It’s been nine long years since Pikmin 2 was released, and finally, Pikmin fans have a new game to play. Pikmin 3 has just been released for Wii U and I picked it up today. Once I put the disc in, it downloads and installs an update. That took several minutes, and then I started watching the opening sequence. The first thing that struck me is that the characters speak gibberish. Is Nintendo still stuck in the days of Banjo-Kazooie on N64? Maybe it’s just me, but I’d prefer actual language over “Arry, arry? Oo too roo umplin, wah wah.”
Anyway, you start out as Captain Charlie. Your team has three characters, but all three begin the game in separate locations after a crash landing. Charlie stumbles onto yellow Pikmin very early on. You make your way through a snowy area, using Pikmin to clear away mushrooms that block your path.
After Charlie reaches a certain point, you switch to controlling Alph instead. He finds red Pikmin at his location. Much as in earlier games, you will order the Pikmin to build bridges, destroy walls, push boxes, and defeat enemies. And when need be, run for your life.
You can control the game with a Wii remote and nunchuk, or you can use the Wii U gamepad. So far, I’ve only tried it with the gamepad. It seemed like gamepad controls would be most similiar to the controls of the original GameCube games, which used two sticks. Unfortunately, Nintendo hasn’t tried to keep the same control scheme. I’m used to pressing B to whistle for Pikmin, and now I have to use ZR. And the right stick is not used for directing the Pikmin like it was in the GameCube games, so the controls are going to take me a while to get used to. So far, I haven’t seen an option to customize the gamepad controls.
But controls aside, I am enjoying the game so far. I’ve only played two “days” of gameplay, and the first day is just a tutorial, so I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’m looking forward to delving deeper into the game in the weeks ahead. I’ll be sure to update my progress from time to time, so be sure to check back!