Beginning with the original Pikmin on GameCube back in 2001, Shigeru Miyamoto’s garden-inspired real-time strategy series has seen three mainline sequels in the years since, plus a couple of Pikmin spin-offs, and various re-releases and remastered versions with different control options and other features.
But which Pikmin game is best? That’s what we’re here to find out, all thanks to you. Below you’ll find a list of every Pikmin game ranked, as rated by Nintendo Life readers.
Pikmin Bloom is much more of a life companion app than something to feverishly devour as long as your battery permits. It feels like a far ‘healthier’ experience for body and mind than many free-to-play games, and Niantic accomplishes its goals well.
It lacks the compulsive pull of Pokémon GO, but where that game can feel like an insurmountable climb if you’ve put it down for any length of time, with no hope of catching ’em all, Pikmin Bloom is more like an old friend you haven’t seen in years – you just pick up where you left off. Fire it up with appropriate expectations, and you’ll likely have a bloomin’ good time with it.
A 3DS spin-off developed by Arzest, Hey! Pikmin eschews the RTS mechanics of the mainline series in favour of some lighthearted 2D action-platforming, serving as a cute and accommodating introduction to the franchise but one that’s lacking in the fundamentals for series veterans. It has that feel of a ‘second-tier’ Nintendo release, not helped by the limitations that 2D play places on the core concept. It’s solid but uninspiring, fun but unsurprising, approachable but lacking in witty design.
Younger gamers — or those that want a gentle introduction to the world of Pikmin — will likely get the most pleasure and mileage out of it. For everyone else, it’s worth going in with low expectations.
Pikmin 2 is a fantastic follow-up to the 2001 original that expands upon its predecessor’s core gameplay in some neat and well-considered ways. This is a bigger game, with more areas and dungeons to explore, a larger variety of Pikmin to work with, multiple protagonists to control, and a few extra modes thrown in for good measure.
It may be a bare-bones port, and we do really miss those Duracells, but this is a game that’s aged remarkably well and, with foundations as delightfully entertaining and inventive as this, it’s still an experience that we highly recommend checking out on Switch.
Pikmin 1 remains a delightful puzzle adventure that sees Nintendo at its most charming and inventive.
Yes, this Switch port is a little bit underwhelming, with just a higher resolution and some new controls to get excited about, but with a core game this good, it’s still an experience that comes highly recommended. Over two decades on from its original release, Pikmin’s unique brand of magic remains undiminished.
Who says that Switch is the first Nintendo system to plunder its less successful predecessor for choice ‘deluxe’ re-releases, eh?
The ‘New Play Control!‘ series brought back a host of GameCube titles with Wii Remote enhancements and other additions for a new audience, and if you never played Pikmin originally on the lil’ purple box, this was the perfect way to catch up.
Terrible box art, though. Does anyone actually like those? “Well, you didn’t play it the first time around, so as punishment, you’re getting the boring box.” Actually, the covers were reversible so you could get something far closer to the original GC box art if you wanted.
Anyway, Pikmin. Good game.
Some might say this is the finest version of the finest Pikmin game, offering the best of all worlds with Wii Remote pointer functionality and a surprisingly good multiplayer component, too.
The sequel might make the fruit look tastier in gorgeous HD, but Pikmin 2 is still the gold standard of the series in our book, whether you play on GameCube, with some New Play Control! on Wii, or on Switch.
Visually, Pikmin 3 Deluxe doesn’t push the boat out much further than the original Wii U version. In most respects, it’s a simple, tidy port of the same great game we first played back in 2013.
Where its changes lie are in its revamped control system and the addition of a new Side Stories mode. Neither is transformative enough to warrant double dipping if you’re perfectly happy with your Wii U copy, but if you’re one of the vast majority who don’t have a Wii U copy, this Switch update is unquestionably the best way to play Pikmin 3.
Shigeru Miyamoto takes up gardening and before you know it he’s cracked out Nintendo’s inimitable version of the real-time strategy genre.
Featuring for the first time those tiny little plant creatures that you order around in groups to pick up rubbish, harvest fruit, and battle bugs and other beasties, it’s disarmingly charming and utterly bloodthirsty at the same time.
You become very protective of the little critters that do your bidding and there’s an immense feeling of guilt when you accidentally command a legion into a watery grave or awaken a nest of sleeping monsters that proceed to munch through great swathes of your army.
The sequel might have had some great refinements and additions — and did away with the finite time limit — but there’s something to be said about the taut design and focus of the original Pikmin. We like it a lot.
