That's right, it's me, everyone's favourite epic artifex, (and probably only known epic artifex xP)here to write my first ever game review :/

Introducing:




That's right! It's THE game where you play as a stumpy spaceman trying to repay a debt by throwing shrubbery at monsters! Only the Japanese!

-I HAVE ONLY PLAYED THE NEW PLAY CONTROL VERSION FOR WII, THUS MY BLOG WILL BE BASED ON THAT-

-The story of Pikmin-

You play as the veteran pilot Olimar, working in a delivery company called "Hocotate Freight," situated back on his home planet of Hocotate.

Whilst on a holiday off from his tiring job, Olimar was cruising peacefully along in the middle of nowhere, in his trusty ship, the S.S. Dolphin. All was going well, until disaster struck! Olimar's ship was hit by a meteor!

With his ship critically damaged, Olimar had to make a crash landing. He spun out of control into the nearby alien, yet eerily familiar, world.

His ship stripped down to its skeleton during entry, Olimar was going nowhere fast. In its pitiful state he couldn't even replenish his air supplies. His life-support system told him that, if he wasn't able to find the missing parts of his ship scattered over the planet, the lethal Oxygen gas would end him within 30 days.

Let the race begin!

Olimar wandered hopelessly, until salvation came in the form of a miniscule, bumbling, plant... thing.



Olimar soon realised that he had discovered the strangest species in the universe. As their finder, he christened the animal "Pikmin," due to their resemblance to the the famous and delicious "pikpik carrots" of his homeworld.

These creatures were stupid and incapable, forced to watch defencelessly as the large monsters of the world literally walked up and ate them. It seemed Pikmin were as delicious as their namesake.

"NO MORE!" thought Olimar.

He was soon able to organise the Pikmin into a small army, and using their combined strength, overcame many obstacles, challenges and creatures. Eventually, he managed to repair his ship in the nick of time, and leave the planet! With a tearful goodbye to his beloved Pikmin, he embarked on his journey home.

-PIKMIN 2-

Having safely escaped the dangerous planet, Olimar was able to make it safely home.

Being a professional, he reported to his boss before going home, to explain how his vacation had gone disastrously wrong.

When he got to his company's HQ, he was shocked to find that where the building had once stood proudly, there was nothing but a barren wasteland.

His boss explained sadly that the company was in debt and bankrupt, due to the incompetent rookie delivery-boy, Louie. On his first trip, Louie's entire stock of the delicious golden pikpik carrots had been...
...
...
Have I got this right?
...
Ok, then.
his entire stock of pikpik carrots was eaten by a ravenous space-bunny...

Artist's depiction:



Aaaaaanyway...

And so, Olimar's boss explains to him that unless they can repay their massive debt, there is no hope for the company. To add insult to injury, he revealed that he had sold off all the companies assets, including the S.S. Dolphin!

Olimar's shock at seeing his beloved ship repossessed makes him drop the strange, metal disk he had been holding onto - a souvenir from the distant planet.

The one remaining ship's treasure detector goes wild! It drags in the oversized bottlecap and values it at a whopping 100 pokos, over a year's salary!

At once, Olimar's boss senses a miracle, and sends Louie and Olimar off the the planet to collect more treasure, and save the company!

[/endlongerthanexpectedplot]

-GAMEPLAY- 8/10

You control Olimar, the plucky little midget astronaut with a nose for adventure (and getting in the way).

The gameplay in Pikmin 2 is very simple and easy to pick up. Olimar is followed around by a party of up to 100 Pikmin at any one time, which can be quite an unusual sight.

The Pikmin pointer is controlled by your Wii-remote, and a single press of the A-button allows you to pick up and throw a Pikmin. Holding down the down-arrow will arrange your Pikmin to swarm in whichever direction the pointer is placed, and You can recall any idle Pikmin by whistling at them from afar with the B-button.

Just a note- aiming with the wiimote can be frustrating, as a carefully planned ambush on a sleeping Bulborb could go disastrously wrong should your aimer be a bit too far to the right.

The Pikmin will usually be easy to control, but I'm sure that anyone who's played this game will have the occasional "stupid Pikmin!" moment, as your red Pikmin wanders into a lake and drowns, or your yellow Pikmin burns to a crisp.

Which brings me to-

-Pikmin colours!-



There are five different types of Pikmin, two of which are new to the game, and all of which have their own special abilities and weaknesses.

I won't completely spoil it for you by explaining in detail exactly what each Pikmin does, half the fun in the game is discovering a new Pikmin colour!

-Monsters-



As well as Pikmin, this strange planet is inhabited by curious creatures, whose favourite pastimes tend to be jumping on, eating, or crushing Pikmin with a large stone rolling-pin. You have to command your Pikmin to fight in the best style to minimalise casualties and defeat your enemies.
Catalogued in the "Piklopedia" every time you encounter a new one, the monsters are diverse and imaginative.
You'll soon be familiar with the eery noise of the Greater-Spotted Jellyfloat, recognise the presence of the infuriating breadbug, and learn to fear the terrifying warble that signifies the presence of a WaterWraith.
Due to each enemy's distinct weaknesses, you will constantly be on your toes, ready to change Pikmin in an instant. Recognising the difference between a Fiery Dweevil and a Caustic Dweevil could be life or death!

There are so many more elements of gameplay, I could go on forever. The endless joy of hurling carrot after carrot at a Burrowing Snagret, the shock as you wake up an innocent looking Bulborb, just to see it ignite before your blue-Pikmin filled team, and the sheer bewilderment as you face off against the Man-At-Legs, but I don't want to ruin it for you, so maybe I'll shut up now .

-GRAPHICS- 8/10

To say the graphics are amazing may be pushing it. They're good, that's for sure, but no breakthrough of gaming technology. The Pikmin world is rendered in pretty good semi-realistic textures. What I really enjoyed is the attention to detail stuck in there.
Every single Pikmin is standing there, individually, right behind you. All the foliage and rocks and water look impressively realistic, given that this game was originally made on the GameCube.
I love the foggy effects in some areas, the falling snow, and the wobbling surface of the water.
Each little Pikmin will die with a pitiful little "aahh..." and a luminescent ghost marking its demise.
There is little more saddening than hearing your carefully collected team of multicoloured flower-buddies letting out a group sigh as each and every one is crushed by a boulder.
The treasures are often very familiar everyday objects on a large scale, and you'll likely crave to crack out your old Gameboy Color and play some Pokemon red, such is the nostalgia that some of the "treasures" can induce.
All these little graphical perks really add to the game.




-MUSIC- 10/10

The music in there is often bouncy and addicting. You'll definitely find yourself humming them for days after playing.
Each tune in the game really suits its theme. The Boss music, synchronising with their attacks; The tense, heart pounding music heralding the entrance of a WaterWraith, and signalling your cue to leave the floor; The icy, chilled music of the Valley of Repose. They're all carefully designed to really bring out the most in whatever setting you're in, and I guarantee you'll not be forgetting them soon after hearing them.

-hint- Try arranging your team into 20 of each colour Pikmin for a tuneful surprise. Who knew Pikmin were such pro' singers?


-OVERALL SCORE- 9/10

I'm not one to suck up to a game. I won't give every single game I play a good review purely because that's what everyone's doing. All I know is that I enjoy good games, and I sure as hell enjoyed this one. Almost everything about it was perfect in my opinion, and if you're into dancing, singing, lightweight shrubbery-midgets, this is the game for you!