Picture this if you will, a young boy on Christmas opening a package to find a Nintendo Gamecube. That in and of itself is exciting but when this console is accompanied by Super Smash Brothers Melee and Pikmin this young boy knows he is in for something new. Back in 2001 I remember opening up Pikmin and popping it into my Gamecube. I was so excited to play this game, little did I know I was going to regret this excitement. Pikmin is one of those games where everything you do is critical. As a young boy I had never come across a game like it before. I had never played a game where if you do something wrong, you risk even being able to complete the game. I was and still am not the best and these types of games. It can often take the fun out of it for me.

Hey Pikmin however, feels like a great introduction to this cute series. You meet all of the wonderful Pikmin and Olimar, and it is like a simpler game that could certainly bring in new fans to the series. I am sure my younger self would have enjoyed playing this game before being dropped into an alien world. Through ultimately playing Pikmin I learned something new about games, that this kind of challenge can be good for you.

Hey Pikmin starts off like all other Pikmin games with Olimar traveling through space. He soon crashes and is told he needs to collect. This time he has to collect Sparklium and 30000 pieces of it. This is done primarily by collecting shiny buds. The game itself is a platformer like anyone knew from Nintendo and their footage. It throws out the old style in favor of a platformer and it works surprisingly well. The demo itself only shows off two levels, and both contain red Pikmin , with additionally containing Rock Pikmin as well. The Red pikmin are light and the Rock Pikmin break whatever they hit if possible, and you lead them and use them like in any other Pikmin game. Of course, you collect items that Olimar nicknames., and there is one item in the demo that made me smile.

All in all this demo is in a way like a soft reboot. Now, obviously we won’t lose the original style games but this like a simpler game to entice younger players in. Again I really think my younger self would have enjoyed playing this instead of the original Pikmin games. But honestly, I realize that Pikmin might not have become what it is today if this was its start. It is a solid game but it does leave some to be desired, then again it really isn’t meant to be all that challenging.

 

Hey Pikimin launches July 28th for the 3DS Family of Systems, the same day as Miitopia.Feel free to try out the demo and find out for yourself what you think of this new entry in the loved Pikmin series! While it may not be the best game in the series the demo is at least worth giving a chance too!He