A video game published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube console in 2001.
Text by NiGHTS108
Pikmin 1 is honestly really good. I figured I’d check it out after Nintendo ported both Pikmin 1 and 2 to Switch literally just today, as both are games I’ve been meaning to look at for a long time since playing Pikmin 3 in 2020, and yeah, the first game didn’t disappoint. I love the general aesthetic for one thing, it’s very, how do I put this… soothing, so to speak. The game entirely takes place in natural, green settings and has laid back music which can also change based on whatever’s happening in the game. I always like dynamic music like that. The Forest Navel is particularly a joy, such a simultaneously hopeful yet fearsome cave complex. In general the concept for Pikmin feels so fun and inspired. Like a lot of Nintendo IPs born around this time it really feels like it has its own distinct style and flavour to it, it’s this really fun little game about finding 30 ship parts in 30 days to leave a planet you’re stranded on, and it almost feels like Nintendo’s take on a real-time strategy game, using the titular Pikmin to do various tasks, like destroying enemies, gathering supplies, opening paths, etc, over 5 different locations and with 3 individual types of Pikmin. Honestly, it’s a very, very solid concept. There’s a reason why none of these games have really deviated from this core idea and the only one that did was raked over the coals, because there’s a lot of strategy in its simplicity. It’s a very replayable game, seeing how you can optimise your route faster to do everything you need easier, multi-tasking with various different operations happening at once. Even compared to Pikmin 3 which I played previously, one thing I appreciate about this game is how difficult it can be. Pikmin 1 in particular punishes running in head first without familiarity or a plan of action quite severely. Enemy encounters usually don’t happen in this game without at least a few casualties. Now I will admit despite what I said previously I do have a few gripes with this game, though honestly I feel a lot of this is bias from just playing Pikmin 3 first. For one I don’t think it’s balanced amazingly, specifically with the three Pikmin types themselves. The yellow types are commonly associated with electricity resistance, but that’s not really a thing in Pikmin 1. This game is very much connected to mother nature, so instead yellows are resorted to being able to be thrown higher and holding bombs, for some reason, both of which are kind of situational abilities. There’s not many flying enemies, and only 3 or 4 different parts of the ship take advantage of it, so the throwing ability isn’t much, and more often than not bombs are used for shortcuts than being necessary to what you have to do, so overall I usually find myself going for a full army of reds or blues, due to the reds stronger physical capabilities/fire resistance and the blues advanced mobility in water, which I guess making them more specialised does add more strategy, but it’s less “specialised” and more “one of these is clearly worse than the other two”. Additionally the Pikmin AI that follows you around… kinda sucks. For one, unless you evolve them, they go really slowly, which can make movement really drag sometimes, and also bridges and staircases are a constant pain in this game. They spread out so far they love getting caught on the edges of them. Also in general this game just doesn’t feel as good to play as Pikmin 3, like at all, only three types feels pretty rudimentary and coming off that game the controls take some getting used to. Honestly though that’s about it in regards to my issues with Pikmin 1, this game’s very charming. If my only real gripes with a game are technical stuff like balancing and specific stuff about how the game works, and just “The sequel did it better” then let that be a testament to just how good the core idea of Pikmin 1 is at its heart. I don’t think it’s perfect or anything and I would definitely recommend Pikmin 3 over it, but this is clearly a wonderful, very unique game that’s only dragged back by what future instalments did better.