Pikmin’s Most Obscure Mechanic

Obscure mechanics in Pikmin 1 with each one getting more obscure

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[Samandjam]

He proceeds to forget everything in this video during his stream

[TheBacklogs]

"You can press A as fast as-"
HE SAID THE THING. HE SAID THE THING!

[dillmo]

the reason why Pikmin carry parts faster when Olimar looks at them is the same reason i work harder when my boss is in the same room

[Minty_Meeo]

19:52 The fact about the plants affecting throw trajectories was the only fact I can confidently say I've never heard before.
I'm surprised the fact that Pikmin have a hidden HP stat wasn't included in this video! If you shake off a Puffmin six times, it will die from running out of HP. The HP stat is also the reason why Puffmin and Pikmin combatting one another eventually die. Another obscure mechanic that would have been neat: flower Pikmin modify their throw trajectory to have lower gravity once they reach the peak of a throw. They even enter a different animation.

[ToasterAcid]

Also for that last one, my best explanation is that the pikmin slack off when you're not watching. When olimar's watchful eye is on them, they can't be lazy.

[SiawUwU]

Olimar walking slower diagonally is really funny because it’s usually the opposite that’s a problem in game dev, meaning they most likely had to change his diagonal speed to match his normal one but messed up the calculations instead

[matirion]

The goolix damage thing is because the pikmin hold one of the cores in place, and the hit to the moving core causes it to snap back and hit the stationary core. It's body is like a rubber band, and the more it's stretched, the harder the marbles/nuclei get launched. Simply put, it's physics.

[Jim]

Press A not knowing you could...well, press A at the ship to heal is ironically hilarious

[calansmith]

Neat! It’s pretty common for games to have *faster* diagonal walking speeds because the devs have you move +1 in X and +1 in Y at the same time, meaning diagonal is around 1.4 times faster in those games.
I’m guessing Pikmin has the opposite problem, where they divided the diagonal speed by root 2 like the older games should have, but the camera/movement system is programmed such that they should’ve left it equal, thus leading to 0.7x diagonal movement speed

[-Ajcool-]

This might not count as a mechanic, but there's an extra and probably unknown feature as you progress through the game.
As each repair on the S.S. Dolphin happens, there are two lights (or more?) that show the progress of repair.
The first stage is before any part is collected, when the lights are a black color.
The second stage happens as soon as you collect the engine, as the lights turn to a red color.
The next stages correspond with each upgrade to unlock each area. For example, the upgrade to unlock Area 3 makes the color turn to yellow, area 4 goes from yellow to green, and then goes from green to blue when you get 29 parts. When getting the Secret Safe, and the final cutscene plays, it goes from Blue to Purple.
Interesting how these color lights have to do with the progress, and I haven't noticed it until recently.

[TheLurkingLegend]

4:31 this shortcut actually exists in case Olimar goes to the Shock Absorber area and falls off the cliff into the Nova Blaster area, as he would be completely trapped within reinforced walls, and that's also why that hole to get past the bramble gate exists, in case you didn't bring any Pikmin with you

[ThePikminMaster]

Kinda sad how the Wii versions of Pikmin 1 and 2 get overlooked, because the stuff you can do in the Switch port of Pikmin 1 with its longer throw (shown in the video on the Switch port) can be done on the Wii version and has been known about for a while now. The Switch port of both games is actually based on the Wii version.

Amazing video! It'll help more people getting into Pikmin refine their movement and dandori skills!

[JulianSkies]

Oh yeah, that last one makes *sense* to me. It's tied to the thing about the enemies being stopped when out of sight.
When it's out of view range the game will absolutely avoid doing as many calculations as possible, possibly skips a lot of calculations by assuming things one way or another. Since it isn't *actually* moving the part and just sort of estimating where it /should/ be at all points in time the estimation likely is mildly incorrect.

[emerald]

7:00 “oh no that red pikmin is drowning, blue pikmin throw it back”
The blue pikmin in question: (due to not being able to add gifs here just act like this included a gif of a blue pikmin shaking their ass)

[renakunisaki]

Glitches and obscure mechanics in a video game I played one time 20 years ago? Hell yeah.

[Eraho]

Decided to test some of these on the switch version. Doesn't seem like standing under a plant affected my throw distance sadly. But I can confirm that the Bulborb pancake worked (though it was super annoying to get it in line with the cannon beetle). What I found very strange was that the giant Bulborb was immune to the cannon beetle's boulders (regardless of whether it was awake or not it did not flinch or take any damage from a head on boulder collision).

[wesleyrobinson]

I like to believe in my head canon that the last one was intended. They work harder when the boss is watching. Same.

[thenutyouknow]

12:40 confirmation that pikmin do indeed have performance anxiety

[xMaugrex]

Looks like the amoeba enemy takes more damage when it's further away because it snaps back together, ramming the two nuclei into each other. Makes sense it would hurt more with more rubberband force.

[CNC-ihcc]

On the last one, pikmin likely have a set horizontal carry speed so slopes are essentially flat ground in terms of carry distance, but when off screen the part probably proceeds along its default set path at a linear total speed, since that set path includes the up component of the slope it will be slightly longer and thus slower.