private | Pikmin 1 + 2

private | Pikmin 1 + 2 – Later this month, it’s finally time, finally, for a new Pikmin game! It won’t be less than 10 years since Pikmin 3 was released, so it makes sense that Pikmin fans are eager for the all-new sequel. To make the wait a little easier, Nintendo recently released an HD port of Pikmin 1 and 2. With the addition of these two games that were originally released for the GameCube, all Pikmin games can now be played on Nintendo Switch, but mobile is really the best way to experience Pikmin 1 and 2. ?

forced landing

Pikmin 1 gets off to a turbulent start when Olimar’s main star craft is struck by an asteroid; You had to make an emergency landing on the nearest planet where different parts of your rocket fell. You have 30 days for your life support systems to fail, so before that happens you have to find the different parts and fix your spaceship. Fortunately, you are not alone, because this Earth-like planet is not only inhabited by danger, but also by lovable Pikmins who are more than happy to lend you a hand.

Pikemen galore

You start your adventure with a single Pikmin, but quickly build a large army of up to 100 Pikmin by carrying your Pikmin flower buds, defeating enemies and other items to the ‘Onion’, Pikmin’s nest-cum-cum spaceship. In Pikmin 1, you have a total of three different types of Pikmin at your disposal: red, yellow, and blue. The color of the Pikmin you get from ‘Onion’ depends on the color your Pikmin held for the sprite. Pikmin all have different abilities that are useful in different situations.

Pikmin is, as it were, a strategy puzzle game in which you want and must use the right Pikmin for the right purpose. You can use blue Pikmin to walk in water and, for example, to build a bridge, so that other Pikmin can cross it. You can take the red Pikmin into battles against powerful opponents and the yellow Pikmin can carry and drop bombs to clear obstacles. Your main Pikmin task will be to transport the different parts that you find to the spaceship. Pay attention, because a day in Pikmin takes about 15 minutes.

The concept of Pikmin is incredibly simple, but above all very fun and addictive. Pikmin 2 takes exactly the same formula but with a new goal, treasure collecting. In this game, you will get the addition of two Pikmin and new skills for underground Pikmin levels that act as a kind of dungeon, a new character named Louie and a local co-op challenge mode. You can easily lose yourself in Pikmin and before you know it you’ll be back for a few hours, pure fun. With that said, we can say that the gameplay is as timeless as it was, because you’ll have just as much fun now as you did back then.

meager improvements

As fun as Pikmin 1 and 2 is, it’s mostly down to the gameplay still looking so good to play after more than 20 years, not the improvements that the HD remaster brings. The textures of items and creatures have been slightly improved, but the textures of the environments are still blurry. The game is playable for the first time on widescreen HD at 720p in handheld mode and 1080p in docked mode. Unfortunately, the game only manages to display 60fps in the menus, during gameplay this is locked at 30. We can conclude that Pikmin 1 and 2 are excellent games in terms of gameplay, but unfortunately, they offer minimal improvements, For €30 each when purchased separately. This version could have done well as part of the GameCube emulator at Nintendo Switch Online’s offering, but for the remaster, we were expecting something more.