I’m finally righting a wrong and playing the original Pikmin. I’m loving it so far, but I have to say, I’m terrible at it. I screwed up my final day in my first playthrough here, so I’ll have to retry it and see if I can at least see some kind of good ending.

I’ve played Pikmin 3 but this is my first time playing the original. Part of me wants to say the third game is better, though I can absolutely make the case as to why the original is still the best. I think the time limit here actually does make the game better, and it’s just that kind of pressure that helps make the game so tense and exciting.

And I’ve now completed it! I feel like I’ve righted some great wrong in my Nintendo fandom. I’m struggling to think if there are any other Nintendo milestone games I never saw to completion.

I actually wound up playing this through twice this week. On my first attempt, I made it to day 30 but STILL missed an important ship part. This version of the game lets you rewind back to previous days in your run…but honestly that kind of felt like it defeated the purpose of the game.

Sooo, last night, I started a new game, and was surprised at how quickly I got through everything on my second try. I can definitely see how people would try to master this game. A YouTuber I saw today said his record was 7 days, and even that sounded nuts to me.

I found all the ship pieces on day 25 this time. Sadly, I lost a LOT of Pikmin. This version of the game sounds more forgiving than the original, since dead enemies can’t fall on your Pikmin and kill them, but even so…those freaking jumping guys would just get me every time. I couldn’t figure out a good rhythm for them at all.

I also never realized I could just swarm to have the Pikmin pick things up faster? Am I correct there?

This really is a great game. I can see some people being disappointed with it as a GameCube launch game, due to its length, but it really does feel a lot like Star Fox 64 in that regard. My memory is that I liked Pikmin 3 more, but I suppose a lot of people’s favorite Pikmin game is the first one they played.

I can finally scratch this one off my Gaming Bucket List (TM).

Pikmin was such a strange game for my young mind. The sound design! The Dolphin being named after the GameCube's code name! That first year of the GameCube was weird, weird. I don't think Pikmin 1 would be as fun to play today as 3 or 4, but it certainly felt alien.

@Secret_Tunnel Honestly, at least for me, I found it refreshing. It's a short game, which leads to it just feeling very arcadey, in a sense. I can imagine disappointment with the game as a Gamecube full price launch title, and you feel like you've beaten it in a few days.

Like I said, when I did my second run of the game, I was done with the game the next real life day, AND I collected all the ship parts. I know there's some QoL features in this version that made it easier than the original (such as Pikmin not dying when dead monsters fall on them), but still - the only thing really left for me to do with this game is to try to speedrun it, and maybe see the optional bosses I didn't encounter.

So, it doesn't exactly have the replayability of something like Star Fox, but it has a similar energy. I remember Pikmin 3 feeling much longer and more robust, so I imagine that P3 was more of like a culmination of everything they had wanted to do with the original.

If I had gotten this as a full priced launch game back in the day, I think I would've been disappointed. But as a weird, experimental, fresh take on strategy games, at a decent price, and as a trip down memory lane? It was a great time.

I don't know that I'll have the same experience with Pikmin 2, but I'm looking forward to it. I predict that it will have a "case of the sequels," to a degree. That it will be technically better in many ways, but lack the oomph and impact of the original, leaving it somewhat forgettable to a degree.

@PogueSquadron

Optimizing the routing is what makes Pikmin fun for me. I loved the Dandori Challenges in Pikmin 4 and am pretty excited that they're adding 70 more of them. I platinumed all the challenges in Pikmin 3, too.

So trying to beat Pikmin 1 in as few days as possible seems like the natural way to enjoy it, yeah. Did you ever try the unlockable post-game Olimar mode in Pikmin 4? I haven't played Pikmin 1 in decades, but that mode might have scratched the same itch for me. IIRC, I beat it in six days, two per area.