Game Details Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Platform: Wii U

Release Date: August 4, 2013

Price: $59.99

Links: Official website | Amazon Nintendo: Nintendo: Wii UAugust 4, 2013: $59.99

When Nintendo first revealed the Wii U during E3 2011, the long-awaited third game in the Pikmin series was one of the first games promised for the system. Last year, when the company announced the initial software lineup for the then-upcoming console, Pikmin 3 was supposed to be one of the major first-party "launch window" titles to closely follow the likes of New Super Mario Bros. U in an attempt to convince people to buy the system.

Now, just over five months after that "launch window" officially came to a close and almost nine years since Pikmin 2 first graced the Nintendo Gamecube, Pikmin 3 has finally been released in North America. While the game is a fine example of Nintendo's unrepentantly joy-filled game design, a number of flaws keep it from being the kind of system-seller the Wii U desperately needs right now.

Pikmin 3 introduces three new protagonists that don't even share a home planet with the familiar Captain Olimar and Louie of previous Pikmin games. Unlike that treasure-seeking duo, Alph, Brittany, and Charlie are on an interstellar mission to find food to nourish their dying planet. A crash landing splits up the explorers, and Alph has to use the plant-like Pikmin to find his travelling companions, the key to the busted spaceship, and the giant, life-giving fruit they were searching for in the first place.

If you're familiar with the first two Pikmin games, you know the light real-time-strategy-meets-action-brawler-Metroid-style-exploration on offer here. The tiny Pikmin that follow your character in a miniature horde can be thrown around as a bit of directed force at a wide array of bug-like enemies. The Pikmin can then pick up those enemy carcasses and drag them back to their onion-like pods to create even more Pikmin seeds, replacing defeated troops and multiplying your force and abilities. At various points, you'll send your Pikmin in to break down barriers, build bridges out of broken flower pots, dig up buried items, and perform other assorted chores.

Selecting and guiding a set of up to 100 different Pikmin at once is a job that's crying out for the fine-tuned control of a mouse and keyboard. Nintendo does the best it can with the Wii U's control options, but each one runs into its fair share of problems. When using the system's touchscreen-equipped GamePad, the left analog stick is used both for movement and directing the touchy targeting reticle, which determines where thrown Pikmin will land. During the slower portions of the game, this is merely annoying, requiring you to stop and nudge the stick gently in order to change your target without also moving your carefully positioned character. It's downright frustrating, though, during action sequences, when you often have to quickly run in one direction and then stop in place and try to gently nudge the reticle in another. Some sort of dual-stick control seems like an obvious way to remedy this situation, but the right analog stick is wasted on mere camera control.

Things are slightly better when using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as a secondary control option. In this case, you run with the analog stick and aim by pointing the Remote at the screen, allowing for movement in one direction and Pikmin attacks in another with relative ease. Unfortunately, this control mode makes it awkward to also use the mini-map and touchscreen options shown exclusively on the GamePad rather than on the TV itself. While playing with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, I had to prop the GamePad awkwardly on its stand on the coffee table in front of me and put down the controller often to reach over and manipulate the screen. The lack of buttons on the Wii Remote also means this control scheme is missing the handy "dismiss" function that arranges your Pikmin into tight little segregated groups for easy selection.

In either control scheme, gathering up your Pikmin often feels like a chore. When the little buggers get shaken off by an enemy, for instance, you have to frantically aim your reticle and whistle them back to your position to reactivate them. Invariably, a few Pikmin will get lost in this process and simply stand around uselessly until you notice and manage to scoop them back up into your group. In general, the Pikmin show very little autonomy and require a good deal of micromanagement to keep them productively on task and safe from enemy attacks.

Pikmin 3 brings back the fire-resistant red Pikmin, water-resistant blue Pikmin, and electricity-conducting yellow Pikmin for another round, letting you switch between the groups with a quick button tap. It also adds two new varieties to the mix: hard-headed rock Pikmin that are strong but slow and weak, hovering winged Pikmin that can cross long gaps and lift things high above the ground. The new Pikmin types add more variety to the challenges on hand, but for the most part the puzzles quickly break down to seeing a familiar situation and then selecting the appropriate type as needed. You'll also run into plenty of situations where you see a new type of challenge and say to yourself, "Oh, I'm sure I'll find the right kind of Pikmin to deal with that later."

The game also goes beyond its predecessors with its ability to switch control between your three different protagonists, each of which can control their own group of Pikmin. For the most part, this is used as a simple puzzle mechanic—simply throw a companion and a selection of Pikmin to an out-of-the-way area you can't reach yourself, then have that group go explore on its own until it can build some sort of bridge or ramp to allow the two groups to meet up again.

Nintendo also tries to combine this feature with the Wii U GamePad to enable a bit of single-player multitasking. At any point, you can tap on the GamePad screen to pause the action and direct one Pikmin group to a known point on the map while you continue to directly control another. It's a great system in theory, but in practice the group you're not watching will often end up getting stuck or attacked by enemies while you're not looking. There's no option to automatically direct a separated team to do more complicated tasks, either, so you're forced to constantly switch back and forth and offer new commands in order to make efficient use of this feature.

This multitasking is an apparent effort to help with the crushing pressure put on players by a strict timing system based on a day-night cycle. As in previous Pikmin games, you can only control Pikmin for roughly 15-minute stretches when the sun is out. As the in-game day comes to an end, a large countdown appears, telling you to stop what you're doing to gather up your Pikmin so they can hide in their ship for the night and so you can drink a glass of juice derived from the fruit collected on the planet's surface.

The idea, I suppose, is to add some tension to what would otherwise be a lazy bit of gentle and carefree exploration (not that this would be such a bad thing), but it can lead to some weird situations. Multiple times, I had a day end while I was in the middle of a tense battle with a giant, time-consuming boss. While I could easily continue the battle the next day, having to stop in my tracks and collect my Pikmin was jarring to say the least. In general, being forced to halt your progress and restart from a central location every few minutes does quite a number on the game's pacing.

If I sound like I'm nitpicking about these design decisions, it's only because they get in the way of what could have been a very enjoyable game. The environments continue the Pikmin tradition of beautiful, post-apocalyptic beauty and grand scale, and they look even better now that they're in HD. Finding all the hidden nooks and crannies of each well-designed map requires some decent puzzle-solving logic, but it never gets overly frustrating. When the pacing and control issues don't get in the way, it can be a joy just wandering these tiny worlds with your Pikmin in tow, alternating between relaxing exploration and tense battles with inventive, giant creatures.

It's a shame, then, that the technical problems get in the way of that enjoyment so often. As it stands, Pikmin 3 is a game worth checking out if you already have a Wii U, but it's not the game that will convince you to run out and buy Nintendo's latest system.

The Good

Wonderfully designed environments rendered beautifully in HD

Puzzles that toe the line between uninteresting and frustrating

Pikmin are still incredibly cute

The Bad

Two control options, and neither one is completely satisfying

Herding Pikmin is like herding cats

Day-night cycle absolutely ruins any sense of pacing

The Ugly

Watching a Pikmin struggle and die because of an errant throw you made. RIP, little guy!

Verdict: Try It