Spencer's Day: Pikmin Time!!!!!!

This is one of my Pikmin Posts. And Nintendo is EXPANDING the series!!! With Pikmin 3!!!!!

Pikmin 3 is unique because this game reveals the name of the Pikmin homeworld: PNF-404. And the game has three new playable captains: Alph, Brittany, and Charlie. All three of them are from a planet called Koppai, which (at the time of the game) is in the middle of a food crisis. The planet's population grew so much that there is no more food on that planet, which is where Alph, Charlie, and Brittany come in. They find a planet brimming with fruit (the people of Koppai only eat fruit, because that is the only food you can bring with you) and feed it to Koppai. And in turn, with every fruit the new captains bring back, the longer they can stay on PNF-404. It's a win-win situation!!!!

This game introduces two new species of Pikmin: Rock Pikmin and Winged Pikmin. Or you can call them Grey Pikmin and Pink Pikmin if you want. The Winged Pikmin can fly and are useful for solving puzzles requiring an alteration to the current elevation. Like say you come across a thicket of Bamboo that can not by destroyed. Winged Pikmin can lift each shoot of Bamboo out of the way. And Rock Pikmin have a supreme density, allowing them to crash through any type of glass perfectly unscathed. Very helpful when you need to remove a shard of glass blocking the way.

Just like in Pikmin 1, There is a max day limit (the crew can only stay on PNF-404 for a few days before their life support fails), but they can increase their max day limit by a week or so by juicing fruit. You need fruit to save Koppai, but you also need fruit juice to keep the captains alive.

And the Pikmin are just as strange (possibly stranger) as they were when Captain Olimar first met them. In fact, later on in the game, the three rookie captains come face-to-face with Olimar himself.

But unlike Olimar and Louie, who have spaceships that look like old rickety versions of Earth rockets, Alph, Brittany, and Charlie get a futuristic, clearly alien spacecraft called the Drake. That slightly resembles the Death Star from Star Wars.

The Pikmin themselves are caught in the middle of this game, because the fruit on PNF-404 is so big (from the captains' perspective) that the captains cannot lift any fruit on the planet. But the Pikmin can. Because they can lift a hundred times their own weight. Which is somewhere around 2 ounces. In Pikmin 1, Olimar once wondered why the Pikmin do not attack him. A common fan theory is that the Pikmin see him as some kind of "Super Pikmin" if one considers that Olimar's helmet antenna slightly resembles a Pikmin stem. Pikmin are half plant. They have stems on the tops of their heads. With a flower on top of the stem. And the arms and legs are actually roots. And it is apparent that they might have a skeletal frame. Because the Pikmin's skeleton is visible when they get electrocuted. But that might be a joke. Anyway, Pikmin also come from Onions. Giant Onions that launch Pikmin Seeds high up in the air. From that point Olimar can uproot the Pikmin seedling(s). In the first two games, the Onions could store Pikmin, but only the Pikmin that match the Onions color (Red Pikmin go to Red Onions, Blue Pikmin go to Blue Onions, etc.). But in Pikmin three, the Onions can store ALL PIKMIN TYPES IN THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And curiously enough, the Onions in Pikmin 3 are more mechanical than normal Pikmin Onions. All Pikmin Onions fly several thousand feet/meters up in the air to avoid danger (they do this every night). Normal they use the flower on top like a propeller to..........propel themselves through the air. But this Onion has the legs (Pikmin Onions have legs) retract into the torso and blue exhaust flames come out of the places the legs were originally. But either way, Onions are Onions no matter how they fly. Sounds a little weird if you think about it.

Anyway, Pikmin 3 introduces a more calculating combat design. In the first two games, all you had to do is pick up a Pikmin and throw it onto the back of a hostile creature. Now, you have to decide WHERE to throw the Pikmin. Some enemies are covered in armor, and although Rock Pikmin have no problem breaking the armor, what happens when you do NOT have any Rock Pikmin with you. So you have to throw your Pikmin at the eyes. The Pikmin will latch on and keep hitting the target until either the beast shakes them off, the beast dies, or if you sound a retreat.

Here is a gallery. NOTE: ALL IMAGES ARE FROM THE PIKMIN WIKI.

Pikmin many