- This article is about the first video game in the Pikmin series of video games. For other uses, see Pikmin (disambiguation).
Pikmin (ピクミン in Japanese) is the first of the Pikmin series of video games which are designed by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto (of Mario and Zelda fame). It was released December 3, 2001 in North America and June 15, 2002 in Europe. It also has the unique distinction of having been the first Player's Choice Nintendo GameCube game in North America. Its sequel is Pikmin 2. In Japanese commercials for the game, the song Ai No Uta was used, which became popular and was released as a single in its own right.
In Pikmin, the main character is Captain Olimar, a spaceman from the planet Hocotate. The story starts when Olimar is taking a vacation in outer space. However, during his flight, a meteorite hits his spaceship, and it crashes on a planet unknown to him (Planet Earth). Parts of the spaceship fall off as it plummets to the ground.
When he regains consciousness, Olimar finds out that the planet's atmosphere contains oxygen, which is poisonous to the people from Hocotate, and he can only stay on the planet for 30 days before his air supply runs out. Olimar must retrieve many of the spaceship parts so he can rebuild his spaceship and return to Hocotate. Although there are 30 Parts, seven specific parts are luxury items and Olimar can escape without them.
The Pikmin
Main article: Pikmin (character)
Olimar discovers the Pikmin, tricolored plant-animal hybrids that willingly follow his orders and help him recover the ship parts. They come in red, yellow, and blue varieties, each with its strengths and weaknesses. The game revolves around Olimar's strategic manipulation of these creatures.
Levels
Olimar travels through five main levels to collect all 30 parts, which are scattered across the landscape of each area.
The Impact Site
The Impact Site is the location where Olimar wakes up, having lost consciousness when his ship plummeted to the surface. As soon as he wakes up, he begins to look for his ship, and is shocked by the amount of damage that has occurred. After this, sets off to find a way to begin repairs and instead stumbles across the Red Pikmin. Although at the beginning Olimar only has control over one Pikmin, he soon gains control over enough of them, through reproduction, to haul the engine of his ship back to the actual site of impact.
The actual area of the Impact Site is one of the smallest in the game, It possesses few explorable areas and only two ship parts, the second least of any area. The Impact Site is notable, however, for containing enemies which are found nowhere else in the game.
The Forest of Hope
The Forest of Hope is the second navigable area in the game, and is much larger than the Impact Site. There are ten pieces of the ship to found here, more than any other area in the game. The Forest is divided into three main regions, a shallow lake, a wide beach, and a tangle of narrow paths and pools of water. This is also the first area of the game in which the player encounters Bulborbs, the natural enemy of Pikmin. Olimar also meets the Yellow Pikmin here.
The Forest Navel
This third region of the game is so named because when Olimar flies over the area for the first time, he remarks that this open spot in the very center of the dense forest resembles a navel. This area contains nine ship parts, and contains many dangerous enemies. The area is pock-marked with fire geysers, and contains large watery areas. To help with this, this is where Olimar meets the Blue Pikmin, who are the only species of Pikmin which can swim. The entire area is very dark and dusty, and is slightly foreboding, especially considering that vast stretches of it seem hauntingly empty.
The Distant Spring
The Distant Spring is the last area in the game which contains necessary ship parts. The area contains eight parts in total. As the name would suggest, there is a great deal of water in the Distant Spring, and thus Blue Pikmin get a workout here. The area revolves around puzzles, as many times parts are near water but require other Pikmin to carry them, such as when a part requires passage through a fiery area.
The Final Trial
This is the last area in the game, and it contains only one ship part, and even at that one that is not necessary to escape the planet at the end of the game. The entire area is a run-up to a creature that lives at the head of the area, and goes by the name "Emperor Bulblax." As one would expect for the final boss, it is more proficient at Pikmin-killing than any other enemy in the game.
See also
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