Story:

The game starts off with a space captain--Captain Olimar--coming back home from his vacation.  He's flying through space, when his guard satellite fails him.  He unintentionally gets in the way of a meteor coming in to crash an earth-like planet.  Both he and the meteor get knocked of course, with the Captain heading straight for the meteor's previous target.  On his bumpy ride through the atmosphere, Captain Olimar is knocked out, and his ship is coming apart.  He wakes up the next day to find himself laying on surface of a strange planet.  Unfortunately, Captain Olimar's "species" is intolerant to oxygen, and inhalation leads to immediate death.  Captain Olimar was prepared and had a breathing system that turned oxygen into air he could breathe.  BUT, the battery only works for 30 days.  So, captain olimar sets out on a 5 second adventure to repair his ship.  Well, 5 seconds into his 5 second adventure, he runs into the Pikmin which help him get off the planet.  For anybody that has beaten the game, the end is painful to watch, as the story has added a lot of emotion.  When one pikmin dies, I find myself having 2 second ceremonies, especially if the pikmin gave up its life for the good of the others.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is great, as far as for controls.  The controls, like many other games, take some 10 to 30 minutes of practice for an average knowledge, but they are very similar to a lot of other Nintendo games.

I give the gameplay: 9/10

Graphics:

Nintendo sure put a lot of work into the graphics.  Grass looks like grass, trees look like trees, beam rays look like beam rays, and the modeling and animation for the pikmin is so adorable!  The water and fire effects are great also!  This game offers quite a bit of eye candy.

I give the graphics: 10/10

Sound:

Sound is wonderful.  There are little jingles that play when you obtain a ship part from an enemy or finish a task.  The pikmin sounds are just as adorable as the pikmin themselves.  And the music--the music is AWESOME!  I like Hans Zimmer and Howard Shore, but this--this is INCREDIBLE--especially the 30 part ending song.

I give the sound: 11/10

Replayability:

Replayability just depends on what kind of person you are.  If beating a game once satisfies you, this game will have about 6 outta 10.  If trying to beat your previous records and setting new high scores is what you do, this game is 10 outta 10 for replayability.  Also, they put a nice little challenge mode in in which you harvest as many pikmin as you can.  It's good for practice and also has a top 5 list.  I've beaten the game once, and lost once.  I now find myself doing challenge mode all the time.

I give the replayability: 8/10

Challenge:

If you've ever watched the 9 day pikmin speed run, but never actually played the game, you are probably wondering why people say it's so hard to play this game.  Well, it turns out, those special advanced moves, like triple bombing, multi-tasking, and the pikmin hose, are actually much harder than they look, so the game is actually much harder than it looks, as those are essential moves to winning the game in less than 15 days.  If you have played the game, you know that day one up to day three are pretty easy, but when you start getting the other levels, the games difficulty is sky high!  This game is for those of you wanting a challenging game.  However, pikmin 2 is more battle-based.

I give the challenge: 9/10

Frustration:

This game is VERY frustrating at times, and will have you pounding your fist, saying "#$@%", and starting the day all over again.  I try to play this game at times where my temper is low.

I give the frustration: 8/10

Value:

What is a Nintendo GameCube without this game.  It's right on there with the list of Nintendo GameCube classics: Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker, Animal Crossing, and Star Fox Assault.  Note: This list is my personal opinion, but a poll would show how many agree with me, not that I want one.

I give the value: 10/10

Written By: SuperMario4

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