How to Make Tiny Aliens Do Your Bidding! (Or a review of Pikimin for Nintendo 3Ds)

Have you ever wanted to play a game where you can force tiny, very excited aliens to do your bidding? Well, then the Nintendo 3DS has you covered my friend! Hey! Pikmin for the Nintendo 3DS is a fun platformer where you and some alien friends are on a mission to collect Sparklium for your ship. I somehow missed out on Pikmin's console debut on the Gamecube so I was interested to try this new game for the 3DS. Which, to some people's dismay is playable in 2D only. (That doesn't really bother me, because I only play in 2D mode. However, I thought it important to mention since some people really like the 3D feature.)

The game makes excessive use of the stylus which was odd for me at first. It's actually probably the first time I've used the stylus since I got my 3Ds. It just doesn't seem to have any uses in most games, but in the case of Hey! Pikmin you'll be using it for everything pretty much. After getting used to it though, using the stylus is not bad, and it actually makes some tasks easier such as aiming.

Your character, Captain Olimar, has no weapons of his own. Almost all of your tasks will require the help of Pikmin which you can call out of hiding using your whistle. After you acquire some you can then use your stylus to take aim and fire them at enemies or send them after items. After they've come back to Earth they'll return to you and follow attentively behind you. They can be used repeatedly in this manner until they chomped on by a monster or crushed by something. While this does not seem like a big deal at first you will quickly find that certain objectives require a specific number of Pikmin. That means if you don't defend them then you could find yourself lacking the numbers to complete certain areas in a stage. That means you'll either need to hunt down more Pikmin in another area or restart the level.

As far as AI goes, Pikmin can be frustrating. While they do their best to follow you sometimes they get stuck on things, and you'll need to go back and rescue them. If they get separated from you it's likely they will just stand there and get chomped on by enemies. When this happens you should either use your whistle to call them or run to collect them. You'll need different amounts of Pikmin to complete certain tasks, and if you lose too many you might miss out on items in the level you need.

You'll soon find that progressing through the levels will require different Pikmin and strategies to use them. You'll need to hunt down hidden passages, use the correct type of Pikmin for the job, and use teamwork with your new friends to get all the items in the level. As you move forward more steps will be required to solve the puzzles and to make sure that you get all the rewards in the level.

While Olimar has no weapons to speak of, he does have two other useful tools. You'll be able to utilize the jetpack and the whistle. The jetpack can be used to reach places a little higher than you can climb. There are a few levels where the Pikmin will have less involvement, and you'll actually be using this to make it through obstacles. This makes the levels a little more challenging, because using your jet pack often means you leave your Pikmin behind and leave yourself unarmed. Instead of disposing of enemies you'll need to find some clever ways to avoid them instead.

You'll also get the whistle. This is used for controlling your Pikmin. While they do try to follow you as best they can they often get confused. The whistle is an excellent tool for keeping them out of trouble if they are wandering off or stuck somewhere. You can use this to make them come running your direction, and to keep them away from an enemy who wants to eat them!

Upon finishing a level that the Pikmin you've collected will be joining you on your ship. These Pikmin can be sent to the 'Pikmin Park'. In this area your Pikmin can search for additional sparklium for you. Different areas will require different types of Pikmin to harvest based on their specialty. For example, you'll need water Pikmin to search an area of the park with a lake. The rewards are rather small for this, but it's sort of neat seeing all the Pikmin you've collected. Plus, it passively adds to your stack or sparklium I guess which is always good. Every little bit helps and these progressions will help you add things to your ship.

While I found the game to be entertaining the tasks could use a little variety. Many of them seem to be very similar, and your only real reward is the sparklium which isn't super exciting. Still, Pikmin has some fun puzzles and objectives, and I've enjoyed completing them.