Review: Pikmin 3 Deluxe: a win for the little guy?
Our Verdict
Pikmin 3 Deluxe is another comprehensive re-release with a welcome multiplayer component, but it’s a shame Nintendo didn’t polish it to the fine sheen that it deserves
In the lush world of Nintendo properties, hulking titans such as Mario and Zelda thrive on attention. Over the last twenty years, Pikmin, a lovable but malnourished IP that always appears to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, has been skittering about their ankles. Nintendo has released all three of the major Pikmin titles on two of its least popular systems.
Arguably the most deserved of Nintendo's recent attempts to bring its amazing Wii U-era products back from oblivion is Pikmin 3 Deluxe. Considering that the majority of Switch customers may not have played Pikmin 3 before, it would be prudent to review the essentials.During the campaign of the game, you assume control of Charlie, Brittany, and Alph, three little extraterrestrial space travelers who are stuck on Earth. Life abounds on Planet PNF–404, including the enormous fruit they sorely miss from home. The enigmatic Pikmin, a plant-ant hybrid that you may almost hurl at any problem—be it food collection, battling, building, or demolition—assists in the harvesting process.These active beings are available in five distinct colors, each of which has a few useful traits of its own: Grey "rock" Pikmin can crush delicate barricades and enemy skulls; pink Pikmin can fly; blue Pikmin can swim; red Pikmin are excellent fighters and resistant to fire. Yellow Pikmin may be thrown higher and transmit electricity. You'll need to use your Pikmin resources to acquire new parts and food items across five expansive areas that are cleverly restricted by incomplete infrastructure and natural obstacles. Along with fighting the local wildlife, you'll also have to sneak up on them, take advantage of their weaknesses, and pull off the occasional strategic escape. In the end, Pikmin's daily activities resemble a truncated, magnified real-time strategy game. You have the ability to divide your troops into three distinct squads and switch between them as needed. In fact, you'll be forced to actively solve some of the problems you encounter. Pikmin 3 Deluxe is as captivating overall as it has ever been. Every day ends with a distinct feeling of building panic as you try to complete what you're doing and gather your forces before what seems like virtual dusk. Your Joy-Cons may sometimes feel a touch overwhelmed, and the game still requires a lot of control proficiency from you. For example, it's much too difficult to distinguish between different Pikmin kinds, and it's far too simple to unleash a devastating bomb blast during a close-quarters assault. Although we're happy to find that motion controls are still available compared to earlier versions, they seem a little clunky in the absence of the exact technology of the Wii controller. I quickly became used to the built-in analog controls and felt them to be sufficient, perhaps as a result of the enhanced lock-on feature. Pikmin 3 Deluxe's campaign is still a touch too simple on its basic Normal difficulty level, even after these early trials. Early on, you'll amass a huge excess of run-fueling juice, which begins to devalue the game's gooey money. Nintendo has updated Deluxe with an Ultra Spicy difficulty setting, but it's only available as an advanced Game+ option after you've played through most of the game's content.Other than that, this is a full bundle that comes with a little amount of brand-new content in addition to all of the DLC from the original game. The latter comes in the shape of 14 extra tasks that put you in the shoes of Louie, Captain Olimar's sidekick from the previous two Pikmin games. The promise of some insight into the actions of these two people throughout the campaign's events is alluring, but in reality, it's just an extension of the current DLC Missions, which are straightforward timed tasks that require players to fight as many opponents or gather as much fruit as they can. For those who have played the game before, the largest Deluxe feature could be the option to play the short campaign in two-player cooperative mode. Pikmin provides for an amazing multiplayer experience, as the Mission and competitive Bingo Battle modes already showed, and it's a delight to be able to play the whole game in split-screen mode at last. The shift hasn't been too well executed, however, with some unclear clone and body-swap scenes (particularly in the beginning), a shaky camera during monster fights, and a jumbled method for tossing your opponent. The Switch version's lack of further technical and aesthetic polish really upset me. Although the original game's visuals were undoubtedly the finest on the Wii U, it would have been good to see more of an improvement above its 720p/30fps original when docked. That is not in the slightest "Deluxe." Even though the portable version has even lower resolution graphics, the game is nonetheless surprisingly enjoyable. In terms of portability, Nintendo's initial choice to have the camera positioned very near to the heroes really pays off, and I ended myself playing a lot more of Pikmin 3 Deluxe on my handheld than I had anticipated. Another first-party Switch version that makes enough of an impact and gives an underappreciated classic a second chance at redemption is Pikmin 3 Deluxe. It's unfortunate that Nintendo didn't go over and above to give it the really glittering makeover that enthusiasts may have dreamed of. But, nothing truly compares to Pikmin for the many newbies out there.