New Play Control! Pikmin

Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: March 9, 2009
System: Wii
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Pikmin ... now with new play control. DUH!

0:00 This is kind of a unique situation for Games for Lunch, since I already played (and loved) the original Pikmin on the GameCube for many more than a few hours. Still, Nintendo sent me this new, control-tweaked Wii remake, so I guess it's worth an hour to see how the new play controls work. It'll also be interesting to see if the game still holds up roughly ... seven years later? Man I'm old.

0:01 The preview screen is an endearing loop of three Pikmin getting thrown from off-screen, picking up the game logo, then making surprised noises. I want this to be the new screen saver on my computer.

0:02 Wow, everything looks really grainy. Were these really state-of-the-art graphics back in 2001? Maybe my HDTV just doesn't do standard definition very well...

0:03 Olimar's familiar bottle rocket flies through space, gets hit by an asteroid, and hurtles down to the planet as a fireball, complete with cheesy music and sound effects. "The Impact Site" is just as cute as ever.

0:04 "My name is Captain Olimar. While travelling through space I was struck by a meteor..." Blah blah blah ... I just said all this back at 0:03.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer