PIKMIN
When Nintendo approaches a genre, they usually do so in an entirely unique and interesting way that’s unlike anything else on the market- as is evidenced by the numerous Nintendo games we’ve spoken about in this feature. This holds true for Pikmin too. Real time strategy games have a defined template, and there have been few deviations from that. Pikmin not only deviates – and deviates a lot, at that – but it also does so while successfully making a real time strategy concept work on console, which very few other developers have been able to manage to date. With an incredibly simple but flexible control scheme, and gameplay mechanics communicated to players visually and intuitively, Pikmin presents players with a take on the RTS genre never seen before, blending in unique objectives, the pressure of real time limits, a unique setting and aesthetic, and throwing in elements from action adventure and puzzle games to boot. Nothing else plays like Pikmin. Perhaps that is the reason the series continues to have an enduring fan base in spite of its relative lack of mainstream success next to Nintendo’s other heavy hitting franchises.
