The History Of Pikmin

Pikmin isn't as recognizable as Mario or Zelda, but it's certainly one of Nintendo's most unique franchises. With Pikmin 3 Deluxe right around the corner, we thought now would be a good time to take an expedition through the history of Pikmin.

The brainchild of Shigeru Miyamoto, Pikmin tasks you with growing and managing little vegetable creatures who aid you in battle, help solve puzzles, and collect treasure for you. In one game you only have 30 days to live, and in another you have to gather food for your home planet, but usually you end up crash landing no matter the circumstances. Pikmin first released on the Nintendo GameCube in 2001 and has grown from there.

Pikmin has only had three mainline entries so far, aptly named Pikmin, Pikmin 2, and Pikmin 3, but the franchise isn’t limited to just those three games. There’s a 3DS spin-off titled Hey! Pikmin, as well as a series of Pikmin Short Movies on YouTube, while  series mainstay Captain Olimar has appeared in multiple Super Smash Bros. entries. There’s also a possible Pikmin 4 on the way, with Miyamoto confirming its existence twice. 

Pikmin 3 Deluxe, an enhanced port of the original Pikmin 3 on Wii U, is headed to Nintendo Switch with a new prologue and epilogue along with other additions like new difficulty modes and the Piklopedia. Pikmin 3 Deluxe will release on October 30, 2020.

00:00 - Intro
00:31 - Pikmin's Origins & Initial Concepts
02:12 - Pikmin (2001)
02:52 - Pikmin 2 (2004)
05:05 - Pikmin 3's Iterations (Handheld & Wii)
05:36 - New Play Control! Pikmin 1 & 2 (2009-2012)
06:16 - Pikmin 3 (2013)
09:02 - Pikmin Short Movies (2014)
09:27 - Hey! Pikmin (2017)
11:27 - Pikmin 3 Deluxe (2020)
12:05 - Other Pikmin Appearances (Super Smash Bros, Nintendo Land, etc.)
12:34 - Pikmin 4?
13:14 - Outro

[epicgamerzfail]

Being a pikmin fan is the ultimate test of patience.

[deshawncross]

I’ve never got to play a pikmin game & now that I have a switch I finally get to! I’m soo excited to experience a new franchise!!

[Terranigma]

It's one of my favorite game serie. I really like the world and lore of these games. Also the soundtrack is always perfect. 😁

[AbnerWinter]

Pikmin 3 is an amazing game, don't sleep on it guys.

[cdplayer]

Let’s hope Pikmin becomes just as huge as Animal crossing when it released

[billyshearer]

I adore Pikmin! We must have a Pikmin 4. Also seeing The Hocotate Ship crashed made me sad. It had sass!

[dzttqnp]

In 2023, we finally got PIKMIN 4 on Nintendo Switch

[Mercenarys]

Man I'm glad of playing pikmin series throught my childhood, I'm very happy mr miyamoto will continue the franchise 🌱

[dzttqnp]

Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, and PIKMIN 🎮

[shopnil]

This was a great history video for Pikmin. Hope this gets more people into Pikmin.

[wolfman]

Make pikmin 4 and Mario kart 9, you greedy evergreen scrubs Nintendo

[jameskelly]

Oh my god, the Back to the Future 3/Pikmin mashup at 10:22 is hilarious.

[Corgisword]

Always a great video when Kurt and Evan get together

[MRKYootube]

Pikmin 2 and 3 are fucking masterpieces.

Games are incredible.

[purplepikmin]

My hopes for pikmin 4: for it to release

[seth]

I just wanna see this beautiful games grow and not be forgotten by Nintendo...

[ImDemonAlchemist]

"Tiny gameplay and graphical tweaks" is underselling the differences between the GCN and Wii versions of Pikmin 1. There are substantial differences both good and bad that make the two versions roughly equal in my opinion. The Wii version added a lot of the quality of life improvements from Pikmin 2 into the game, but introduced some downsides (less fun "swarming" imo) and some new and/or worse glitches. Most importantly: the crushing glitch. While the crushing glitch existed in the GCN version of the game, for whatever reason, it is far worse in the Wii version. It's not uncommon for the Puffstool to push dozens and dozens of Pikmin through the ground and kill them if you aren't careful. As well, most large enemies have a high chance to kill some in this way as well. Now, for Pikmin 2, the changes are very minor. With that one, it's basically just a preference between pointer aiming and stick aiming.

[spacechannelg]

I just finished pikmin 3 for the first time on the switch and its a solid 10! now i just want entry 4 please nintendo

[NotAGoodUsername]

Miyamoto later admitted the ant story was just marketing.

[donovanagee]

I love pikmin growing up pikmin 2 is my favorite out of the three but I did enjoy 1 and 3 but I never like the 3ds version so as much I am looking forward to pikmin 3 deluxe I do want pikmin 4 to come out soon