppai, is running low on edible matter. In this case, fruit. They're fruit supply is plummiting down towards nothing, so they send scout vessels to search nearby locations for edible matter, but none prevail. Until one vessel seemingly finds a planet, rich in edible matter. They then send three explorers to go retrieve a bountiful supply of fruit, before they're toast. As they begin to initiate the landing sequence, the ship suddenly malfunctions, causing the explorers to lose control, knocking them all of the ship. This is one instance on why I said the plot is a bit different. Instead of crashing the ship every 5 seconds, the ship malfunctions, forcing the passengers off. With that climax out of the way, we get to our first instance of gameplay.
Now, there are multiple ways to play Pikmin 3. The Pro controller, in my opinion, being the least fun and intuitive, as the joystick you use to move around, also acts as your cursor for aiming where you are going to throw your Pikmin. The Wii U gamepad is also an option, as it uses touch screen control to aim your Pikmin, and to throw them. Personally, this is my favorite way of control. Its just easier to aim with, you can easily access the KoPads apps, and lock on to targets easily. Of course, the Wiimote and Nunchuck are control options! Many say that if your going to play Pikmin, the Wiimote and Nunchuck are the way to play. I can definitley see why. It feels like you're actually aiming a Pikmin in real life, but if you move the Wiimote of the sensor bar, even slighty, it can mess up your entire shot. This is why I don't use the Wiimote and Nunchuck, but do recommend it if you want to play the proper way.
Now for the gameplay. It's pretty exciting, considering your Pikmin can die and you can die as well. Each enemy offers a different battle style whether that'd be charging at its back, or chucking bomb rocks at it. Depending on what controller you use the gameplay can differ. With the Pro controller you'll have to watch how much you move your character, the Wiimote has to stay on the sensor bar, and the Gamepad you have to keep your finger on it. And the great sense of multi-tasking. It feels so rewarding when you have the ability to have 3 characters at one time all doing something beneficial to the game. But, we can't forget about the different Pikmin types. With the returning, Red, Yellow and Blue, we also get some new ones! Such as the Rock Pikmin and Winged Pikmin. Rock Pikmin are immume to being crushed, impaled and can break crystal. The Winged Pikmin are much more useful, as they can sometimes break the game, reducing the puzzles you'll have to do. But still, having these little guys around does make for some clever puzzles. There are also new control functions! One of the more useful ones being the,"Go here" command. This allows you to make any one of your crew members automatically travel to any area on the map, provided you've completed it.
Now, the flaws. This game has many flaws. Such as sudden frame rate drops. But the frame rate drop only occurred to me when I enter my onion area at the Tropical Wilds and Fortress of festivity. There are some graphical glitches and the game feels a bit unfinished. Many times entering bingo battle, Olimar stood under the onion in a T-pose, the Pikmin have randomly started to T-pose out of no where, there's a handful of gamebreaking glitches, like skipping the chase from the Plasim Wraith, skipping the Yellow Onion, and many more. Some of these glitches were patched, but only the very minor ones. Of course, it doesn't ruin the gameplay, seeing as they're optional.
There are extra game modes to be found in Pikmin 3. Aside from the story mode, you have Bingo battle and Mission mode. Bingo battle is an extremely fun and competitive 2 player multiplayer mode, in which you collect fruits, treasure and enemies back to your Onion to get four tiles in a row on your bingo card. There are 12 stages available, each with different forms each time you play, allowing for a unique play experience. There is also victory macaroon. In this mode you must try to steak the other players macaroon, and if done so will be granted and automatic win. You still do have the option to get four tiles in a row, but generally it's slower. And just to add a little spice to the mix... There are cherrys that can give you items, such as Bomb rocks, rock traps or more Pikmin. There are also President Shacho heads that you can collect and get one free random tile filled, even if that item is no longer available. The Pikmin can also start combat if you leave two Pikmin from separate teams together. They can also attack and latch on to captains, so shake them off!
Mission mode is a collection of missions with 3 modes applied. Collect treasure, Battle enemies and defeat bosses. This can also be played multiplayer. Dlc is also applied to collect treasure and battle enemies, but not defeat bosses for obvious reasons.
And then the boss fights. They are phenomenal. They may have easy patterns to remember, but the boss fights can be outstandingly difficult sometimes. The boss fights each have they're own arena, which takes away the feeling that its really apart of the environment. But, oh man are they amazing. Of course, the final boss is a doozy as well. The explorers head to the Formidable oak, only to find Captain Olimar is being tracked down by some life form, that later takes a humanoid form and it attacks you with all the different elemental attacks, it's just crazy. Then, once you defeat it, you get Olimar back and your cosmic drive key, so you can return back to Koppai!
There are alternate endings, the bad ending, good ending, and great ending. The bad ending is 10 types of fruits collected, the good ending is 20 types of fruits collected, and the great ending is all types of fruits collected.
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Overall, Pikmin 3 is an amazing, gorgeous Wii U game. While it's a bit on the short side, the extra game modes make up for it. The game has brilliant puzzles, character development amazing bosses and cute Pikmin. With some flaws, the game is delightful and a joy to play through. I very much recommend it, and is very much worth the $20 price tag.
