Pikmin

This article is about the video game series. For the first game in the series, see Pikmin (video game).

Pikmin (ピクミン, Pikumin) is a series of video games created by Nintendo that started on the Nintendo GameCube in 2001. It has four released main-series games - Pikmin, Pikmin 2, Pikmin 3 and Pikmin 4. The series is about a spaceman called Captain Olimar visiting an alien planet and working with creatures called Pikmin to explore it.

Pikmin
Genres	Real-time strategy
Developers	Nintendo EAD
Publishers	Nintendo
First release	Pikmin October 26, 2001
Latest release	Pikmin 4 July 21, 2023

Characters

• Captain Olimar - Captain Olimar is spaceman who crash lands on the alien planet in Pikmin and meets the Pikmin species, and has to fix his ship and get off the planet in 30 days, or he'll die. Olimar is a play on the name Mario, Nintendo's mascot, by rearranging the syllables. Olimar writes about the biological features of every creature encountered in the Notes section.
• Pikmin - The Pikmin are a type of creature who help Captain Olimar. In Pikmin, they come in red, yellow, and blue types. In Pikmin 2, they also come in white and purple types.
• Louie - Louie joins Olimar in Pikmin 2 and helps him find treasure. Louie is a play on the name Luigi, Mario's brother and sidekick, by using the nickname for it. Louie is gluttonous, and often causes trouble out of his desire for food. In his unlockable notes on the creatures and plants in game, he details how to cook and eat every creature.
• Emperor Bulbax - The villain of the first Pikmin game.
• President - The President of Captain Olimar's company, who sends him and Louie to find treasure to pay off the company's debt. He appears as a playable character in Pikmin 2 when Louie is missing.

Setting

Pikmin is set on a world that is supposed to be Earth, but Captain Olimar is very tiny, so it looks like a strange world to the player. Nintendo made it seem more like Earth by adding common items, like a globe of the Earth, a Duracell battery, and a Pepsi bottle cap.

Gameplay

Both games use real-time strategy gameplay. The player plays as Captain Olimar, who can command his Pikmin. Olimar gets Pikmin by bringing pellets, a type of food, and bad guys to an Onion, which is the Pikmin's ship. Pikmin will come out of the Onion and get planted in the ground so that Olimar can pull them out. Olimar can use Pikmin to take stuff back to his base, fight insects and other creatures, or travel across places.

Games

Main

Pikmin

See the main article: Pikmin (video game)

Pikmin is the first game in the series and came out in 2001 on the Nintendo GameCube. Captain Olimar crashes his spaceship on an alien planet, and meets creatures called Pikmin. He only has 30 days life support, and so he and the Pikmin try to find the pieces of his ship that broke off so he can escape.

Pikmin 2

See the main article: Pikmin 2

Pikmin 2 came out in 2004 for the Nintendo GameCube. It uses the same gameplay, but adds a new character called Louie, two new kinds of Pikmin, and a new type of area called Underground, where Olimar and Louie search for treasure in. It also added multiplayer, where one player can be Olimar and another can be Louie.

Pikmin 3

See the main article: Pikmin 3

Pikmin 3 released in 2013 for the Wii U. It follows 3 new explorers looking for fruit to save their starving planet, Alph, an engineer, Brittany, a botanist, and Charlie, the captain. There is a remaster titled Pikmin 3 Deluxe. It released in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch.

Pikmin 4

See the main article: Pikmin 4

Pikmin 4 was released on July 21, 2023, for the Nintendo Switch. Captain Olimar crashed again, and the player needs to save him. The game lets the player make a custom character to play as. This game also stops making the player go back to their spaceship at night.

Spin-offs

Hey! Pikmin

Hey! Pikmin released in 2017 for the Nintendo 3DS. It has Captain Olimar again. The gameplay is different from other Pikmin games. The game is 2D. Olimar can only use up to ten Pikmin at a time.

Pikmin Bloom

Pikmin Bloom released in 2021 as a mobile game. It uses an AR system. Players run around with their Pikmin followers. Flowers appear where the players run. Pikmin can be used to collect food and other things.

Pikmin Finder

Pikmin Finder released in 2023 as a mobile game. It uses an AR system to display Pikmin the player can interact with.

Other appearances

Pikmin has appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Pikmin has a couple of collectibles of Captain Olimar and the Pikmin. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and games after it, Captain Olimar is a playable character along with his Pikmin. Music, enemies, and an area are also taken from the series for stuff in Brawl and other Smash games.