What would real-life Pikmin look like? Creepy...
This comes four years after the game was released in other territories, including Europe and Japan. However America had to go without the game, and it was assumed that it would never hit American shores… Thankfully, Nintendo has seen the light!
Part of the reason why Pikmin 2 Wii was never released here was due to the fact that the game was full of licensed objects, and Nintendo would have to re-obtain the right to use those objects in order to release the game in the U.S., either that or change the objects to remove any sign of them being licensed. Which one of these became the eventual reality is unknown for now, but we’ll find out soon when Pikmin 2 Wii finally launches. I’ll update this piece when we get an exact day for the release date.
In Pikmin 2 command an army of insects to collect treasures as Olimar or Louie.
Like with the other games in the New Play Control series, Pikmin 2 has been upgraded with new controls that make use of the Wii Pointer to play the game, meaning you can simply point and click to throw Pikmin and select your flower-insect army, making the game much easier to control.
A few other additions may have been added as well. The original Pikmin 1: New Play Control featured the added ability to go back and replay each level you’ve completed to shoot for a higher score; a feature absent from the original GameCube version. So that feature likely returns in New Play Control: Pikmin 2. Hopefully Nintendo will include a few other additions or extras as a thank you for American gamers who had to wait so long for the US release of Pikmin 2 Wii.
In the game players command an army of unique “Pikmin” creatures, which look like a cross between an ant and a plant. They grow in several stages and become stronger as they grow (bud and flower versions, with the latter being the strongest), and come in a variety of types. Each Pikmin type has different properties: Blue Pikmin don’t drown in water, Red Pikmin resist fire and Yellow Pikmin float farther, can be thrown higher and can pick up “Bomb Flowers”. Two new variaties of Pikmin, Purple Pikmin and White Pikmin, are added to the roster in Pikmin 2.
Pikmin 2 also added a new character, Louie, as well as Captain Olimar from the original. Like in the first game, the goal in Pikmin 2 is to amass an army of Pikmin, use your army to swarm and defeat enemies, take the pellets they leave behind back to your “Pikmin Onion” spaceships to blossom more Pikmin (the Onion shoots out seeds from Pikmin pellets that plant into the ground, then grow into Pikmin) and eventually find certain objects and trinkets that must be carried back to your base to accomplish your objective. Pikmin 2 also introduced an all-new two-player battle multiplayer mode. One would hope Nintendo would make the multiplayer mode online-enabled for this Pikmin 2: New Play Control U.S. release, but that’s highly doubtful.
Here’s a look at the European version of New Play Control: Pikmin 2.
It’s good to know that American Wii owners are finally getting this game! I was a big fan of the original Pikmin and had a great time replaying it for Wii, and enjoyed it a lot as you can read in my VideoGamesBlogger Pikmin 2: New Play Control review… but the game I REALLY wanted and couldn’t wait to release was Pikmin 2: New Play Control, because I never got around to playing the GameCube version and always wanted it.
So I’m glad Pikmin 2 for Wii is finally headed our way. Although it has been a long and excruciating wait for Wii owners who really were anticipating it’s re-release, I think “better late than never” is a good fit here. After all, Pikmin 2 is said to be an excellent game, so at least we ARE getting it.
At this point you can tell Nintendo is simply desperate and grasping at straws for new releases to tide people over until the release of Wii U this holiday (Wii U is Nintendo’s all-new system, the follow-up to the Wii that will replace that current-gen system with a next-gen console. One that features an iPad-like tablet controller with its own screen, and graphics that rival that of the Xbox 360 & PS3).
In fact Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo mastermind who created Pikmin, and also the creator of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, F-Zero, Wii Sports, Wii Fit and many more) has already announced that Pikmin 3 WILL finally be revealed at E3 2012 in June for Wii U… so Pikmin 3’s unveiling was likely an instrumental reason why Nintendo decided to revisit Pikmin 2: New Play Control and finally release it in America… Hoping it will help to drum up support and excitement for Pikmin 3. Also Pikmin 2 for GameCube has become a hard to find and pricey game, so re-releasing Pikmin 2 Wii will make it much easier for people to play both games in the series.
Here is a funny commercial for the GameCube version of Pikmin 2 from 2004.
Hopefully the new release of Pikmin 2 Wii bodes well that Nintendo will find ANOTHER game to fill in the intervening months between now and Wii U’s (likely) November release… and hopefully they will do so by releasing New Play Control: Chibi-Robo Wii in the West as well! That game was exclusive to Japan, and never released in America or anywhere else… Even though the original GameCube version of Chibi-Robo is a cult classic that deserves to be revisited.
I actually own the GCN version… I should bust it out and play it.
Other games in the New Play Control series previously released included: New Play Control Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (2009), New Play Control Pikmin 1 (2009), New Play Control Mario Power Tennis (2009), New Play Control Chibi-Robo (Japan-only) and New Play Control Metroid Prime 1 & New Play Control Metroid Prime 2, which were bundled together and released in America and Europe as “Metroid Prime Trilogy”.
Here is a scan of the Nintendo Power article that revealed Pikmin 2 Wii’s American release date.
Pikmin 2 Wii is coming to the U.S. in June according to Nintendo Power.