Gaming Pikmin 2

[Semjaza]

After last year's E3, Pikmin 2 kind of just slipped under the radar. Impressions of the game really weren't all that positive, saying it was simply more of the same. The game recently reappeared on the scene and has since been released in Japan. Apparently the game overcame its issues because impressions on it have been very positive, even from outlets that were rather negative about the game in the past (IGNCube, for example).

In Pikmin 2 you still play as Captain Olimar. Only this time he goes back to the Pikmin planet because his business is quickly losing money. His plan is to have the Pikmin help him collect valuable artifacts that he can sell so he can get back in the green. His friend Louie joins him on this quest.

When you and Louie are together, the player can control them simultaneously or seperately. There are puzzles that require Olimar and Louie to be in different places at the same time, for example. I think this alone could add quite a bit to the gameplay. Louie is apparently also smart enough to help with things on his own... such as pulling Pikmin out of the ground for you once they shoot from an Onion.

The game has the same red, yellow and blue Pikmin with the same uses as before (although the yellow ones are immune to electricty now). However, there are two new varieties as well. First up are the huge (comparatively lol), purple Pikmin. They are several times more powerful than standard Pikmin in both fights and lifting. One purple Pikmin is equal to ten normal ones when it comes to lifting things.

The other new type is the white Pikmin. White Pikmin are poisonous. If they are eaten by an enemy bad things result. Their red eyes glow, enabling them to find hidden treasures for Olimar and Louie. They're also smaller and faster than standard Pikmin.

White and purple Pikmin are not spawned from Onions. They come from flowers. You have to throw a standard Pikmin into these special flowers and the corresponding Pikmin will come back out.

If you remember those weird ladybug looking creatures from the first one, they're back. I was reading impressions about the game and came across some information I thought was really cool... [spoiler]The game still contains adult and babies of this monster. The difference here is that if you kill the mother bug, the babies follow you instead. Basically, you now have a bunch of little bugs that will help you attack and such heh.[/spoiler]

Other features:

- Competitive and co-op two player modes.

- Better graphics (Pikmin seem to have slightly higher polygon counts and have more idle animations. Ssome of the new items have great texturing)

- Levels feature huge dungeons. The dungeons themselves are random and contain lots of treasures and strong enemies. You cannot get new Pikmin while in these dungeons unless you leave entirely. Luckily the game lets you save after each floor.

- There is no day limit anymore.

- The game features little GBA bonus games that can be gotten by using a GBA/GC cable. It's also compatible with the E-Reader and comes with a few cards for it.

Here's some shots:

[IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/pikmin2gcn_042604_x3_1083011151.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/pikmin2gcn_042604_x5_1083011152.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/pikmin2gcn_042604_x8_1083011154.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/pikmin2_032904_021.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/pikmin2_032904_022.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/pikmin2_032904_020.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/pikmin2_032904_000.jpg[/IMG]

Anyone else looking forward to this? It's due in August in the US.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Oh hell yeah. While not a rabid fan of the original Pikmin (I played it through once and that was enough for me), I did enjoy it while it lasted. Just today a friend of mine pulled Pikmin off his GCN game shelf and played it for a few hours. It still is the coolest puzzle-focused game, ever.

The fact that the second game has co-op is just awesome, as is that there's no day limit anymore. I also like the super-strong Purple Pikmin and the new poisonous White Pikmin are cool too. I also understand that you first get the red, then purple and white, and then later find the blue and yellows this time around.

Anyway I'm really looking forward to it. But it's still a long ways away. I think it'll be here in August or something.

Hey did you see the video of the caterpillar boss? It crushed like 50 pikmin at once. So painful to watch...

[Shinmaru]

The original Pikmin was a bit too short and took too long to really get going, in my opinion, though I still enjoyed it somewhat, especially the later levels.

Obviously, the addition to this game that most people are going to look forward to most is the co-op mode. Games are just more fun when played with a friend, it's a fact :p I'm interested to see how the game will utilize the co-op mode when it comes to puzzles and such...should be pretty fun, heh.

Also, I'm just looking forward to more commanding massive Pikmin armies to drag down huge bugs and tear them limb from limb. Beautiful.

[BlueYoshi]

I've always enjoyed Pikmin, for both the tactical mind involved and the stunning game play, not to mention the originality of it too.

It will be interesting to see how the new purple Pikmin would adapt to the worlds and how their roles would justify though, as each of the other Pikmin have different abilities in accordance to their colour, where the purple Pikmin has only its brute strength to rely on - not my first choice in an all out war.

Anyway, I just thought I'd sum up the two player competitive mode a bit more with info from the IGN website:

[QUOTE]The "2P Battle" mode lets two players compete against each other on 10 different battle maps, using a horizontally-split set-up. One gamer plays as Louie and gets blue Pikmin, the other one as Olimar and gets red Pikmin. Neither Pikmin have their special abilities. They're 100% equal. Each player has a color-coded marble in their camp. There are three different ways to defeat the opponent:


Collect four yellow marbles that are littered about in the levels and bring them back to the camp (the Onion).
Steal the enemy's marble and bring it back to the camp.
Defeat the player or all enemy Pikmin.

Each player starts off with 10 Pikmin by default (a handicap function makes it possible to select the number of starting Pikmin between five and 50) and, just like in single-player, is tasked to build up a mini-army by collecting Pikmin vitamins and defeating and retrieving bugs. The maximum number of Pikmin each player can have is 50. But if all you do is collect resources, you'll soon be out of the game. It's important to immediately set out and go hunting for marbles and cherries. The yellow marbles have to first be dug out of the ground as they're half submerged in the sand (or whatever material the level of choice is made up of) before they can be carried off and brought back to home base. There is only a set number of marbles in each level, and they're usually in spots that are equally far away from each team. Then there is the opponent's yellow or blue marble. The catch here is that blue Pikmin cannot carry their own marble -- only the opponent's. This of course leads to shifting points of power, where one player has to move closer to the enemy by the virtue of his marble being already half way there.

Cherries are a different story altogether. These power-ups fall from the sky once in a while (or, presumably, some unseen tree above) and can be carried off by just a single Pikmin. The moment a Pikmin delivers a cherry to the base, a slots wheel will appear at the side of the screen and start spinning. The outcome is always positive -- and there are a variety of offensive and defensive power-ups that can appear. Here's what they are and what they do:

Red Elixir: Gives the player one dose of yellow elixir. When used (press D-Pad down) it gives the Pikmin super speed and fighting power for a short time.
Purple Elixir: Gives the player one dose of purple elixir. When used (press D-Pad up) in proximity to enemy Pikmin, it knocks them over and plants them in the ground.
Spider: Places a spider in the enemy camp. Even worse, the spider has a time bomb on its back.
Aokedattara: This blowfish-like creature will appear near the enemy to wreak havoc by blowing over Pikmin.
Butadokkuri: These pig-like creatures will appear in the enemy base and spit fire or water at Pikmin
Fly: The flying Saraimushi appears in the enemy camp and creates mayhem by grabbing Pikmin and throwing them into the ground.
Return Marble: Returns the player's marble back to his camp.
Ghost: Players is invisible on the opponent's screen.
Flower: Makes all allied Pikmin flower (which allows them to run faster).
Pikmin +10: Get 10 Pikmin instantly (or add them to the queue if there are 50 out).
Pikmin +5: Get 10 Pikmin instantly (or add them to the queue if there are 50 out).
Asteroids: Rocks fall from the sky in the opposing camp and flatten any unfortunate Pikmin that are out and about.

Wait, there's still more! Pikmin can also attack each other and their leaders, Olimar and Louie. The rules are simple: strength is in numbers -- and Pikmin with flowers easily get the upper hand over "buddies" and "leafies." When attacking another leader, Pikmin will actually follow the unfortunate astronaut around, latch on to them and start clobbering until shaken off or defeated by another Pikmin or creature.

The level designers at Nintendo put together 10 varied maps to support the clever battle dynamics. While some levels only feature a few small Chappies and maggots, others are home to traps and more dangerous (NPC) enemy creatures, such as rock spitters and an oversized walking fish tank of sorts. Graphically, the game still holds its own in multiplayer mode as well. The maps all look unique and include standard caves and mazes as well as a kid's playroom and even a tiled bathhouse, and the framerate is locked at 30fps the entire time.[/QUOTE]

I believe the folks at IGN made a mistake with the special items, where Pikmin+5 would get you 5 extra Pikmin, and not 10.

Also, you seem to be mistaken ScirosDarkblade, the order of the Pikmin encountered is red first, yellow second, blue third, and then purple and white.

[Shinmaru]

I picked up Pikmin 2 this morning, and I've been very pleased with it thus far. So far, searching out the 'treasures' has proved more fun and involving than searching out the parts of Captain Olimar's space ship was. Right now, I'm in the Awakening Wood, and I beat the living hell out of the bulbaxes and got the strawberry. I'm about 10% finished with my debt at this point. Everything I enjoyed about the original Pikmin has been bettered and made more fun. The graphics are better, the game is more atmospheric and it's a bit easier to play.

The game has definitely been a worthy pickup thus far.

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Shinmaru']The game has definitely been a worthy pickup thus far.[/quote]


"Worthy of a pickup" is an understatement. It's one of the best games I've played on the GameCube. I really liked Pikmin (hell, it was my favorite game at those Cube Clubs), but it was obviously flawed in many ways. The sequel absolutely obliterates the original in every way inmaginable.

It does definitely look better. The Pikmin seem to be slightly higher in polygon count. The textures are better overall in the stages themselves, not to mention all the items you find. I thought using real-world items was an awesome touch. It doesn't reek of product placement. Instead it just gives you the feeling of this actually occuring in the real world below our feet. Walking past that first Duracell battery was pretty amusing.

There's a lot of neat effects as well. Even the title screen is far more interesting.

I really like the adjustments made to basic gameplay as well. A lot of it is small things, but they add up. In the first game, once the Pikmin killed an enemy they basically just sat there. In this one, unless you call them right away, they automatically pick up the carcass and drag it to their Onion. Not a HUGE deal, like I said, but it does help the game be a bit more user-friendly I think. There's a lot of little adjustments like that.

The removal of the time limit has been a godsend. Days still end, but you're not forced to do anything within a certain amount of days. I was worried this would make the game too easy, but it really hasn't affected the difficulty at all. It's nice being able to take your time and not have a limit in the back of your head.

I'm a bit over 50% in my debt collection. Getting treasures has been fun. I like searching them out, especially because of Piklopedia. For those that don't know, it's basically a list of items and enemies kept by Olimar.

The cool thing is that you can interact with each item and enemy within the list. You can throw Pikpik Carrots at the enemies and see how they react. You can press Z to freeze them (after you get a certain item, anyway). You can also use the C-Stick, d-pad and control stick to change the viewpoints. The viewscreen is actually quite nice as the game applies an Ico-like blur to the graphics.

I really like the adding of Louie to the game. In the single player, it adds a nice tag-team element. Splitting up into two groups is usually not necessary, but it can save you a lot of time.

I really like the "dungeons" in the game as well. None of them have been too long and a few have ended in some interesting boss battles. Trying to make it through them with your Pikmin intact has been a good waste of time.

I finally unlocked the Challenge Mode a bit ago as well. It's far beyond the original game's mode. In this one, you're given a certain amount of Pikmin and placed in a dungeon. Your goal is to get as much treasure as possible and make it outside. You get points based on how much you collect, how far you are from the time limit and how many Pikmin survive.

It's a lot of fun, I think. When you fully complete one challenge, another is unlocked. There's quite a few.

I've not played two players yet... but it almost sounds like Four Swords in some ways. Can't wait to try it.

So yeah, [IMG]http://www.otakuboards.com/images/icons/icon14.gif[/IMG]

[Shinmaru]

Oh my god, Pikmin 2 is ruling more and more as I go through the game. There is just so much charm to the game that you can't help but love it; at the same time, it has its own distinctive edge to it. The part I'm loving the most so far is going through each of the caves and collecting the treasures. Usually, with all the real life items abound it would smack of blatant advertisement, but it works so well in Pikmin 2.

Also, and this is my favorite moment in the game thus far, you can't beat taking the head of the Burrowing Snagret as a trophy after you're done beating it. That stupid bird ate quite a few of my purple Pikmin, and it was only right that I claimed its head as the ultimate prize :D

Also, there's the obvious stuff, such as the clever, teamwork based puzzles and such that also make Pikmin 2 so awesome. I'm loving this more and more as I play it. If you're on the fence about this, get off the fence and buy the game lol.

[JuliasPeach]

[COLOR=DarkOrange]I have completely beat this game. I got all the treasures (201) beat challange mode all pink flowers and so on. It is really good and way out does the first game. You really have to get it!

-Peach[/COLOR]