Short, and hard as hell, it is however one of the most unique games ever.
The gamecube is a superb system, and you'll need some superb games, one of the supeb games is Pikmin, and it's sequel, Lets talk about #1. The game is a never-gerne, people say it's an RTS, but is it really, you can't say its a real time strategy, or an action game, or a puzzle game, it's like "What is it about?" It's so artitistic and beautiful, it's not about some dude with an assault rifle shooting nazis or aliens. THANK YOU!
In Pikmin, the main character is Captain Olimar, an astronaut from the planet Hocotate. The story starts when Olimar is taking an intergalactic vacation in outer space. However, during his flight, a comet hits his spaceship, the S.S. Dolphin (which is, laughably, a reference to the Nintendo GameCube's codename, "Project Dolphin"), which is then pulled into the gravity field of an uncharted planet, which kind of looks like Earth. 30 Parts of the spaceship fall off as it plummets to the ground and crashes in the first level The Impact Site, and need to go home to his homeplanet, Hocotate, and you wanna know something, you put a C in front of Hocotate, it says Chocotate. lol
The gameplay in Pikmin is to retrieve ship parts by using the three varieties of Pikmin available in different combinations. Olimar discovers tricolored plant-animal hybrids that willingly follow his orders and help him recover ship parts. He names these creatures "Pikmin" after his favorite Pikpik brand carrots. Each color has its own special abilities; all three colors must be used in order to overcome various obstacles and complete the game.
In retrieving ship parts, there are generally three steps.
The first is to locate the part and scout its location, noting any obstacles Pikmin may need to remove or any enemies which must be defeated.
The second step is in selecting the appropriate numbers and colors of Pikmin needed to complete the tasks. This must be done with some care, as only 100 Pikmin may exist outside the Onions at any given time.
Finally, The third step is to secure the part, which is usually in a difficult to reach location or held by a powerful enemy. After securing the part, it can be brought back. All 30 parts are retrieved in this manner. Only 5 of the 30 ship parts are not mandatory. The other 25 are needed to acquire the ending in which Olimar blasts off into space.
Time in the game is divided into 30 days. With the exception of the first day, which lasts until the player finds the first ship part, all days in the game are about 15 minutes in length. So the whole game is basically 15 times 30 which equals 450, but that in hours and thats around 7-8 hours, which is a bit, if you think about it.
By the end of each day, all Pikmin should be immediately rounded up, work halted, and Olimar must return with the Pikmin to the ship. The reason for this is that many of the creatures which inhabit the Pikmin's planet are nocturnal predators and eat all Pikmin that are left behind on the surface after the sun sets.
If Olimar doesn't collect all 30 mandatory ship parts within this 30 day time limit, his ship's life support systems will fail and Olimar will die from oxygen poisoning. If he does, then he blasts off into space successfully and returns home.
The Pikmin are very short, according to the manual, they're standing approximately 1 inch tall. Pikmin are very simple physically, consisting of little more than a head, slender body, two arms and two legs, all both of which are very thin. They're Three kind of pikmin, Red, Yellow, and Blue.
Red Pikmin have pointed noses, Yellow Pikmin have large pointed ears, Blue Pikmin have gills and a mouth. In terms of gameplay, deciding which type of pikmin to use is a crucial part strategizing:
Red Pikmin are immune to fire, which is useful for passing through fire obstacles and fighting certain fire-breathing enemies, and they are also the strongest in battle; Blue Pikmin will not drown in water, unlike the others; Yellow Pikmin can use bombs to hurt enemies or break walls and can also be thrown higher than red and blue Pikmin.
Pikmin live in special homes which Olimar names Onions, since they bear a passing resemblance to the vegetable. Each Onion is color specific, and Pikmin are never seen entering an Onion of a color different from their own. Pikmin reproduce by bringing colored pellets or defeated enemies to their Onion. The Onion then lifts the object inside with a ray of light, takes the nutrients for seeds, and produces more seeds, from which new Pikmin sprout. Onions only produce seeds that match their own color, and the number of seeds produced is dependent on the object being converted.
Apart from the main gameplay, Pikmin also contains a Challenge mode that is unlocked once Olimar gets all three types of Pikmin. Each of the five levels in the main game is available for play. The object of Challenge mode is to grow the greatest number of Pikmin in one day as is possible. The number of creatures in Challenge mode is significantly greater than in the main game, and their distribution is changed as well. Although discovering new areas in the main game opens them for Challenge mode play, Challenge mode does not affect gameplay in the main story mode. There is still a 999 Pikmin limit.
Any ill effects? It's Short, and hard as hell. Which makes it the only 2 bad things to make this a perfect game, it is however one of the most unique games ever.