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Editorials   New Cube Owners, Vol. 10
- By Lander Clinton

Since Nintendo recently sold in one weekend roughly the same number of GameCubes it sold at launch, I thought I'd do a little something for all the new Cube owners out there.

Everyday until I run out of ideas, forget, or am too busy playing a game, I'll update a GameCube game you must own and why you must own it.

Here goes:

Aren't you just a little curious about what's been growing in Shigeru Miyamoto's private garden all these years? The man obviously has an odd fascination with mushrooms. Well Nintendo is handing out search warrants with today's game, Pikmin.

Released in 2001, Pikmin stars Captain Olimar (O-Ri-Ma is Ma-Ri-O backwards in Japanese) as a spiffy spaceman who crashes on a strange world with a toxic oxygen atmosphere (that looks like someone's backyard). He's only got 30 days of breathable air, so he elists the help of friendly ant-like plants named Pikmin to reassemble his ship. The challenge comes from finding these pieces and getting them back to the ship.

Although not all pieces are necessary to take off, why should Capt. Olimar leave behind his new seat-massager? And some parts even Olimar doesn't know what they do, but he got them for a good price, and plus, they look cool, so try to get them all. Pikmin has a refreshing sense of humor like this. Too many games make every situation absolutely critical to the future of the world, while Pikmin has a relaxed attitude despite the game's harsh time-limits.

There's so much to see in this world that you'd like to spend all day exploring it, but each day lasts for only about 20 min. real time, with 30 days max. You're really forced to concentrate on fixing the ship instead of taking in the inherent beauty of the game. For Pikmin 2 the time-limits have been removed, but that's next year.

Pikmin has a farely forboding control scheme to beginners, and looking at the game makes it look like a complicated real-time-strategy game, but you will quickly learn how best to manage your pikmin. Even though you're giving orders to a giant army, Pikmin is more of a puzzle game. The puzzles are Zelda-style, but no blocks or switches. Everything feels more natural than that. The only problem with Pikmin is that it's short. You can do it in a weekend, and getting each piece is so memorable that a second play-through goes even faster.

I wouldn't have recommended this game for that reason as a new title, but as a Player's Choice or used game, you won't be disappointed. Go get it!