New Play Control! Pikmin Review

My cynic sense is tingling...

An Oli review? I think my opinion has never, ever been in the same ball park as Olis, so I'm not sure if I should assume it's a 10 or a 4. Or ignore the number totally and just not buy it because I still don't fancy it. The last one, probably.

Nintendo! Giving creedence to the two cubes strapped together rumours since 2007.

An excellent review and one that seems to pave the way for a 8 or 9 out of 10 for what is generally regarded as the better sequel. I loved the original and never got around to picking up Pikmin 2 so will wait for that I think.

I won't be getting this as I haev the cube version and completed it a long time ago.

However, the sequel came out during my year off of gaming so I never played it. When that is released, it'll be an instance purchase.

The sequel will be worth it due to the fact that the GC original is really expensive to buy these days.

Nintendo! Giving creedence to the two cubes strapped together rumours since 2007.

Does that mean that the 360 and PS3 are just two Xboxes and two PS2s strapped together since they are also backwards compatible?

I loved the 2 pikmin games on the cube(i still play them sometimes), but if i owned a wii, i have to admit i'd rather see Nintendo come up with some new original games, rather than more recycled stuff from their past catalogue of games.

They do love to recycle stuff(hardware and software).

"The only exception is direct command of your squad, who in the GameCube version could be moved around with the C-stick to keep them out of harm's way, or push them into nearby tasks. This is now accomplished by holding down on the d-pad and directing with the pointer. If anything, it's slightly more cumbersome than it was before, but then again the ease of pointer control means you'll be using it less."

I would assume they would have done this throught the Nunchuck Stick? Are you sure there's no such option?

EDIT:
Scratch that, I just realised it's the Pikmin that are controlled with the pointer, not Olimar. Who is of course still controlled with the stick.

Also, Pikmin 1 is just as good as 2 IMO, and both are excellent games.

There's nowt backwards compatible about most PS3s

"Does that mean that the 360 and PS3 are just two Xboxes and two PS2s strapped together since they are also backwards compatible?"

Nope, as both of them are completely new tech. Calling the Wii 2x GameCubes is absurdly generous; The Wii's hardware is almost identical to the GameCube's, except with more RAM and a bit higher clock speed, it pushes the Wii's raw hardware's power to a bit under that of the XBox 1.

N assumes that since you'll buy basically the same console again, you'll buy basically the same games again. I think they're right, but this is a breathtakingly cynical move from them.

^or maybe a canny business move given a whole load of Wii users never played the Cube and might fancy something a little more like a game to play. We should rejoice as it could be a really smart way to get the Wii casuals into 'proper' gaming.

It would be nice to see Nintendo putting the money into creating an all new Pikmin game with this control system.
But hey-ho, I was never a massive pikmin fan on the gamecube so i doubt that would change hugely with this.

For some reason I found Pikmin more enjoyable than its sequel. I still have the cube version so I'm not sure if I will get the Wii version; I really want to but paying full price (or even the already reduced but still high prices) puts me off at the moment. Too many other games I never played that I have to finish.

I really think the 2 player competitive game in Pikmin has been overlooked. I have played it LOTS and trust me it is very well balanced. When you get two expert players the game is nuanced and exciting. Set each player to start only with 5 Pikmin and then compete on each level. Only one level is not very good (Dim Labyrinth).

You know, from a hardcore gamer point of view, this looks like a total cash grab. But from a new, casual gamer that got their first new console in a few decades with the Wii, it's great.

But it's actually, genuinly honerable to the people who made the games that are getting republished like this. Even amongst the hardcore the GC sold for shit. Only Sould Calibur 2 and Smash Bros Melee sold like PS2 games. But all those other games, not just cult games, but also big franchises sold terrible. Metroid Prime and F-Zero GX spring to mind especially. ICO or Rex sold better on thei initial release then F-Zero GX did in the entire GC lifespan.

And rather then to be completely forgotten except by a few specialists, these games are allowed another chance to find an audience, one they deserved their first go 'round.

And it's not like the ones who did buy it the first go 'round have to buy it again.

"It would be nice to see Nintendo putting the money into creating an all new Pikmin game with this control system"

They are ^^

I prefer Pikmin 1 too, loved them both very much, will not buy them again.

I loved Pikmin and have never played two so I may well wait..... Is there anywhere that has a line up of the other titles for New Play Control! ?

EDIT: Ive just found one on wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Play_Co...

Never really did get far in the first one, never played the second one.
Might just pick up Pikmin 2 Wii in a couple of months then if the price is right...

"Garulon of course misses the entire point of the Wiii. Bless him. "

If it's "Basically sell the GC stuff again" then I disagree, I think I captured that rather well.

If it's "provide great value to your customers" then I'm unsure how exactly this is doing this, unless this is £10 or something? I can see it in ShopTo discounted to £25 which is shockingly expensive for a six year old game. Is this the retail price or is it even more than that?

Garulon
28-Jan-09 14:40:48

"Does that mean that the 360 and PS3 are just two Xboxes and two PS2s strapped together since they are also backwards compatible?"

Nope, as both of them are completely new tech. Calling the Wii 2x GameCubes is absurdly generous; The Wii's hardware is almost identical to the GameCube's, except with more RAM and a bit higher clock speed, it pushes the Wii's raw hardware's power to a bit under that of the XBox 1.

N assumes that since you'll buy basically the same console again, you'll buy basically the same games again. I think they're right, but this is a breathtakingly cynical move from them.

I assume you've actually analysed the circuit board and microchips in the Wii and compared them with the Gamecube?

Never played the original; not interested in dragging out the Gamecube controller/memory card unless absolutely necessary, so I did pre-order this and am looking forward to it.

Used my GAME points (error on their part means I got £20 worth when I should have gotten £2), so it's costing me a whopping £2.49.

I cannot imagine I'll be dissatisfied.

If it's "Basically sell the GC stuff again" then I disagree, I think I captured that rather well.

So more than two years into the console's lifecycle we're seeing the release of the first "sell the GC stuff again" game. As you rightly point out this means the entire point of the Wii was to sell the GC stuff again. Those Japanese are cunning, waiting over two years before unleashing their master plan.

"I assume you've actually analysed the circuit board and microchips in the Wii and compared them with the Gamecube? "

The Wii's internals are generally known, check out Beyond3D or google for any one of a number of teardown sites. If you have any information or correction then obviously I'm all ears, I love learning new stuff!

"So more than two years into the console's lifecycle we're seeing the release of the first "sell the GC stuff again" game"

You don't count Zelda Twilight Princess which IIRC was a launch release and a basic GC port? What about all that VC stuff that's just basically ROMS piled up on a server - so no online leaderboards , no corrections for PAL users, not even a demo.

I'm not against re-releases of games, as long as they're either adding value or cheap. Spending a weekend adding Wiimote support and widescreen then flogging it for £25 is quite shocking to me, but people ain't forced to buy them.

Jesus there are some thick fu###s on here arn't there.
Only approx 10 million GCs were sold, the Wii market is already double that, these are AA games that at least 10 million Wii owners havn't played before.
I don't want to play them again and neither do you, so stop f##king whinging and let the new market enjoy them, providing they can get passed the lower review scores that the snobbery industry is likely to dish out.

I never played this on the cube. I will definitely be picking this up.
Btw, this review read like an 8 or 9.

canidoyourbombsforya

Wii has sold over 35 million - not just over 20 million - which means you point caries even more merit obviously.

Burkey123

The review was an 8 or a 9 - reading between the lines it seems they wanted to leave room to manoeuvre for Pikmin 2's review score and differentiation.

Pikmin mightn't be as long-lasting or as feature-packed as its sequel, but for me it's the better game. The second loses a lot of the charm of the altruistic first, being a rather mercenary trawl for money, while the random underground sections don't hold the same appeal as the gorgeous outdoor locations. And the loss of the time-limit means it loses the emotional weight - Olimar no longer worries about getting back to his family, while Pikmin feel slightly more expendable because hey, you've got plenty of time to replace 'em. And there's not the same level of strategy as the first game. Enemy encounters are all about lobbing as many Pikmin as you can - particularly if you're carrying Purples - while the former had foes like the Giant Armoured Cannon Beetle, where you had to chuck a Pikmin when he inhaled and then run around to lob 'Min onto his now exposed back.

The best thing about 2 is the Piklopedia, which was a stroke of genius, and the two-player was a good - if fleeting - laugh.

Can you play it with a GC or classic pad if you want to?

(searches online) hmmm... 25 quid or 30 from the shops. I'd have bought it at 20. For some reason, I missed this first time round.

@ BadBoyBonner

Ye I see what you mean. They were praising Pikmin 2 at the end. Ill be expecting a higher score for that.

"Only approx 10 million GCs were sold, the Wii market is already double that, these are AA games that at least 10 million Wii owners havn't played before."

I think the final tally was 25m GCs, but your argument doesn't hold water as they could have easily already played these games by buying the GC edition for way way less than the £25 N is charging. Trying to pass these things off as new games is shocking; play what you want, but I can't work out why trying to silence people shocked at the price N is charging for these is a good thing.

"Jesus there are some thick fu###s on here arn't there."

Indeed.

The game easily is a 9.

It's true though that the sequel has to offer more and is also announced to be released this year (more doesn't necesserily mean better; I like the first one more than the second one). Then again these days you can count on pretty much every big title to get a sequel which somewhat nullifies that point. However, I still don't think this should have had any influence on the review score as it doesn't make this game any worse. If you haven't played it then by all means buy it. It's a fantastic game and the sequel on the horizon should not put you off.

Garulon: They are not marketed as new games. And I wish you good luck finding the GC one for under 25 pounds.

http://www.play.com/Games/GameCube/4-/10...

£12 from playtrade. What do I win? :)

Skip this and buy Little Kings Story instead.

Widescreen?

I meant new. It's 29 pounds for a sealed copy (unless you count the foreign language import).

Easily a 10/10 game regardless of its sequel, its utterly charming in every way. I would definitely double dip on this if it was widescreen + 60hz?

Why shouldn't they re-release games at a budget price that many many people didnt buy the first time around?

It's not as if the wiimote controls are unecessary for a game like this? I can immediately see how this game would be improved no end by a pointing mechanism. I never played the 2nd pikmin.. when it comes out on the wii- i'll be buying!

Besides.. After playing Fable 2 recently - which was a near identikit of the original (right down to the part you go to a jail).. or any number of 360 fps sequels which play exactly like the original games albeit with shinier graphics - i fail to see the problem?

Sure - you COULD maybe pick up the original cube version.. but why would you want to go back to the old control method? Just in the same way as you COULD maybe pick up the original xbox fable - but why would you want to go back to the old graphics?

Why shouldn't they re-release games at a budget price that many many people didnt buy the first time around?

£29.99 is full price for wii software, though. That does seem cynical.

I wonder how many mums buy this for their kids then realise that just because it looks cute doesnt mean its easymode :) it happend to plenty of my family on the gamecube :D

@smelly
Why shouldn't they re-release games at a budget price that many many people didnt buy the first time around?

They should, however it's not really budget. Obviously, that depends on your opinion of what a "budget" game is but a new 360 or PS3 game is usually £50 and their budget lines cost £25 and £20 respectively (these consist of older 360 and PS3 games, not Xbox and PS2 games, the "Xbox Originals" range is much cheaper at about £10 and I don't know if you can buy PS2 games through PSN(?)). Basic maths will tell you that MS and Sony consider a budget range to be half-price or less of the original and I tend to agree with them, that's what it should be. However, a new Wii game is £40 and these "New Play Control!" games cost £30 which is only a quarter less than a full-price game, more expensive than either of the 360 and PS3 budget ranges and certainly a lot more expensive than the "Xbox Originals" range.

Incidentally, Pikmin was re-released as a budget title on Cube for £20.

It's not as if the wiimote controls are unecessary for a game like this? I can immediately see how this game would be improved no end by a pointing mechanism. I never played the 2nd pikmin.. when it comes out on the wii- i'll be buying!

Besides.. After playing Fable 2 recently - which was a near identikit of the original (right down to the part you go to a jail).. or any number of 360 fps sequels which play exactly like the original games albeit with shinier graphics - i fail to see the problem?

Sure - you COULD maybe pick up the original cube version.. but why would you want to go back to the old control method? Just in the same way as you COULD maybe pick up the original xbox fable - but why would you want to go back to the old graphics?

No, I think you'll find that Fable II is a different game with new content, a new story and has had an awful lot of new development work, the gameplay is very similar but as the first played so well that's not an issue. So it's not really an either-or choice whether or not to play Fable or Fable II unlike whether or not to get the Cube or Wii version of Pikmin. I'd suggest that anyone who enjoyed Fable II and hasn't played Fable should pick it up as it's only 1200 MS points but be warned: it is shorter than Fable II.

Either way the Cube control method was absolutely fantastic, worked brilliantly and was pretty much perfect for the game (using the best controller ever used by a console IMO). This new system, although probably better for throwing pikmin has its own shortcomings: I'm referring to not being able to sweep pikmin away from danger as easily because the second stick is missing. Pushing down on D-pad and directing with the point definitely sounds more cumbersome than sweeping with the C-stick (and, using the GC controller, you could sweep and throw at the same time which saves Pikmin lives :) ). It's more of a case of personal preferance; for me and others like me it wouldn't be worth it, for others who either didn't like the old control scheme or didn't get to play it it'd be a different story.

The second Pikmin is brilliant and I really recommend it to anyone who hasn't played the GC original. Allowing you to restart from any day is a good addition to Pikmin but I preferred the sequel for the simple reason that the 30 day time limit was completely removed so you can play around and enjoy it more at your leisure. Some days you can just wander around harvesting Pikmin, no rush.

In summation Pikmin is great, and you should consider buying it if you haven't played it before and you don't mind being overcharged for it but in all seriousness you should probably just wait for Pikmin 2.

Edit: "Xbox Priginals" what the hell are those? :)

Maybe they should have...oh...I don't know...released both games TOGETHER instead of going for the cynical cash grab with separate releases? Doesn't matter for me, as I've got the originals, but this qualifies as disdain in my eyes.

TBF, this is shameless money grubbing. Anyone who is a Pikmin fan knows that Pikmin 2 made the first Pikmin completely superfluous. Yet here Nintendo are, like with their VC, trickeling the shit no one wants.

Pikmin 2 with Wii controls would have been welcome to me, but this is just a waste of time.

Got no problem with this remake, I love Pikmin and much prefer the first one to the Pikmin 2. Only issue I have is the price, these remakes should have been about £14.99 or similar, I really don't think Nintendo can justify the price they are charging, so whilst I think it is a great idea to re-do GC classics I just wish they would have been a little more generous with the pricing.

(note to the idiotic - the fable 2 comment wasnt being half serious.. merely pointing out that a lot of games look and play like nothing more than remakes.. so why not)

.. back on topic.. Nintendo have a problem. They're the only ones making good games (Well apart from "de blob") for the system.. But it takes them a while to make said games because they like to take their sweet assed time and make sure games are good before pumping them out.. .. Of course they'll release the odd casual game like mario party or wii music.. But their big titles always take them a while to make. (and when you look at the quality of them - its not hard to see why).

.. However microsoft/sony dont need to rely on their own games studios to make games for their consoles.. they can rely on 3rd party studios... Unfortunately for nintendo - third party studios seem to look at the wii and go "meh.. we'll put 5 trainees on a title for it - no wii owner cares about quality anyhow".. followed quickly after launching said pile of crap "well 3rd party wii games dont sell.. so why bother making them?". (while ignoring the obvious flaw in their argument that they've only released shit onto the system - and perhaps THATS why it doesnt sell?).

So nintendo have to fill the gap.

Hardly anyone bought a cube... and hardly anyone played these games (even people who owned a cube).. so why no re-release them? They're STILL good games.. And it fills the hole in the market while they work on the new mario/zelda/kid ikarus/or brand new ip (like pikmin was last gen).

Especially if they're planning a "bells and whistles" pikmin 3 soon - this way they can introduce people to the series.

Sure it may be overpriced - and wouldve been better if they put both games in 1 box.. But who's to say games SHOULD de-value over time?

For example, i bought burnout paradise on the weekend.. When the latest download comes out for that - it'll be like a brand new game! But yet i paid $15 for it (about 7 quid) BRAND NEW! But yet criterion are planning to re-release this game with all these free downloads as a boxed product for the full price soon.

I guess my point is (going back to the fable 2 thing) a lot of games MAY have extra content, etc etc.. But at the end of the day they dont really play or change much from their older counterparts.. They may as well be remakes. And no, before some idiot pipes in and accuses me of being a fanboy.. check out my gamerscore for all my fable 2 achievements.. It IS a good game - it's just the most recent game i played so its stuck in my mind.

You also have to understand that consumers are idiots. If you had the best 100% game in the world.. and sold it in a store for $10 .. with big stickers on it saying THIS IS THE BEST GAME IN THE WORLD - Most people will pass it up because it's cheap and therefor it must be shit. Just like a lot of gamers will only buy new release games - anything over a couple of weeks old is seen as "old hat" and not worht bothering with - when there's the "next best thing" to get excited about and pre-order (which is a strange thing to do when you really think about it.. and yes - im guilty of it too!).

So it's a tough one to price.

You may know it's an old game.. i may know it's an old game (i completed it in a week off work when i had shingles years ago). But to the average joe in teh game store - they may not know it's an old game, may never have heard of it before - and may buy it and love every minute of it. Are they "wrong" for enjoying a game which is "old" and therefor (in your eyes) not worth the money? It's STILL a good game.

I just dont understand why people seem to think that games devalue over time. Sure I wouldnt pay full price for something like destruction derby on the ps1 (dunno why i picked that example) nowadays - because it wont hold up against modern games (although back in the day it ROCKED!). But pikmin plays just as good - if not better than 99% of the games on the market.. And STILL (imho) looks absolutely stunning and can hold a candle to a lot of 360 games (note to idiot fanboys: I didnt say "all").

So why not?

Going to the "xbox downloads" argument - i agree they're much more fairly priced. But to me, they dont offer anything much "new" to warrant me buying them again (or even buying them for the first time). Even if they had spruced up graphics - that's not enough to warrant me buying them. But pikmin 2 with a control screen where i'm pointing at the screen instead of using the pad? That's something i want to buy! (strange isnt it?)

I'd still have preferred a pikmin 1 & 2 double pack though.

Also - i'll be first in line to buy mario smash tennis wiimake when that comes out with new controls. Wii sports + mario tennis sounds like a win to me (not played a mario tennis game since the cube). So yeah.. I guess having a new controller DOES matter.. Widescreen would help too!

Pikmin 2 is WORSE than part 1. There are too many kind of Pikmin which almost makes you need to manage them. The randomly generated dungeons are ugly and boring, save points are too far apart and obstacles like fire demand more than the inexact controls can handle. One of the few games I didn't play through after I bought them.