E3 Pikmin 2 impressions!

For all the Pikmin lovers out there!  

You\'d think that after his adventures in the original Pikmin, in which he crash-landed on a strange planet, discovered a previously unknown race of intelligent plants, and repaired his shattered spacecraft against all odds, Captain Olimar would be able to retire on his home planet, write his memoirs, and enjoy a hero\'s retirement. Why then does Pikmin 2 find the diminutive explorer on a return trip to the planet of the Pikmin? Well, it seems that Olimar\'s company is hurtling towards bankruptcy, and Olimar figures that he can salvage enough artifacts from the Pikmin world to repay the company\'s 10,000-poko debt.

At least he\'s not alone this time. Olimar recruits an assistant (referred to as "an assistant" in Nintendo\'s official press releases) with whom he hopes to coordinate his efforts and rack up the pokos in record speed. In the single-player version of the game, Olimar and his assistant are both controlled by the player, and each has the ability to command, control, and (of course) chuck the Pikmin at enemies, food items, and treasure. In the all-new two-player split-screen mode, however, each player controls either Olimar or his assistant in a cooperative effort to save their co-workers from the unemployment line.


As a single-player game, Pikmin 2 feels very much like the original game, so much so that Pikmin veterans at E3 were able to pick up the controller for the demo version and instantly jump into the game. As in the original, you lead, grow, and throw red, yellow, and blue Pikmin, and each color has the same special abilities as it did in Pikmin. There are also two new colors of Pikmin, a stout purple version and a skinny white version with red eyes, but Nintendo was keeping their lips zipped as to what these new shades of sprout would be used for in the game. (There are subterranean areas in Pikmin 2, however, and the white Pikmin look as if they might somehow have adapted to underground living, so perhaps that\'s where they\'re sprout up.)

Olimar also took the time to pack before his return trip, and this time, he can actually power-up his Pikmin or attack enemies himself, without needing to depend on the environment for help. Pressing up on the + control pad activates Olimar\'s black spray, which temporarily petrifies enemies, and pressing down unleashes a red cloud that fires up the Pikmin and makes them into fierce warriors for a fight or two.


New environmental objects seen in Pikmin 2 include spidery mosses that grow over treasure items and plant life. Launch your Pikmin at the lumps under the moss to destroy it and free the object. Some of the plants grow red berries that can be taken back to Olimar\'s ship and used to create the spicy red pepper dust that sends the Pikmin into their battle frenzy. The best gameplay improvement by far, however, is the eradication of the 30-day time limit from the original Pikmin.

From what we\'ve seen at E3, Pikmin 2 seems to be a worthy evolution of the original game. It\'s similar enough to the original to remain intuitive to the game\'s fan base, and we think that fans of the original are going to be nothing but pleased with the improvements in the sequel.

http://www.gamespy.com/e32003/preview/gcn/1002067/

more Pikmin i can sence mm braking out in a cold sweat over the mear thought of that.... ah well look on the bright side mm at least you can drown more of them in the river like last time

p..s

i know he loves the game, its just a little in joke about what he got up to last time.... esp the pikmin drowning

yeah, i can\'t wait to massacre more legions of pikmins

mm did what to the pikmin?    

Maybe in the new game there will be newer and more fun ways to kill the pikimin for mm to experiment with.