Pikmin (computer game)

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Pikmin
Logo Pikmin.png
Studio Nintendo EAD
Publisher Nintendo
Senior Developer Shigefumi Hino,
Masamichi Abe
Erstveröffent-
lichung
GameCube: October 26, 2001 December 2, 2001 June 14, 2002 Wii: December 25, 2008 March 9, 2009 February 6, 2009
JapanJapan
North AmericaNorth America
EuropeEurope

JapanJapan
North AmericaNorth America
EuropeEurope
platform Nintendo GameCube , Wii
genre Real-time strategy
Game mode Single player
control GameCube controller or Wii remote control
medium MiniDVD or DVD-ROM
Age rating
USK released from 0
PEGI recommended from 3 years

Pikmin (Japanese ピ ク ミ ンPikumin ) is a computer game from the Pikmin series of games by the Japanese manufacturer Nintendo . The game was first released in 2001/2002 for the Nintendo GameCube game console and in 2008/2009 as part of the New Play Control! Series for the Wii game console .

action

The spaceman Captain Olimar (Japanese オ リ マ ーOrimā ) is on vacation when his spaceship collides with a meteorite. Olimar has to make an emergency landing on an unknown planet, and upon entering the atmosphere loses 30 parts of his spaceship, which are scattered over a large area with several areas. The atmosphere of the planet contains the substance oxygen (Japanese 酸 素Sanso ; called "Oxygen" in the German version of the game), which is toxic to Olimar , and the life support system of his spacesuit only has energy for 30 days. Due to its small size of about 4 cm, Olimar faces seemingly gigantic obstacles such as cardboard boxes, flowers and beetles. In order to find all the important spaceship parts and to transport them to the spaceship, the help of the Pikmin (Japanese ク ミ ンPikumin ) is required . The Pikmin are about 3 cm small creatures that grow out of the earth like carrots. As soon as Olimar pulls a Pikmin out of the ground, it follows him at every turn and follows his instructions.

Gameplay

The player controls the character Captain Olimar through a three-dimensional environment. He can pull the Pikmin out of the ground and supervise it with various tasks by throwing it to a desired location or directing it there with a simple command. Pikmin can clear obstacles out of the way, build bridges, fight opponents and carry found spaceship parts to the landing site. Some spaceship parts are essential to be able to develop new play areas. Every task requires the use of a certain minimum number of Pikmin: large opponents can be defeated faster and easier with a large number of Pikmin, while the different objects each need a different number in order to be able to be carried by the Pikmin. You get additional Pikmin if you let the Pikmin bring the carcasses of defeated opponents or flower stigmas to the onion. In a few places you can also change the polarity of Pikmin by throwing a red, blue or yellow flower to the corresponding color. With everything, the rule is that there can never be more than 100 Pikmin in the playing field at the same time. At the end of a day, the Pikmin must be returned to their flying dwellings, the so-called onions, in order not to fall victim to the nocturnal creatures.

There are three different types of Pikmin with different properties:

  • Red Pikmin are the strongest fighters and are fire resistant.
  • Blue Pikmin can walk through water without drowning.
  • Yellow Pikmin can pick up and detonate stone bombs; they can also be thrown higher.

Pikmin differ again in whether they have a leaf, a bud or a flower above their heads. The higher the state in that order, the stronger and faster the Pikmin are. It also increases the chance that a fallen Pikmin will leave a new seedling. The highest possible bloom condition can be achieved by letting the Pikmin seedlings burrow in the ground for a longer period of time or by directing the Pikmin to nectar drops, the consumption of which causes the Pikmin to sprout a flower immediately.

Independent of the main game there is a so-called Challenge Mode (dt .: Challenge Mode ). The challenge here is to breed as many Pikmin as possible within one day. The areas of the main game are available as play areas, but have additional objects and opponents.

development

The game was produced by Shigeru Miyamoto , who drew the inspiration for the idea of ​​the game from an ant colony in his garden. The technical model was the concept demo Super Mario 128 , which showed 128 simultaneously interacting and reacting to the game world Marios on a game surface.

New Play Control! Pikmin

Apart from technical adjustments ( 16: 9 widescreen and for the first time 60 Hz or progressive scan also in a PAL version of the title) it is now possible to move the target marker freely across the screen with the help of the pointer function of the Wii Remote can. In addition, the Wii version now allows you to return to any previous day (or score), for example to undo mistakes in planning or excessively high Pikmin losses - but you can no longer go to the by selecting an earlier score return later scores.

A consideration of the improvements of the second part is represented in this version in the form that you can switch through the Pikmin color (and again the flower status) before a throw, so that the Pikmin group accordingly. Other minor improvements in handling, such as the automatic change in formation of the following Pikmin group in front of narrow spaces, a higher throwing speed or faster germination of the Pikmin in the soil, were not taken into account. Irrespective of this, there is also a small change in the handling of yellow Pikmin, as Pikmin once thrown and then recalled and carrying a stone bomb no longer automatically drop it unless there is an obstacle or opponent nearby.

Reviews

The game was rewarded for the innovations from the trade press and the gaming community alike. The time limit of 30 game time units, which restricts free exploration of the game worlds, was (slightly) criticized.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. German Pikmin game instructions, p. 8: "The Controller"
  2. Nintendo homepage: NEW PLAY CONTROL! Pikmin
  3. German Pikmin game instructions, p. 6: "Olimar is about 4 cm tall [...]"