Pikmin was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto.
The core elements of Pikmin include:
Real time strategy puzzle platformer based on the concept of “dandori”, a Japanese word meaning the strategic organization of tasks, planning, and preparation before carryoung out a plan.
Controlling different colored Pikmin with different capabilities in order to solve puzzles and defeat enemies
Pikmin (2001)
Originally released on Gamecube. HD remasters of Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 were released on Nintendo Switch.
Captain Olimar, a pilot, flies his spacecraft, the S.S. Dolphin, through space. Suddenly, a meteor hurdles toward his direction and hits the Dolphin, sending it plummeting toward an Earth-like planet. During the fall, the Dolphin ignites, and its various parts are released from the hull and scattered across the planet.
The next morning, Olimar regains consciousness at the Impact Site and turns around to find the Dolphin badly damaged. Realizing that the oxygen on the planet is deadly to his body and his life-support systems only have enough power to last 30 days, Olimar sets out to locate the 30 missing parts of the Dolphin, hoping he can rebuild his ship and return to his home planet of Hocotate.
After exploring a bit, Olimar finds a dormant Onion. Upon approaching it, it springs to life, and out comes a seed. Upon plucking it and experimenting with the creature by throwing it, dismissing it, etc., he learns about the Pikmin and their abilities. With the help of the Red Pikmin he raises, Olimar recovers the Main Engine, which allows him to at least hover above the surface during the night, which he later learns is too dangerous.
Olimar and the Pikmin then discover a new area, the Forest of Hope and the Onion within: the Yellow Pikmin's Onion. In addition, he gradually learns more about the various enemies and quirks of the planet, and how to use each Pikmin type's abilities to their full potential. As he gathers more parts, he eventually manages to discover the Forest Navel, the Blue Pikmin, the Distant Spring, and the Final Trial.
After defeating the Emperor Bulblax and recovering the final ship part, Olimar flies back to Hocotate to reunite with his family.
F.A.Q.
Unlock Best Ending: to unlock the best ending, the player must recover all thirty ship parts within the thirty day time limit.
Pikmin 2 (2004)
Originally released on Gamecube. HD remasters of Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 were released on Nintendo Switch.
Introduces purple Pikmin and white Pikmin
Following the events of Pikmin, Captain Olimar returns to his home planet Hocotate and meets up with the President (his employer) and a newly hired employee named Louie. Olimar learns that Hocotate Freight is massively in debt due to the loss of a shipment of golden Pikpik carrots, a situation brought about by Louie. Olimar's ship, the S.S. Dolphin, is consequently sold in order to repay some of the debt, despite this not being enough. Upon hearing this, Olimar drops a bottle cap in shock, brought back to Hocotate as a souvenir for his son. An old ship proceeds to absorb the bottle cap and values it at 100 Poko, leading to the President sending Olimar and Louie back to the planet, in order to retrieve treasure that can repay the company debt. Their goal is to repay the 10,000 Poko of debt remaining.
Whilst landing, they come across a small blizzard on the Valley of Repose. While trying to maneuver through some tree branches, Olimar hits one of them, which knocks Louie off of his cockpit and into the area below. The ship with Olimar inside manages to drop with a thud, ejecting the leader to the ground. He gets up and discovers some Red Pikmin fighting a Dwarf Red Bulborb. He whistles them to his side, and helps them defeat the enemy, realizing that they still obey him. With the Pikmin's help, Olimar and Louie, both in different parts of the area, manage to reunite and recover a treasure, the Courage Reactor, from Louie's side.
During the following days, Olimar and Louie enter a cave in the area and discover Purple Pikmin inside. With their help, they gather a treasure that allows them to travel to a new area, the Spherical Atlas. In this new area known as the Awakening Wood, they find White Pikmin, and gather a new treasure which provides access to the Perplexing Pool. Between the 3 areas, the 2 leaders gather treasure, explore caves, and discover Yellow Pikmin and Blue Pikmin. Eventually, Hocotate Freight's debt is repaid, at which point, the duo triumphantly returns to their home planet.
On the way, however, Olimar discovers that Louie was left behind on the planet. When he meets up with the President, he notifies him about the fact that there are still more treasures available. The President gleefully tries to command Olimar and Louie to go back and gather more goods, until he realizes that Louie is not around. He chooses to take his place instead.
Whilst gathering the remaining treasures, they discover the area known as Wistful Wild. In it, they manage to find Louie in the Dream Den, atop the Titan Dweevil. They save him, and obtain all areas of their treasure. As the three blast off back to their home planet, the Pikmin glow brightly to wish them goodbye.
F.A.Q.
Unlock True Ending: to unlock the true ending, the player must recover all 201 treasures. Upon collection of the final treasure, the true ending will play.
Unlock “Louie’s Dark Secret” cinematic: to unlock “Louie’s Dark Secret” cinematic, the player must complete all 30 Challenge Mode stages with a pink flower by having no Pikmin deaths.
Pikmin 3 (2013)
Originally released on the WiiU. An enhanced port with DLC Pikmin 3 Deluxe was released on the Switch.
Introduces rock Pikmin and winged Pikmin
In the year 20XX, the inhabitants of the planet Koppai are suffering from famine as a result of a booming population, booming appetites, and a basic lack of planning. Having scouted multiple planets with their SPERO ships to find ones with resources, one returns positive after scouting the planet PNF-404. It has an abundance of cultivable food, and so 3 Koppaite captains are sent to explore the planet and retrieve the food sources that will save their planet: the engineer Alph, the botanist Brittany, and the captain Charlie. However, upon landing on the planet, their ship, the S.S. Drake, malfunctions and crash-lands, separating the three. Charlie falls to the Distant Tundra and meets the Yellow Pikmin, but is eaten by the Vehemoth Phosbat. Alph awakens in the Tropical Wilds and meets the Red Pikmin, who help him recover their ship. Alph learns that the Cosmic-Drive Key, which is required to return to Koppai, has disappeared following the crash.
Alph finds Brittany in the Garden of Hope and rescues her with help from the Rock Pikmin, and they rescue Charlie after the S.S. Drake crashes once more in the Distant Tundra and Brittany discovers the Yellow Pikmin. The trio recover some of Captain Olimar's lost data files, and find out that he has the key, having mistakenly thought it was a treasure. Later, they mistakenly rescue Louie from the Twilight River after receiving his SOS message that was meant for Olimar. He steals their food supply and Charlie's rubber duck, and escapes to his and Olimar's destroyed Hocotate Freight spaceship in the Garden of Hope. They retrieve and interrogate him, and he tells them that Olimar is in the Formidable Oak. There, the captains and the Pikmin defeat a mysterious life form known as the Plasm Wraith to save Olimar, and he returns the cosmic-drive key to them. The three use the key for the ship, offering Olimar and Louie a ride back to Hocotate, and they return home as the Pikmin wave goodbye.
With all fruit collected, the 3 Koppaite captains successfully complete their mission to restore life in Koppai.
DLC Olimar’s Comeback
In a post-credits scene, some Pikmin see a flaming object falling to the ground and run to it. This is revealed to be a pod containing Olimar and Louie, who were sent back to the planet by the president of Hocotate Freight to retrieve and repair the destroyed Hocotate Freight spaceship they left behind.
F.A.Q.
Reward for Collecting All Fruit: collecting all fruit leads to additional dialogue during the ending narration.
Pikmin 4 (2023)
Released on Switch. A enhanced port Pikmin 4 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy will release on the Switch 2.
Introduces ice Pikmin and glow Pikmin
A possible reboot of the Pikmin timeline.
In the prologue, Captain Olimar, captain of the S.S. Dolphin, crash-lands on planet PNF-404. He discovers the Pikmin and the space dog Moss, who help him recover the missing parts of his ship. He finds the Interstellar Radio, which allows him to send out an SOS signal, in the hope that people on other planets receive the signal and are able to help.
The Rescue Corps, an organization dedicated to rescuing people, receives the signal, but their ship, the S.S. Shepherd, also crashes on PNF-404, scattering the 7 members of the mission in different locations. As a result, their newest recruit, the Rookie, is sent in the S.S. Beagle to rescue the Rescue Corps, and doesn't crash. They find the space dog Oatchi and the communications operator Collin, then go into the Burrow of Beginnings to rescue the captain Shepherd. After this, they find the Pikmin and repair the S.S. Shepherd by collecting 3 nearby treasures, completing the first day on the planet.
After the first day, the rookie visits various areas of the planet to collect treasures and find castaways, finding that there are civilian castaways as well as members of the Rescue Corps. They also encounter leaflings, strange creatures with leaves on their heads who always talk about Dandori, and who challenge the rookie with Dandori Challenges. One particular leafling with red leaves challenges the rookie to Dandori Battles. Collecting treasures gives the rookie Sparklium, and collecting enough of it allows access to more areas.
After rescuing the Rescue Corps doctor Yonny, the rookie unlocks night expeditions and glow Pikmin and where they can get glow sap which has the ability to cure leaflings and also the ability to prevent turning into one. After collecting enough Sparklium and rescuing the entire Rescue Corps, the rookie gains access to the Hero's Hideaway, where the red leafling waits in a bunker for a final battle. Defeating it reveals that the leafing is in fact Olimar, and after curing him, the Rescue Corps completes their mission and is able to leave the planet.
Upon trying to leave the planet, they find that Oatchi cannot be in space, because of the leaf that sprouted on his tail during the journey. They return to the planet with the new goal of curing Oatchi, and hear that a veterinarian from the planet Koppai called Nelle is stranded on the planet. Upon landing in a new area, they see Louie and Moss run away with another Koppaite, Yorke. After rescuing Yorke by defeating Louie in a Dandori Battle, and rescuing Don Bergman elsewhere in the area, the rookie can visit the final area, where after defeating Louie in a final Dandori Battle and rescuing Nelle, they can access the final cave, the Cavern for a King, where Louie can be found riding the Ancient Sirehound. When defeated, the Ancient Sirehound drops its collar, the Gift of Friendship, which contains enough hair on it to create a cure for Oatchi. Captain Olimar and the Rescue Corps return home with the Pikmin waving them off.
F.A.Q.
Unlock Trial of the Sage Leaf: to unlock Trial of the Sage Leaf, the player must complete Olimar’s Shipwreck Tale.
Unlock Plucking Whistle gear: to unlock the Plucking Whistle to be purchased from Russ, the player must purchase all other gear from Russ.
Unlock Infinite Rush for Oatchi: to unlock the Infinite Rush skill to be unlocked from Shepherd, the player must learn all other skills from Shepherd.
Unlock Lineup Trumpet gear: to unlock the Lineup Trumpet gear, the player must obtain all musical treasures and talk to Frisé.
Unlock Extra Hand gear: to unlock the Extra Hand gear, the player must complete Louie’s side mission “Fit for a Feast”.
True Ending: to unlock the true ending, the player must complete Olimar’s Shipwreck Tale prior to beating the Ancient Sirehound. This shows a variation of the ending with the S. S. Dolphin appearing alongside the S.S. Shepherd.