Pikmin (video game)

Pikmin (ピクミン, pikumin) is a strategic video game released on the GameCube in 2001. It was created by Shigeru Miyamoto who claims he was influenced by gardening - a hobby he had recently been interested in. The game has the star character, Captain Olimar, crash landing on an unknown planet (seemingly Earth). 30 of the parts of his ship had scattered across the land, and all seems hopeless as his energy tank alerts him that he only has 30 days left. Upon traversing this unexplored world he comes across an odd creature who alone is worthless. Quickly it spawns more through through its Onion, and out popped more of these creatures which Olimar called Pikmin due to their similarity to Pik Pik carrots. As an army, however, they are a powerful force to be reckoned with. They are able to plow through hordes of opposing forces and lift increasingly heavy objects, such as the ever important parts of Olimar's ship. With the help of these newly discovered creatures Olimar manages to fix his ship and fly back to his planet.

Gameplay
In the game, the player controls Captain Olimar. He's a plucky character who controls an entire army of Pikmin. Pikmin are creatures that can be plucked from the ground. After being plucked they'll follow whomever rooted them, commanding their every order. In all there are three types of Pikmin.

The red ones won't be engulfed in flames and thus can withstand locales overpowered by fire. They're also the strongest of the bunch. Blue ones are appropriately adapted to water and won't drown like the other two will. Their ability is required while taking on areas with an abundance of water and water based enemies. Yellow ones are highly agile and can be thrown much farther and higher than any other color. Another special ability they possess is being able to wield bomb rocks, which are required in taking down specific types of rocks and are equally as powerful against dangerous enemies. Be sure to call the yellow ones back after you've tossed them with a bomb rock in hand, however, as they're not capable of withstanding the ensuing blast. In all, the player can have a total of 100 Pikmin out at one time. It is not required to have a certain amount of one color.

Pikmin can be reproduced by causing other Pikmin to send downed enemies and pellets to the onions. The Pikmin will send the object to their similarly colored object. If its a group, the color with the most dominant amount of Pikmin will send it to their onion. After they've been sucked into the onion, Pikmin seeds will be ejected from the top of the onion and then planted. Within a few seconds the top will pop out, and can then be pulled and added to your army. If the army is already at its full capacity, then they'll stay in the onion for another time. The amount of seeds that shoot out depend on what is sent into the onion.

With your army you can control them by using the c-stick. This will also command them to perform specific tasks such as picking up objects and attacking an enemy. For the latter it is suggested that you actually toss the Pikmin onto the backs of the enemies, preferably a surprise attack. Pikmin will inevitably die - more can always be generated however, and as emotional as it may be the player is required to keep on fighting as not to loose more Pikmin. The death of a Pikmin can be observed when a specific, distinguishable sound is made which is subsequently followed by the spirit being released, signified by a ghost-like figure.