Portal: Pikmin
| |
| Pikmin | |
| Developer | Nintendo |
| Games | List of all games, |
| Debut | Pikmin (2001) |
| Gallery | GH Gallery |
Pikmin is a strategy series that started on the Nintendo Gamecube in 2001. It has had four main installments over the years and two spin-off games.
History[edit]
The series was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, who was inspired by observations of his garden. The first two games star Captain Olimar, an employee of Hocotate Freight who is also intrigued with scientific studies. He travels through space and ends up stranded on a planet (implied to be a version of Earth itself, but with Olimar being at a miniature scale), where he has to rely on the aid of tiny creatures known as Pikmin for survival. Playing as Olimar, the player must strategically gather and deploy Pikmin to accomplish objectives while trying to lose as few Pikmin as possible.
In the original Pikmin, Olimar recruited the Pikmin to find the missing pieces of his ship and escape the planet before his limited life support runs out. Though the Pikmin started the game at the bottom of the planet's food chain, Olimar ultimately left them able to take on the monstrous creatures of the planet on their own. The second game was Pikmin 2, released in 2004. This added second character, Olimar's coworked Louie, and with it a two-player mode, along with various modifications of the gameplay. In this installment, Olimar and Louie were sent back to the strange planet to collect treasure to help Hocotate Freight get out of debt, while once more helping the Pikmin to rise up against predators.
Afterwards, the later games of the Pikmin series have had staggered releases over the years. The third Pikmin game was originally planned for the Wii (which did receive enhanced versions of the first two Pikmin games) and announced in 2008, but Pikmin 3 was not released until 2013 for the Wii U. This game featured three new playable leaders: Alph, Brittany and Charlie, who crash-landed on the planet from the first games (now known as PNF-404) while looking for food. They had to repair their ship and also seek out the characters from the first games while working with the Pikmin.
In 2017, a handheld side-scrolling spin-off called Hey! Pikmin was released for the Nintendo 3DS, marking the series' first handheld installment and the first spin-off into another genre. Pikmin 3 would later receive an enhanced Switch port known as Pikmin 3 Deluxe in 2020, and a mobile game called Pikmin Bloom was launched in 2021. A decade after the release of Pikmin 3, Pikmin 4 was released for the Switch.
Spin-Offs/Crossovers[edit]
The Pikmin series has had representation in the Super Smash Bros. series. Initially, trophies for the Pikmin and Olimar appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Starting in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Olimar was brought in as a playable fighter, with a stage based on the Pikmin world. He returned in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with Alph being available as an alternate costume for him. These games also featured items, trophies, enemies and musical tracks based on the Pikmin series.
The 2012 Wii U launch game Nintendo Land also had a mode based on Pikmin called Pikmin Adventure, wherein players could control Captain Olimar and Pikmin to navigate through special challenges.
Other Media[edit]
- In 2014, a trio of animated shorts were created featuring Olimar and the Pikmin.
See Also[edit]
- Creatures in the Pikmin series
- Treasures of the Pikmin series