Game of the Week – Pikmin 3

2014 has been a great year for the Wii U, we have seen major releases like Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Brothers, Hyrule Warriors and if you live in America Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker (oh how I wish this was out in Australia). Overall 2014 has been a whole lot of fun and has offered us plenty of games and has begun to cement the Wii U as a console to own, not that anyone should doubt it the console has been great since launch. But still I think it is 2013 where some of the consoles best games came out and more importantly the best game of the console to date Pikmin 3.

Nintendo’s third installment in the Pikmin franchise was a long time coming, having waited through nine years just to come into fans hands we highly anticipated it and though at times we could say the wait dampened our experience with the game it was hard to deny just how good it truly was. Pikmin 3 offered new ideas that are better then past entries and even mixed key features of past games with new ones to create a fun and rich experience which was did best in being one of the most fun and strategic games around particularly on the Wii U.

The strongest part of the game was the refined story which far improved over Olimar’s journey, this time we had a point, we also had a problem in ensuring we continued to correctly plan our day and always remain one step ahead of ourselves collecting fruit and continuing to build our ever expanding Pikmin army. This was bettered thanks to the way Pikmin 3’s five Pikmin types had to be utilized, each had there own advantages and each also had their own disadvantages but it is hard to deny just how clever you had to be to utilize different types to ensure not a second was wasted.

This is part of what made Pikmin 3 my game of the year in 2013, it was fun, it was clever and it constantly made you think about how best to utilize your team in order to achieve maximum potential and do a good job. But it wasn’t just the odd jobs of collecting fruit and building your army of tiny warriors that acted as the draw in to this game, it was also the bosses, this is one thing Pikmin 1 and 2 lacked, they didn’t include a deserved element of progression and I thought this was the most clever way to finish an area, it was about using your team of Pikmin to counter enemy weaknesses and try to beat your enemy using your skills and quick thinking. Sure it was heartbreaking losing Pikmin as you learn but it made you do better to win and actually keep thinking how to counter your opponent, each boss was satisfying and always provided a decent challenge that made me happy everytime.

Th e game has done a great service for the Wii U and the Gamepad addition with the console helps to really define the strategy of the game and make it easier to plan out your move or move your team. With a wide map and mostly simple controls the Gamepad provides a great control system for the game that helps to make it more fun and continue to enrich the experience.

Pikmin 3 is one of the Wii U’s best games and it is also very clever, that is why it is my game of the week. If you ever get a chance you must play this game, it is worth your time and is a definite must have for the Wii U. They now just need a Pikmin 4, come on Nintendo you know you want to.

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