Pikmin 2 European Date

July 13, 2004, 1:36 pm EDT
Total comments: 9

Americans have waited forever for this still-unreleased game, but somehow PAL gamers must wait even longer until October 8th.

YOUR CAPTAIN NEEDS YOU!

Exciting graphics, astounding game play and challenging puzzles = Pikmin 2

Rally the troops! Captain Olimar needs your help as he returns to the planet of the Pikmin to save his company of debt. This time Captain Olimar returns with an assistant and you must explore every nook and cranny to erase the enormous debt once and for all. The highly acclaimed, real time strategy game, Pikmin 2 launches across Europe, exclusively to Nintendo GameCube on 8th October 2004.

To save Captain Olimar's company, he must salvage all the treasure buried on the Pikmin planet. You must help him and his new assistant Louie command the multi-talented Pikmin creatures as they embark on their treasure-hunting journey. The player controls either Olimar or Louie as they explore the planet, harvesting and using the Pikmin to help them on their mission. Single button commands can also be directed by players to the Pikmin themselves.

With two all-new types of Pikmin, White and Purple, plus the original Red, Yellow and Blue, each character can be controlled simultaneously no matter where they are on the planet. They each have their own unique strengths and weaknesses including resistance to water or fire, the ability to open gates, pick up and move heavy objects, break down walls and attack enemies. With no time limit in this game, each fun packed challenge can also be completed at your leisure. With complex puzzles to crack and over 60 different monsters to overcome, Pikmin 2 is sure to challenge players to the limit. In addition to the outstanding single player game, the brand new split-screen two player Challenge and Battle modes give a whole extra dimension to the Pikmin experience.

Gameplay takes place below ground as well as above ground, with new underground areas to explore, including caves which are randomly generated each time the players enter them.

With so much treasure to collect and many monsters to defeat, Pikmin 2 is set to keep players amused for hours. With its bright and fun visuals Pikmin 2 is crammed full of adventure and is a brilliant follow-up to Shigeru Miyamoto's classic Pikmin game, released across Europe in June 2002.

Pikmin 2 is released across Europe, exclusively for Nintendo GameCube, on 8th October 2004 at the estimated retail price of 60 Euros.

Talkback

KDR_11kJuly 14, 2004

EEEEK! Random levels!

Ian SaneJuly 14, 2004

"EEEEK! Random levels!"

I'm concerned about that too. I thought that the only thing that kept Pikmin from being perfect was the 30 day time limit. Now that they've removed it you would assume they would get it perfect. But NO! They have to add random levels which could have the potential to wang the whole game. Although nearly all reviews of the import are positive in one I've read the reviewer did feel that the underground areas ruined the game for him. I'm hoping this works out alright and I don't have to wait until Pikmin 3 for them to get it right. I think it will depend on how much focus is on the underground levels. As long as the focus is still on breeding Pikmin in the non-random overworld then it should be fine.

Bill AurionJuly 14, 2004

Pikmin 2 got a 39/40 from Famitsu, so I wouldn't be too worried... ^_^

SylJuly 14, 2004

I personally love the idea of random levels, random is good, random is my friend. It allows (obviously) nearly limitless potential.
@_@ i know a few of you don't agree with that, however.

DrZoidbergJuan Schwartz, Staff WriterJuly 14, 2004

I fail to see the problem with random levels.. it could hamper speed runs, but that's about it.

Ian SaneJuly 14, 2004

My beef with random levels is that usually to allow for random arrangement they're generic and boring as hell. It's hard to make somthing random look or feel like something real. Plus it's hard to balance difficulty if the enemies are randomly placed. It's more of personal preference I guess.

MarioJuly 14, 2004

84 DAYS TO GO

mouse_clickerJuly 14, 2004

I agree that random levels generally are quite uninspired, but it doesn't sound like ALL the levels are randomly generation- in fact, it sounds like only the caves are.

mac<censored>July 16, 2004

It's only the underground levels that are randomly generated, and they're quite fine -- not really very big, and not at all a focus of the game. They're more like a sort of extra little jaunt you take once in a while, and they're actually a nice change of pace as they're more "battle oriented" than the above ground levels which are all about puzzle solving & exploring.

It's a brilliant game.

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