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I'm really enjoying Pikmin 2. The first game was a lot of fun to play, and the 30-day "time limit" actually gave a really good challenge to the game.
The story of the game goes as follows: After Olimar escapes from the planet of the Pikmin and returns to Hocotate Freight, he finds out that Hocotate Freight's other deliveryboy, Louie, was shipping a huge crate of PikPik carrots when his ship was attacked by a space bunny. He had to sell off all of the company's assets (which consisted of one item - Olimar's S.S. Dolphin) to pay off the loan, but they still owed 10,100 Pokos. Olimar, stunned by the realiziation that the company might go under, drops the souvenir for his son, and Hocotate's other ship (yes, I don't know why that one wasn't sold too) picks it up and declares the souvenir (which is a bent bottlecap) to be worth 100 Pokos. The boss tells Louie and Olimar to head back to that planet and pick up everything they can find to pay off the debt!
This sequel removes the time-limit that was in the original game, as the ship is not actually damaged in any way (which was the situation in the first game - you only had 30 days of life support). However, there is still a daytime limit, so you have to try to optimize your time with your Pikmin every day before night falls.
You control your Pikmin with a very simple interface. You call your Pikmin to you by blowing a whistle (pressing B) and they stand behind you in rows of colour, like little flower soldiers. You aim them towards items with a targeting reticule, and once you toss the Pikmin (lob, really) they do whatever is closest to them - fight an enemy, pick up (or at least attempt to pick up ) an item, or work on a "project" (such as building a bridge or breaking down a wall). Olimar and Louie are swapped by tapping the Y button, and pressing X dismisses your group of Pikmin and partner. You can split up and go do two different things at once, which is a great benefit when you need to get that one last item before night falls. Using the C-stick, you can direct where the Pikmin position themselves by your person, or even swarm items or enemies.
A lot of the same monsters show up in this game, but there is more variety. (They did land on the same planet, after all.) There are some familiar bosses, some new bosses, and some strange little creatures that look very similar to real-world insects. The Pikmin have also got a couple of new tricks - there are Candypop Flower Buds located underground that, when Pikmin are thrown into them, are changed into two previously undiscovered Pikmin - Purple (Sumo-sized and Strong) and White (Poisonous and Nimble). With the stranger, larger variety of items in the game this time and some even buried underground, having the new Pikmin helps out a lot.
Many items in the game require more than just one Pikmin; many times an item is heavy enough that you will require to assign 20 Pikmin to the task before it starts moving. The Purple Pikmin have the strength of 10 Pikmin, which is very useful for many of the larger/heavier objects. Having a swarm of Pikmin is also beneficial when fighting enemies; the bad guys can get confused when a large number start circling them, and if all attack at once, the damage dealt to the monsters is huge. Many creatures several times the Pikmin's size will fall after a few seconds if you get enough attack power.
The majority of the time, once you've gotten acquainted with your Pikmin once again, is now spent in the underground caverns, which I find is quite inventive. You can't get more Pikmin while you're in the underground, so you have to be more careful against wasting them and throwing them around randomly. I've also discovered that the layouts of the underground is made up of certain elements that are connected, which makes the caverns random and kinda replayable, to a certain extent. (Once you've picked up everything in the cavern, there really is no need to go back, so the replayability stops once you've cleaned it out.)
What I found to be a little odd in this game was that there were only 3 areas to explore. I believe the first game had 5 or 6, and I was a little disappointed that there were so few areas - however, the areas are much larger, with items scattered everywhere, and the underground caverns reveal a previously-unexplored region for the Pikmin crew. One level, the Perplexing Pool, contains so much water I can't see any reason to go out with any Pikmin other than Blue. I actually haven't explored that area much...
There are several surprises in this game, of which I plan to not reveal here. There is a Challenge Mode (it's all underground levels) which is unlocked once you reclaim a certain item, and once you've paid off the debt, you can return to the planet to do some more searching. The game is actually much larger than it looks, which makes it very fun to return to again and again.
I've also had several "Ok, I'll just go grab this item, then I'll save" evenings, and I'll discover a new path while I'm claiming that item, and then another item or cavern, and another item, and more monsters, etc... I should slap an addiction warning on this game. :P
There's also a Piklopedia and a Monster List which allows you to see all the neat junk you've picked up and all the enemies you've encountered. Once you collect a certain group of items (for example, all the breakfast food items) you'll get a "Sales Pitch" in addition to Olimar's Journal notes.
Just talking about it is making me want to go play it, but I can't, as I'm at work, and I have to work in the morning, too. >< Must... get... more... stuff...
The story of the game goes as follows: After Olimar escapes from the planet of the Pikmin and returns to Hocotate Freight, he finds out that Hocotate Freight's other deliveryboy, Louie, was shipping a huge crate of PikPik carrots when his ship was attacked by a space bunny. He had to sell off all of the company's assets (which consisted of one item - Olimar's S.S. Dolphin) to pay off the loan, but they still owed 10,100 Pokos. Olimar, stunned by the realiziation that the company might go under, drops the souvenir for his son, and Hocotate's other ship (yes, I don't know why that one wasn't sold too) picks it up and declares the souvenir (which is a bent bottlecap) to be worth 100 Pokos. The boss tells Louie and Olimar to head back to that planet and pick up everything they can find to pay off the debt!
This sequel removes the time-limit that was in the original game, as the ship is not actually damaged in any way (which was the situation in the first game - you only had 30 days of life support). However, there is still a daytime limit, so you have to try to optimize your time with your Pikmin every day before night falls.
You control your Pikmin with a very simple interface. You call your Pikmin to you by blowing a whistle (pressing B) and they stand behind you in rows of colour, like little flower soldiers. You aim them towards items with a targeting reticule, and once you toss the Pikmin (lob, really) they do whatever is closest to them - fight an enemy, pick up (or at least attempt to pick up ) an item, or work on a "project" (such as building a bridge or breaking down a wall). Olimar and Louie are swapped by tapping the Y button, and pressing X dismisses your group of Pikmin and partner. You can split up and go do two different things at once, which is a great benefit when you need to get that one last item before night falls. Using the C-stick, you can direct where the Pikmin position themselves by your person, or even swarm items or enemies.
A lot of the same monsters show up in this game, but there is more variety. (They did land on the same planet, after all.) There are some familiar bosses, some new bosses, and some strange little creatures that look very similar to real-world insects. The Pikmin have also got a couple of new tricks - there are Candypop Flower Buds located underground that, when Pikmin are thrown into them, are changed into two previously undiscovered Pikmin - Purple (Sumo-sized and Strong) and White (Poisonous and Nimble). With the stranger, larger variety of items in the game this time and some even buried underground, having the new Pikmin helps out a lot.
Many items in the game require more than just one Pikmin; many times an item is heavy enough that you will require to assign 20 Pikmin to the task before it starts moving. The Purple Pikmin have the strength of 10 Pikmin, which is very useful for many of the larger/heavier objects. Having a swarm of Pikmin is also beneficial when fighting enemies; the bad guys can get confused when a large number start circling them, and if all attack at once, the damage dealt to the monsters is huge. Many creatures several times the Pikmin's size will fall after a few seconds if you get enough attack power.
The majority of the time, once you've gotten acquainted with your Pikmin once again, is now spent in the underground caverns, which I find is quite inventive. You can't get more Pikmin while you're in the underground, so you have to be more careful against wasting them and throwing them around randomly. I've also discovered that the layouts of the underground is made up of certain elements that are connected, which makes the caverns random and kinda replayable, to a certain extent. (Once you've picked up everything in the cavern, there really is no need to go back, so the replayability stops once you've cleaned it out.)
What I found to be a little odd in this game was that there were only 3 areas to explore. I believe the first game had 5 or 6, and I was a little disappointed that there were so few areas - however, the areas are much larger, with items scattered everywhere, and the underground caverns reveal a previously-unexplored region for the Pikmin crew. One level, the Perplexing Pool, contains so much water I can't see any reason to go out with any Pikmin other than Blue. I actually haven't explored that area much...
There are several surprises in this game, of which I plan to not reveal here. There is a Challenge Mode (it's all underground levels) which is unlocked once you reclaim a certain item, and once you've paid off the debt, you can return to the planet to do some more searching. The game is actually much larger than it looks, which makes it very fun to return to again and again.
I've also had several "Ok, I'll just go grab this item, then I'll save" evenings, and I'll discover a new path while I'm claiming that item, and then another item or cavern, and another item, and more monsters, etc... I should slap an addiction warning on this game. :P
There's also a Piklopedia and a Monster List which allows you to see all the neat junk you've picked up and all the enemies you've encountered. Once you collect a certain group of items (for example, all the breakfast food items) you'll get a "Sales Pitch" in addition to Olimar's Journal notes.
Just talking about it is making me want to go play it, but I can't, as I'm at work, and I have to work in the morning, too. >< Must... get... more... stuff...
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dungeoncavern system, so no two caverns are the same.I'd also need a GBA... :P