Developer Arzest, previously known as Artoon, doesn't exactly have many hits behind their
name.
While they did work on titles like Wii Play: Motion
and the StreetPass Mii Plaza, their own developed games
have lacked in major key areas.
The prime example in recent times would be Yoshi's New Island, a
game that only delivered on nailing the green dinosaur's mechanics.
The levels felt flat, the music was uninspiring and nothing was truly done to
make it unique.
Because of that pedigree, I wasn't sure if I
could go into Hey!
Pikmin with an open mind.
Sure, the stage was set for something unique, but I wasn't
comfortable without a strong leash from Nintendo.
Surpringly, it seemed that the company agreed.
Hey!
Pikmin might be the developer's best game by a long shot.
If you are expecting a big plot out of Hey!
Pikmin, you are coming in with the wrong idea.
We see Captain Olimar traveling through the galaxy,
but before he gets the chance to make his way home,
asteroids cause him to make an abrupt landing on a nearby planet.
Sparklium, the fuel for his Dolphin III ship, has suddenly been depleted and Olimar
is stuck until he can find more.
It is up to you to bring Captain Olimar home by completing 2D action
stages and collecting everything that can make him fuel.
This ranges from seeds to large scale treasures, which have always been a staple of the Pikmin
series.
Your goal in Hey!
Pikmin is to get 30,000 Sparklium, which seems a lot at first glance.
Luckily, Sparklium is earned everywhere and any player paying
attention will find ways to rank up points fast.
Younger players will have plenty of time to get the
goal together, while more wintered players will make it before
reaching the end of the line.
Even then, you are required to find a lost ship part at the end of the game,
so there is no real rush.
That is also the best way to describe the game.
Unlike the regular Pikmin games, levels are more linear and puzzle based.
They give you specific goals and goodies to shoot for,
which is good for unwinding on your Nintendo 3DS.
The controls compliment this thought perfectly.
You move Captain Olimar with the Circle Pad, while all
other interaction uses the touchscreen.
This can be blowing your whistle, throwing Pikmin or even
touching certain objects.
All in all, it is pretty straightforward while walking on land or in the air.
You move about, all while cleverly picking up all that
you can find.
It doesn't take long to get the hang of what you're
doing and I found it quite fun to toy around with.
It never becomes too challenging or head smashingly frustrating, which is one of the great things
I like about it.
You play a couple of levels, have a good time and go do something else.
The game does overstay its welcome a little, but I only found this a particular
problem at the end of the journey.
Hey!
Pikmin is filled to brim with secret levels, treasures and additional
ways to earn Sparklium that it can be a little too much.
The real estate of the Nintendo 3DS benefits the gameplay to the fullest.
It gives you a great perspective, allowing you to throw Pikmin at higher locations.
This can be useful with the Yellow and Winged Pikmin
variations.
The Yellow Pikmin can easily reach the upper screen, which is beneficial for goodies or
pulling down vines.
The critters are also resistant against electricity.
This ability is also used in a grand number of ways.
There is, for example, a level where you use these Pikmin as a source to connect two
wires.
The Winged Pikmin, introduced in Pikmin 3, can be flung at high speeds.
It will make destroying incoming enemies an absolute snap.
Next to this, the cute fellows will pick up Olimar and help descent
down into new areas.
There are more Pikmin types that come into play here.
With the Red Pikmin, you get friends that are
resistive to fire and enemies of that ilk.
In one of the later worlds, the Reds will need to stomp out fire and
clear the way for you.
Similar things can be said about the Rock Pikmin, which are basically known for
two things.
They are the strongest ones of the bunch and can break crystals all across the stages.
The Pikmin type that are showcased the least are the Blue Pikmin.
The Blues are the best known for
surviving water and being able to swim.
While they are great fighters beneath the sea, their moving
patterns don't really benefit these stages.
In short sections, this is something you can tolerate.
Once you move 20 Blues all at the same time, you need
to spam your whistle to constantly keep them together.
Luckily, there are only handful of stages that make use of the Blue Pikmin, so your
mind never fully goes into insanity territory.
That being said, they are the part I had the least amount of fun with in Hey!
Pikmin.
As you move along the bushes and blow your whistle, you are always given the correct
Pikmin for the task.
Hey!
Pikmin gives you puzzle pieces to work with and it is your task to be careful with them.
One misstep and an ally will say its dear life
farewell.
Where the loss of one Pikmin in previous games wasn't
all that heart wrenching, here it can mean the difference of clearing a puzzle.
In one of the stages I encountered, I got four Yellow Pikmin right
from the start.
Mere moments into the stage, I sadly lost one
of them, which I didn't think was a big deal.
Less than a minute later, I got access to a treasure that (you
guessed it) needed four Yellow Pikmin to grab.
It are moments like these that made me learn to play considerate.
Once again, the game doesn't force you take everything hasty and you should take
this approach to heart.
The Pikmin carry everything to Captain Olimar directly this time around,
which can cause for alarming situations.
Your Pikmin are always a target when you are letting them
do your dirty work, so keeping a close eye is the best thing
you can do.
You need to be careful yourself as well.
If you overshoot a Pikmin and it touches an opponent, the Pikmin will be defeated on the
spot.
As a result, I found myself replaying stages until I got
them down and collected all the treasure.
Considering the paths that you need to find, it became a chill
way to see the game through to the end.
As far as the presentation of Hey!
Pikmin is concerned, I am honestly impressed.
The backgrounds are nice to look at, but I do wish there were
more going on.
That being said, everything happening on the foreground perfectly fits the Nintendo 3DS.
The characters and set pieces look sharp on the system and
bring a lot of color to the side scrolling stages.
If you are looking for 3D effects however, you are out of
luck, Hey!
Pikmin doesn't support them.
The music is equally good.
There is a lot of atmosphere that goes along with it, which the composer has
absolutely nailed.
It breathes Pikmin and offers additional character to the worlds.
I have heard that there is slowdown on regular Nintendo 3DS units, which is
saddening.
Hey!
Pikmin doesn't seem like a game that should struggle with older versions, but on New
3DS, it ran like a charm.
Another part of the presentation is the pure charm present in the game.
If you want the game to instantly put a smile on your face, you owe it yourself
to read the logs.
From enemy entries to treasure, Captain Olimar gives insight on what kind of purpose
they serve.
What helps is that the names for everything are
hilarious.
One of the treasures you will find is an NES cartridge for Ice Climbers, which carries
the name ''Revenge Fantasy''.
Even the amiibo statues that you capture get their Olimar takes as well.
Another way that Hey!
Pikmin brings the charm are with little scenes in the levels.
As you go along, the Pikmin will play around or pop up in unique ways.
I don't want to spoil too many of those, but there are a lot of
them to see.
Hey!
Pikmin was a much better game than I was anticipating.
The flow of the levels is solid and it simply relaxes me while I play.
While there are some annoyances like the underwater levels, there is nothing
here that spoke to me as being game breaking.
I flew through the sectors at hand, mainly due to their
variety and unique level gimmicks.
Because of this, I am rewarding the game with a Like A Lot.
It was so fun to just pick up Hey!
Pikmin, play a few stages and move on to something else.
The title was the perfect way to kick back, relax and let
the Pikmin entertain me in adorable ways.
With plenty of charm and intriguing goals to shoot for, Hey!
Pikmin delivers something that can only be made on the
Nintendo 3DS.
I have no idea who inspired you Arzest, but keep it up!