Dear Readers,
Another 3DS demo that game out this week is Hey! Pikmin. Very very different to the other Pikmin games. This time it's a 2D puzzle platformer.
"The Circle Pad and Touch Screen are used to play this game" is the message I get on startup... Hm...
No 3D feature either.
First I try the "Intro & Tutorial". It plays out another Captain Olimar crash landing story and dialogue is brought about by a part of the ship with a propellor and a bullhorn.
The "Hey!" in the title comes from the "Hey!" Captain Olimar says when you tap the whistle icon. At least we have an explanation :)
So on this planet I have to harvest "Sparklium", about 30,000 units of the stuff and the Pikmin will help. In the tutorial, I only need to tap where I want to throw Pikmin, so that's good.
Next I try "1-A: First Expedition". Some more stuff is introduced like assembling steps, fighting enemies and collecting treasures worth a lot of Sparklium. A ring called "Loop of Beginnings" earned me 100 Sparklium, so that's nice :)
Uh... the frame rate in this game isn't the best... Some seeds and Pikmin came flying in and I had to throw to knock them down. The animation was slightly jittery.
The jitteriness continued as I gained more Pikmin and more stuff came on screen. Yikes. Now I see why this game didn't have the 3D feature.
I learn to use my jet pack which allows me to hover a little bit. That's kinda nice. Found a "Hypno Pendulum" or a yo-yo for another 100 Sparklium in a little cave.
It's quite satisfying to see the Pikmin carry stuff around :) I got a "Song Sewer" or harmonica worth 400 Sparklium.
Fighting those fat yellow beaky things is fun. At one point I had to balance between using Pikmin to knock down a shovel on one side and attacking respawning fat yellow beaky things on the other side.
Next I try "3-A: Crystal Tunnels". I burrow my way in by breaking weak blocks with red Pikmin. Then after a while I come across an enemy with a tough exterior and this cave full of hard crystal. After some time I meet new rock Pikmin, who are able to shatter crystal and plow through several of the weaker blocks at once. That part's pretty cool.
The red Pikmin come out of bushes, the rock Pikmin come out from behind a rock. Interesting! There's no Pikmin farming or whatever, so if you need more then just whistle around a rock or bush. It's kinda like egg boxes in Yoshi games.
I find that tough shelled enemy and break its shell with the rock Pikmin before beating it up with the others.
After a while I find a "Grown-Up Cell" or a big C battery worth 200 Sparklium.
Then I find a Zelda: Link's Awakening DX cartridge! The problem is though I broke the blocks so I can't climb up there or throw Pikmin up to reach it either! Arrgh! I'll have to start the level again!
After another while I find a "Snack Vault" or a tin of food worth 200 Sparklium. For a while I thought I had to stun the spiky enemies to make a bridge for the rock Pikmin. Thankfully I don't! I was able to just hover over there.
Shortly after this I reach the end of the stage. I have to go back though to collect that Link's Awakening DX cartridge!
Those tiny enemies can be tricky. If you miss them they can gobble up the Pikmin you throw at them.
So I go through the whole level again from the beginning and get the Link's Awakening DX cartridge and the game calls it "Attention-Getting Logo" and it's worth only 200 Sparklium. That's really weird. Game cartridges are only regarded as logos now? If this is Olimar classifying it as so, then he's a complete moron. I don't care if he's from another planet.
This time I go through to the other exit from this level and it says it's located some Sparklium in a hidden area. I guess this means I'll have to replay levels anyway in the full game to complete it 100%. It wasn't much of a secret. Just had to take the other way on a fork in the path the second time round.
As for the music, it's fine at least.
The touch controls ended up being just tapping which is fine. I'm okay with tapping but I don't like screen scrawling.
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