Referred to as an "inventive life simulation", Pikmin is an action-strategy game featuring incredibly life-like environments inspired by Mr. Miyamoto's own garden in Kyoto, Japan. Players control a spaceman named Captain Olimar who has crash-landed on an unusual planet. The goal of the game is to help Olimar collect his vessel's lost parts,which have been scattered all over the planet.

Luckily for Captain Olimar, the planet is inhabited by strange little creatures called Pikmin. Pikmin are plant-like life forms that come in three different colors: red,yellow, and blue. Each type of Pikmin has unique strengths which Olimar must use to his advantage. Red Pikmin can withstand fire, blue Pikmin can survive water, while yellow Pikmin can fly higher and destroy obstacles by using bomb-rocks. Players can control the Pikmin sprouts individually in groups, or in one large Pikmin posse of 100 creatures.

Unlike most strategy games, the basic controls in Pikmin are very simple. Mr. Miyamoto has maid excellent use of the new GameCube Controller. The main Control Stick controls Captain Olimar, while the C-Stick controls the swarming mass of Pikmin. While you're moving Olimar in one direction, you're free to move the Pikmin in any direction you'd like. Simple one-button action commands are used to control your Pikmin.

Gameplay challenges include defeating enemies, solving puzzles, and ultimately collecting all of the spaceship parts before Olimar's life support system runs out. Captain Olimar has a limited number of days to explore the planet's wide range of environments. Each day is monitered by a continually moving sun meter at the top of the screen. You have to make sure to complete your tasks and gather your stray Pikmin before the sun goes down, or they'll fall prey to the planet's nocternal natural predaters.

To produce new Pikmin, you must defeat enemies and carry them to the Pikmin nests, called onions. If you want blue Pikmin, you take fallen enemies and food to the blue base, and so on, so forth. Once you get the hang of it, it's not difficult to keep a healthy stock of Pikmin in reserve. You can have up to 100 Pikmin out at the same time, but you can store as many as you'd like in the onions.

In addition to the different colors of Pikmin, each different Pikmin can be grown into three different forms: leaves, buds, and flowers. Pikmin begin their lives as leaves, but they mature into buds and flowers if you leave them in the ground after sprouting.

Accomplishing goals in Pikmin isn't all about hauling items from point A to point B. Pikmin sprouts can also be directed to perform other tasks such as building bridges, destroying walls, carrying bombs, and--of course--fighting.

Directing Pikmin to battle other creatures is one of the most entertaining aspects of the game. The natural enemies are generally many times larger than the Pikmin, so they have to attack in large numbers to be successful. We learned that it's best to attack most enemies from behind. Otherwise, you'll be serving up a Pikmin buffet that is both horrible and hilarious to watch.

The overall artistic direction in Pikmin is what makes it so appealing. A trance-like soundtrack establishes the mood, while Pikmin are blended in a surreal fashion with an otherwise realistic world. These details make Pikmin instantly endearing, but don't make the mistake of thinking that this game is simple. Even the most expierienced gamer will likely do a lot of head-scratching while trying to solve the game's puzzles and defeat fierce bosses.

Pikmin is a totally new type of game which you have to play for yourself to appreciat. Its fresh approach and imaginative presentation makes it one of the most refreshing games we've expierienced in a long while.

Game progress is save to a Nintendo GameCube Memory Card 59(19 free blocks requierd)