One of Nintendo’s greatest games is back with a compromise.
When it was announced that Pikmin 1 was coming to Switch, the first thing I wanted to know was what version of the game it was based on. The original Pikmin was ported only once as part of the Wii’s New Play Control series of games. The Wii Remote’s pointer controls were an obvious selling point, but they actually made some big changes to the often-forgotten quality of life. Original gamecube version.
In the original Pikmin, you couldn’t change the color of the Pikmin you were holding before throwing it. This meant that I had to carefully stand next to the type of Pikmin I wanted before picking it up. The AI attached to the Yellow Pikmin carrying Bomb Rocks was also different. On the GameCube, a bomb would be dropped as soon as you called out with a whistle, possibly resulting in an accidental death, but on the Wii, Pikmin would simply drop a stone after being thrown and would not even automatically move away from a bomb that was about to explode. rice field. The biggest change for the Wii is the game’s save system has been completely overhauled, allowing you to rewind to the previous day from the file selection screen and correct mistakes without losing even more of your limited in-game time. became.
I didn’t want to take it for granted that the revamped Wii version of the game was available on Switch, as the Switch apparently doesn’t have a controller that uses a sensor bar. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded and Switch’s Pikmin 1 appears to be a 1:1 port of the New Play Control version of him. A few minor graphic changes as well, such as on-screen arrows directing swarming Pikmin, colored Pikmin UI elements to indicate which Onion the Pikmin brought back items to, and Pikmin Ghost colors corresponding to fallen soldiers, all New Retained from the Play Control version. . Other than his UI being upscaled for HD resolution, if anything has changed in the game’s presentation, it’s subtle enough that only the most dedicated fans will notice.
Without the option to use a pointer, the game’s default controls are nearly identical to the GameCube, but with the added option of being able to use gyroscopic aiming while whistling or throwing Pikmin. This is the biggest compromise Pikmin 1 has made during his transition to Switch. This is because the gyro is only enabled in context sensitive situations, making it difficult to quickly fine-tune the cursor between targets. I think this is fine for first time players. Still more features than the original GameCube version. But every muscle memory I had while playing screamed that this sucks.
Pikmin 1 on Switch is not the definitive version of this game. The Wii remote’s pointer controls were perfect for Pikmin, but the absence of Pikmin is deeply felt. That said, this is likely the best Pikmin 1 to work on a pointerless system, and its core design still holds up as his one of the best debuts in Nintendo series history. I’m here. Longtime fans might be better off digging out their old Wii Remote to get a new version of the play controls, but if you want to see what’s important while you wait for Pikmin 4, this is the place to start. Optimal.
A quick note about Pikmin 2 while I’m here. It’s been a long time since I’ve played Pikmin 2, so I didn’t want to rush to write a review without taking too much time, but so far, I’ve also found it to have the same control scheme as the Switch version of Pikmin 1. You can see that it is a direct port of the New Play Control version. One change I could immediately identify is that his Duracell battery in the opening stages of the game has been replaced with a battery. fake generic brands. It probably applies to other real-world licensed products throughout the game.
