New Play Control! Pikmin 2

Two months after releasing New Play Control! Pikmin in America, Nintendo is trying to scrape a few extra dollars by proposing New Play Control! Pikmin 2 which, as can be expected, benefiting also from a grip adapted to the Wiimote and Nunchuk. This is the main selling point of the Kyoto firm that could have been summarized in a few syllables. But since it is always interesting to visit the garden of Shigeru Miyamoto, we'll still devote a few sentences.

Like its predecessor, New Play Control! Pikmin 2 is primarily aimed for those who have not had the opportunity to play the original release on GameCube in 2004. Indeed, apart from the gameplay completely redesigned to stick to the Wiimote and Nunchuk, there is absolutely nothing new to see. It is therefore with good old Captain Olimar forced to return to the Pikmin planet to save Hocotate Freight from bankruptcy, the company that employs them. This time, it will not retrieve the different parts of his ship Dolphin who blows flames, but for hunting treasure boxes and refloat the company. Unlike the first episode, you will not only lead the Pikmin, as his colleague, Louie will help to explore every nook and cranny of the planet. If on paper this addition does not seem dramatic, it radically changes the life once on the ground. Indeed, this helping hand that allows two players to share the tasks involved for an army of Pikmins, Louie can arrange to dig new ones. Everyone can also control its own troops, allowing for greater efficiency but also and especially in speed when you know that dusk is always the worst enemy of small creatures. If red, blue and yellow Pikmins are still in the program, two new species are emerging. Now you can count on the white Pikmins insensitive poisons, and especially skilled to detect the treasures buried in the earth. The purple Pikmins, that are ten times heavier than classic Pikmins, but are also ten times bigger and do not hesitate to go into combat. Other small additions that we find in this new episode of the series are the sprays that allow not only increase fitness of its soldiers, but also to petrify his enemies. Since we must drag a few words on the grip tailored to the Wiimote and the Nunchuk, it also shows convincingly like New Play Control! Pikmin. The adaptation period is shorter logically, and it is a real treat to point the cursor on the screen to direct his troops. In terms of achievement, New Play Control! Pikmin 2 does not provide graphics in high definition of course, but still a pleasure to contemplate although a GameCube title. Some textures are flawed, but the animation of characters and their friends still perfect. Finally, this second album is a little more exotic than the first, with remote locations and a new expanded bestiary. A cocktail in the end.

Difficult to be disappointed by New Play Control! Pikmin 2 which contains the same ingredients as the original album, the Wiimote and Nunchuk as well. Again, the two appendices of the white lady by Nintendo are doing brilliantly, even if the risk was minimal for the developers of Kyoto, it must be acknowledged. Obviously, we find the mode that allows two players to play against one another or in cooperation, as another way to extend the experiment once the main adventure is completed. Finally, the only major criticism that could be that New Play Control! Pikmin 2 is only applicable to beginners who have not tasted his twin brother already available on GameCube. On the other hand, we should probably not expect much from a Wiimake.