Pikmin 2

The Many Colors of Pikmin

Captain Olimar and Louie can't access the treasure by themselves. They call on the Pikmin to do their dirty work. Pikmin come in different breeds represented by color. Red Pikmin are immune to flame. Yellow can sail high in the air and resist electric shock. The blue Pikmin can swim and crack open rock forms.

Captain Olimar farms these Pikmin via ships called Onions. When the Pikmin defeat a creature, they take it to the Onion, which beams it up and plants new Pikmin for Captain Olimar and Louie to pluck from the ground.

Two new Pikmin, purple and white, evolve from other Pikmin. When you go into an underground level, you sometimes find either a purple or a white flower. You can throw five Pikmin into the flower, and the flower spits out either purple or white Pikmin. You will need to protect both types of these powerful Pikmin because they are in limited supply.

When your sensors detect an object of value, order the Pikmin to carry it back to the spaceship. It's just that easy. OK, it's not just that easy. Finding the treasure is the hard part. You'll find some of the treasure in seemingly inaccessible spots. Other treasure is guarded by nasty, hard-to-kill creatures. And those creatures like to have Pikmin for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Teamwork

With the sequel comes more strategy. You get to play as both Captain Olimar and Louie. Freely switch between the two by pressing the Y Button. Try a classic pincer attack when trying to defeat a particularly tough opponent. Being attacked from two sides, the creature can't defend as well and the Pikmin prevail. Also, Captain Olimar might have a group of Pikmin working on one project, such as tearing down a wall or building a bridge. Louie can command another group to explore an area or produce more Pikmin while Olimar's group is hard at work.

Although you do not have a time limit to complete the game, you must do all your work on the planet before sundown. When the sun goes down, the big nasty creatures come out. If you venture into an underground level, though, time stops until you get back outside.

Underground are loads and loads of treasure -- and hungry creatures. Once you go underground, you are stuck with your limited supply of Pikmin. If you bring 100 Pikmin (the max) and 90 get steamrolled by a giant worm, you have 10 Pikmin left to complete the level. That fight is a tough one to win.

Pikmin management is the key to completing these underground levels. Maybe you brought all five types of Pikmin with you into the level, but all your yellow Pikmin perished early. To complete the level, you need Pikmin that are immune to electric shock. Because you have no yellow Pikmin, you're in a no-win situation and need to start over.

Pikmin 2 x 2 = Fun

Prepare to add the two-player Battle Mode to your Top 10 list of things to do with another person. In Battle Mode, you build your Pikmin army and need to either capture the other player's marble or collect four yellow marbles found on the field of play. Not only do you have to watch out for hungry creatures, you have to watch for the other player's Pikmin army coming after you. And when Pikmin collide, it's trench warfare that few Pikmin survive. So much for the cute, cuddly character theory. These Pikmin are fierce fighters.

Choose from one of 10 different battlefields. You can also handicap the number of Pikmin you start with. If your Pikmin collect a cherry, a roulette wheel spins. The wheel will land on either something good for you, like more Pikmin, or something really bad for your opponent (which is still good for you).

Challenge Mode

Once you have completed 50 percent of Story Mode, Challenge Mode unlocks for your gaming pleasure. Challenge Mode sets up different underground scenarios. Each scenario starts you with a different number and color of Pikmin. Your goal is to get a key to complete an underground level in the allotted time. You rack up high scores by also collecting treasure in the level. But don't get too greedy. If time runs out, you're sunk. Once you complete a challenge, a new one unlocks. Can you make it through Challenge Mode with all your Pikmin?

Two players can work together in Challenge Mode. Make sure you and your friend are on the same page. It's always the Pikmin who get caught in the middle and suffer when two players disagree.