New Play Control: Pikmin
Some of you may remember a charming strategy game that was released about eight years ago on the Gamecube, called Pikmin. In it a bald and bulb-nosed astronaut named Captain Olimar crash-landed on a strange planet. His ship had been hit by an asteroid, and many of the ship's parts were scattered around the planet, leaving Olimar's interplanetary vehicle nonoperational. To make matters worse, Olimar's suit's life support will only last a total of thirty days. Things are looking bleak, until Olimar meets the Pikmin, small, sprout-like, not-so-intelligent creatures who have taken a liking to Olimar and will anything Olimar says, even to death. Twisted? A little, yes. But that's what really makes it so charming, in a Tim Burton-esque sort of way.
Not too long ago Nintendo had announced the port of Pikmin to the Wii, called New Play Control!: Pikmin. The decision to port this eight-year-old game likely serves three purposes: one, to appeal to those who played the game eight years ago and want to give the motion controls a try. Two: to appeal to all those people who never played on a Gamecube but are now playing the incredibly popular Wii. And three: to introduce these people who are now playing the incredibly popular Wii to the Pikmin franchise, so that when Pikmin 3 comes along(currently in development) people will know what it is.
In any case, the port will have two distinct differences from the original. The first is really obvious; that the port will utilize motion controls. In the Gamecube version, the c-stick was used to coordinate the cursor for select and ordering Pikmin. This control element was necessary for the game's combat, puzzles, etc. This time around the Wii remote will be used in the stead of the c-stick, to great effect. The second change is concerning the game's time limit. In the original Pikmin you had thirty days to complete the game. No rewinding time, and you had better be sure to be keeping up on your ship parts collecting, because there is only so much you can do in a day and when the day is over it's gone forever and you'd better be sure to make up for it later. In the New Play Control! version, however, an ingame calender can be accessed in which you can rewind to whichever day you wish.
So when New Play Control!: Pikmin comes out this March, be sure to check it out; especially if you never played the original. It's considered by many people a classic gem of the last generation of videogames.
