Pikmin 2

When coming up with my idea for my game level I immediately thought about the style of Nintendo's 'Pikmin'. Both Pikmin 1 and 2 were brought out originally for Gamecube in 2002 and 2004 and having played them years ago, I decided to try them out again. Even though its been nearly 10 years since the second Pikmin came out, I think the gameplay is still enjoyable and the graphics, even though now-a-days they are much more developed they still fit within its style so it doesn't really look out of place. The game itself revolves around the captain of a ship, Olimar (Olimar and Louie in the second game) who can control a crowd of Pikmin to explore an unknown planet. As both Olimar and the Pikmin are quite simple in design it would only make sense to have the surrounding environment and the props within it to be of similar style. There would be no point putting a highly detailed and hyper-real environment in with cartoon-like / stylized characters in which the game is revolved around.

The idea for Pikmin came about from the idea of microcosm - a world in miniature. Shigeru Miyamoto had this idea whilst gardening, anything can be your inspiration and this is how I came about creating a giant mushroom cluster as an inhabited place - taking the original mushroom form and idea and developing from that.

Sound plays a major part in any game and even though no actual words are spoken, there are sound effects/noises to replicate this and to show that these are an alien race, not accustomed to the English language. In any action the Pikmin do, sound effects accompany them as to make them more believable. If one Pikmin is to try carry something heavy you can hear it struggling as it is too much for the one alone, however when more Pikmin are added to help they manage fine and their sounds die down. They react to things how a human would which can make them seem more life-like and easier to connect with them.