[Review] Pikmin 3 Deluxe: Return to the Distant Planet like never before

I will fully admit that I bought a Wii U just for Pikmin 3. Yes, the HD Zelda remakes, Super Mario Maker, and Nintendo Land games were a good reason to keep it around for a while, but I’ve been a diehard Pikmin fan for years and its third installment was honestly the only reason I kept my Wii U hooked up. With the re-release of a deluxe port for the game on Switch, I finally parted ways with my dusty Wii U and was eager to replay the fun adventure with a few new twists!

For this review, I will be exploring the game as a whole as well as comparing it to the original game, Pikmin 3. There are no spoilers in this review aside from explaining a few mechanics and modes that are included during the progression of the story mode.

Stranded once more: The story

If you’ve played Pikmin 3, you know the story. Actually, if you’ve played any of the previous Pikmin games, you know the story. Three new heroes are once again stranded on the Distant Planet, dubbed in this game by the inhabitants of planet Koppai as PNF-404. Captain Charlie and his crew, Brittany and Alph, have been sent on a mission to seek out food supplies for their struggling planet. However, they end up crash landing on PNF-404, leaving them with a damaged ship, missing components, and being separated from one another.

Their goal is to scavenge for food to survive, find one another, and escape this savage planet with the help of the creatures they discovered called Pikmin. However, they’re not alone. It seems a suspicious “Captain Olimar” is also wandering around on his own adventures in search of treasure to save his company from going into debt –again.

The original Pikmin 3 focused solely on the three new adventurers in their journey with Olimar and Louie only taking part in extra games instead of the main plot, but this time around you can take a break from the main story to help Olimar search for treasures in his own little side quests. The gameplay of these modes is slightly different and doesn’t add too much to the lore, but it’s still fun to see what Olimar and company are up to while Charlie’s crew is wandering about trying to find him. 

Keeping your men in line: The gameplay

The gameplay of Pikmin 3 is very much like the first and second game with only a few differences. I’ll break down the mechanics for anyone who isn’t familiar with the game, and I have to say that Pikmin 3 Deluxe does a very good job introducing newcomers to these Pikmin standard controls and adapts to the Switch controller almost flawlessly.

As always, you move around, throw Pikmin at items and enemies by aiming and pressing A, charge attack with X, and round up your stray Pikmin by calling them with your whistle by pressing B. Simple enough, right? Those are the main controls for most of the game, occasionally having a few more optional controls in such as the rolling dodge. They’ve even included a lock-in feature that works much like Z-Targeting in Zelda to help you throw your Pikmin with precision.

Charging was something I always found most helpful when you have a large group of Pikmin in your company. Pikmin 2 is my favorite of the series as well as the game I played most, so it was odd for me to adjust myself to how the charge attack works in this new installment. Instead of making your Pikmin line up and swarm whatever direction you point them in, in Pikmin 3 Deluxe they full-on charge straight ahead. Not only that, but only one color group will charge at a time, so if you have all five Pikmin types and want them all swarming a foe, you have to hit the charge attack button five times. This might initially seem like a problem, but it is actually super helpful for when you want a certain type of Pikmin to charge at a specific enemy or obstacle. Just be careful not to charge your non-blue Pikmin into water on accident. Again, I’ve lost too many Pikmin that way.

The “Disband” feature is also still included by pressing Y, though it’s also paired with the “Switch Captain” and “Use Item” features, which you will need to use the D-pad to select. Much like the charge attack, disbanding your Pikmin will detach them from your group so they will no longer follow you, but it disbands all but one type of color Pikmin instead of all of them. In my opinion, this is a little tedious, as unless you just happen to end up with the color you were looking for, you have to disband twice to get rid of your entire party.

If anyone was wondering, there is no difference between which captain you decide to spend most of your time using. The purpose of switching captains is simple for puzzle-solving and exploring areas you wouldn’t able to reach without teamwork. This installment in the series allows you to throw your fellow captains to venture into those hard-to-reach places. 

Pikology: Pikmin variety of 3 Deluxe

Pikmin 3 introduced two new types of Pikmin: The Rock Pikmin and the Flying (or Pink) Pikmin. The Rock Pikmin with their hardened bodies are able to smash through crystal and glass and have more resistance to being trampled by foes. Flying Pikmin are able to, well, fly. They can reach areas inaccessible by foot as well as lift obstacles up and out of the way.

Then there are your classic Blue, Red, and Yellow. These fellows are pretty easy to guess their abilities if you don’t know them already. The Red Pikmin are fire-resistant, being able to take on enemies that emit flames without getting singed. What I also recently learned from Pikmin 3’s helpful data file tips is that they are also the best fighters. Yellow Pikmin — my personal favorite — are resistant to electricity, being able to not only withstand electrical attacks but also conduct electricity through their bodies and power up certain devices. They can also be thrown higher than any other Pikmin, being able to gain access to out of reach locations. In previous games, they used to be the only Pikmin able to wield bomb rocks, but in this game, all Pikmin are able to pick them up, so that is no longer a concern. Finally, Blue Pikmin have gills that allow them to breathe in water. That’s about it, but trust me when I say that this is a truly useful ability: All other Pikmin will drown. Trust me on that.

Oh, did I mention that Pikmin die? A lot. Even though Pikmin are “pwecious” and it looks like a happy-go-lucky game, it involves a lot of risk, strategy, and battling that may get your Pikmin killed. You are able to take up to 100 Pikmin with you at a time while the rest reside in their Onion spacecraft. Don’t fret, though, you can multiply them with ease. Find those cute Pellet Posey’s or take the carcass of your fallen enemies and have the Pikmin bring them back to their ship to grow more Pikmin sprouts. 

If you’ve played Pikmin 2, you’ll likely wonder where the Purple and White Pikmin have gone. I asked that very same question. They do return in Mission Mode and Bingo Battle, but not in the mainline story, which, as a fan of the second game, is disappointing (especially given that things that the White Pikmin were superior at, such as digging, are still included in this game), but I am gracious they are still included in some regard. 

Captain Olimar’s Log: New additions

So what’s the difference between Pikmin 3 and Pikmin 3 Deluxe? Well, Nintendo did add new things to the game, mainly the sidequests in which you play as Olimar and Louie to collect treasures. The story mode seems to be mostly unchanged, the only thing that stood out to me was the increased amount of tutorial and assistant tools. 

I’ve been playing Pikmin since the very first game, so I don’t need too much help when it comes to the basic commands. I started the game in Normal mode, though there is a Hard and Ultra-Spicy mode as well (and for those unfamiliar with Pikmin, though you can probably assume, Ultra-Spicy is code for “Very Hard”). I chose this to re-familiarize myself with the game, as it’s been a while and I knew the story mode was rather short if I decided to replay on a more difficult setting, but it got to the point where it was constantly holding my hand, which I found it distracting. However, this is not entirely a bad thing.

If I were introducing someone to Pikmin, which I did (but more on that later), these data files with tips and tricks are all over the place and would be a great help to someone who didn’t know the ins and outs of a Pikmin game. The world can also be a bit disorienting at times with so many paths and tunnels to take, so they also made a “Go-To” feature that allows you to mark a path on the map and your captain will automatically follow it. This game is absolutely friendly for new players — especially children players who might have found the previous Pikmin games a tad too hard.

Then there are those sidequests I was talking about. In the original, Olimar and Louie were on the planet simultaneously to the lead trio just the same, but you only got to play as them in the battle modes. This time around, you get to see what they are up to while Charlie’s crew is off wandering around trying to find him, and if you’ve played Pikmin 2, you’ll know they are back at their treasure-hunting antics. 

Their side missions are played as more of a time attack challenge rather than a normal day in story mode. You have a given amount of time to collect as much fruit and treasure as possible to earn medals to solidify your score ranking. As far as I’m aware, this doesn’t do much to aid the story mode, but it’s still a fun little challenge to take a breather from the main quest. Plus, it allows us to see what our favorite Hocotation is up to!

Calling for backup: Co-op Mode

Pikmin 2 introduced a fun two-player battle mode that my friends and I would play for hours at a time, but Pikmin 3 Deluxe finally allows a friend to join in the adventure in story mode. I had my friend, who had never played a Pikmin game, play with me, and it was wonderful. He took control of the lovable lug Charlie while I managed Britt and Alph. Thank you, Nintendo, for finally taking real advantage of using multiple captains.

The best part about two-player story mode is that it feels just the same as single player, you just have your pal helping out out. The screen will split, but that’s really the only difference. You can go about your own business, doing two completely separate things. While my friend was learning the controls and exploring the area, I was taking on a boss battle and progressing to the next plot point. This game in either mode, though, can be enjoyed just the same alone or with a friend. 

Redos and Redon’ts: My personal likes and dislikes

There hasn’t been a Pikmin game I didn’t like — and yes, that includes Hey! Pikmin — so there isn’t much I have to complain about in this game. There are a few issues, yes, but not many. I’ll get those little irks out of the way so then we can talk about the good stuff.

I mentioned I personally didn’t care for all the extra tutorial stuff, but again, it’s good for new players, but as a returning player — well, let’s just say if you thought Fi was annoying in Skyward Sword, you might want to skip right on to “Hard Mode.” The hand holding can be a bit ridiculous. It’s nice in some parts when the captains occasionally have lines of dialogue regarding certain situations, but when they keep blocking the screen to repeat the same thing over and over, it starts to get slightly grating. Now, something I didn’t like at all was the addition of a whistle to the S.S. Drake so that all stray Pikmin would make their way back to the base. Certainly, this sounds like a good thing, but it takes out that struggle of having to find all your lost Pikmin. It’s a survival game; I don’t want it to be as easy as calling all my Pikmin who are half way across the map back home. The thing that makes it worse though is that it is the point to bring all your Pikmin home safely, but half the time it doesn’t even work. Yes, I get my challenge, but why include a feature if it doesn’t even work properly?

Another complaint I do have is one I had for the first Pikmin 3 — It’s too short. At least its story mode is. Yes, the game has plenty of content to keep you engaged, but perhaps it’s me coming off of the second game that could last as long as you willed it to by finding every last piece of treasure. The first Pikmin was relatively short as well, but even then you had to stay on the planet for a minimum of 30 in-game days. I could clear the story mode for Pikmin 3 in about two weeks in-game, which could easily be done in less than a day in real-time. 

My third and final criticism is that they had the opportunity to reintroduce White and Purple Pikmin into the story mode. With all the new additions they could have added, I think not having all seven types of Pikmin for the main story is a real let down. I do understand it might have been harder to change the game to that extent, so that is most likely the reason why, but it still doesn’t feel the same without the two. It feels like they have been replaced with the Flying and Rock Pikmin. 

As for my likes, I’ll try and keep it simple: First and foremost, it still feels like a Pikmin game. If you enjoyed any of the previous Pikmin titles, you will enjoy this one just the same. It is a natural sequel to the first two, taking a different, fun spin on things. Even though the controls have been changed from a Wii U Gamepad to a Switch controller, it’s still easy to maneuver in the game, and if you need any help, the tutorials are more than thorough and will have you flinging Pikmin in no time! 

The graphics looked fantastic on the Wii U, but I never really appreciated them until I replayed it in the deluxe. Not only the graphics but the creature design as well. The bosses in this game are absolutely wretched — and I mean that in the best possible way. Pikmin themselves are very cute, but the perils they face are giant beasts that wish to feast on them, and it’s up to you to stop these monsters from running amuck. Pikmin 3 took the basic boss formula of the first two games and amped it up a notch, progressing in stages almost similarly to Zelda. I mean, you still chuck or charge your Pikmin to attack it, that’s never going to change, but it’s nice to see how much care they put into these battles. 

I think this might be a product of playing on Normal mode, but it’s appreciated nonetheless: Pikmin are a lot more durable in this game. They could run away and maybe take a hit in games prior, but in this game, I’ve seen vulnerable Pikmin types get plowed by a rolling rock and get back up again. They don’t seem to be as fragile anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying just go and charge into any situation without thinking — Pikmin 3 Deluxe still requires thought and strategy, but it’s such a good feeling when you think you’ve lost a Pikmin but they tough it out and rejoin your group.

Even though I could gush on about this game forever, I’ll pick one final favorite of mine, which would be the co-op story mode. As I said, Pikmin 2 had a fun battle mode that I would play with friends for ages, but I would have loved it even more if they could have helped me scour the globe for treasures just like they can in Pikmin 3. Hopefully down the line, they could install a patch that would allow three players to each take on a captain and explore the world as a trio! I mean, why else have three captains? 

An adventure worth revisiting: Final thoughts

I’m truly glad that Nintendo decided to not only port this game over to the Switch but also expand upon it. Yes, there are still some things I think it’s lacking, but that by no means makes it a bad game. It’s still a thrilling adventure to explore the distant planet once more and survive in these strange lands. 

If you have never touched a Pikmin game in your life, I think it’s absolutely worth a try. Unlike most sequels, the third installment with the enhanced tutorials is a great place for newcomers to start. For a younger child, the tips could be handy in guiding them through an admittedly confusing game — at least when first playing. However, if you’re thinking about getting this game for your child, please keep in mind that Pikmin do die and some young ones can not handle the stress of seeing it happen. 

For veteran players, though I don’t think Pikmin 3 is as strong as the previous two installments, it’s still a joy to return to this bizarre interpretation of a post-human Earth and survive its treacheries. It’s not as challenging on Normal mode, but the inclusion of an Ultra-Spicy mode will be sure to give pro-Pikmin players their money’s worth. Pikmin isn’t a traditionally easy game, so having this third difficulty option may surprise you. 

For both types of players, old and new, I would highly urge you to give this a try. Pikmin is a rather unappreciated series and could be on the verge of extinction if people don’t give it a chance. It’s a short game, so it won’t take up too much time if you don’t enjoy it, but honestly, I can’t see why you wouldn’t. There’s a little something for everybody, whether it be the cute characters, the fun challenges, or the thrill of survival. Pikmin 3 is a wonderful time to be had and I highly recommend giving it a try. 

Score: 8/10