G-pinions

It's been so long since a worthwhile Nintendo game came out that I had forgotten just how good they are. I think the last EAD game I bought was last Christmas when I got Mario Kart Double Dash, and before that was in March when I got Zelda. What a long, horrible drought it has been. But finally, finally, I have laid my hands upon a new Nintendo game and, shockingly enough, the game is good. The game is damn good.

Don't worry, I'm not going to go all mouth foamy on you guys... but only because Nick beat me to the punch with yesterday's writeup of Burnout 3. Pikmin 2, though, is a game that is almost beyond running around airplane style, screaming happy yelps. It has that quality found only in Nintendo games. You know, where the characters are instantly lovable, the gameplay, though easy initially, allows you to have fun as soon as you turn the game on. Nintendo games just exude this child like glee that makes me remember why I started playing video games in the first place.

So what's the deal with this game anyway? It's kind of like a real time strategy game, like Warcraft or Starcraft or any other 'craft game, except instead of building troops to fight armies you grow Pikmin to harvest Earth's junk. There are different types of Pikmin - the red guys are good fighters and are immune to fire, the purple guys are slow and fat but really good fighters, and 3 or 4 more types that I don't have yet - and you basically just walk around with this huge pack of singing animaflora fighting enemies and solving puzzles.

What makes the game so great is the presentation more than the gameplay. The little guys are so darn cute that it's quite enjoyable just walking around listening to them sing. And, because of the relationship you build with these virtual flower animals, you actually feel sad when you lose one in battle. When I did a head count after fighting a giant bird head boss and found I had lost 3 of my precious red Pikmin in battle, I got a little choked up. After you finish a day and the results are totalled up, you can even check how many Pikmin you lost and, when the number is revealed, you hear the remaining Pikmin cry a little. I'm sorry, I have to move on. It's getting dusty over here.

Anyway, I haven't touched the two player mode yet and haven't even faced any real challenges, but I can say with confidence that this game is just amazing. It's what I love about video games. Very few games go beyond a simple gaming experience and cause you to actual feel for the characters on screen. Nintendo found a way to make an amazing real time strategy game for home consoles that's not only fun but you actually do care. Yay!