Nintendo gave Pikmin fans a couple of lovely surprises during the June 2023 Nintendo Direct, prepping players for Pikmin 4's debut by stealth-dropping the original Pikmin and its wonderful sequel in HD remastered form. Exciting!

Yes, if you've played these two beauties before, you'll know they're among some of Nintendo's loveliest work, and digging into the 2001 original here reveals a game that's stood the test of time remarkably well. Pikmin 1 is still a joyous, playful, cute and colourful adventure to undertake and, although this HD remaster isn't quite up to the standards we'd expect from the Big N — and nowhere near the level of remaster we got with the recent Metroid Prime Remastered — it's still a must-play in our book, especially if you've yet to sample the delights of this GameCube classic.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Pikmin 1, as it's now officially designated with this Switch port, sees you assume the role of Captain Olimar (did you know 'Olimar' is close to 'Mario' backwards in Japanese? We bet you did), a rather unfortunate employee of the Hocotate Freight Company who crash-lands his ship, the SS Dolphin, on a strange planet inhabited by helpful little creatures. Olimar's ride has been well and truly torn apart by the impact of his accident and it's now up to you to find 30 pieces of the Dolphin that have been scattered around the landscape. Oh, and Olimar's life support will run out in 30 days, so yeah, you're on a time limit. No pressure!

Facing a truly dire situation, Olimar discovers that the local friendly wildlife, which he names Pikmin due to their resemblance to his home planet's Pikpik Carrots, will follow his commands, helpfully battering down barriers, retrieving parts of his ship, dispatching hostile creatures and so on. And so we embark on a delightful puzzle adventure that sees you juggle three different types of available Pikmin in order to save yourself from certain death.

You've got the fireproof Red variety who excel in combat, bomb rock-chucking Yellows who can float a little further when thrown and are resistant to electricity (although that hazard wasn't introduced until the sequel), and Blues who can survive in water. Of course, Pikmin are also very small and therefore very weak, so fighting off foes, lifting heavy objects, or battering down a wooden barrier requires a whole lot of them working together. Luckily for Olimar, they can very easily multiply and factoring in how many you've got and how to get more is all part of the fun.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

As you progress through your allotted 30 days of in-game time, each one roughly 15 minutes long, you'll need to work relatively quickly to gather up all of the parts of the Dolphin, guiding your happy-go-lucky Pikmin through well-designed little pockets of puzzle action that are as fun to get to grips with now as they were 22 years ago. There's no need to get too stressed, that time limit is quite generous.

In terms of this HD port specifically, we're looking at a version of the game that's based on the Wii's 2009 New Play Control! release, which added motion controls alongside widescreen support and upgraded textures. On Switch, we get a further bump in resolution as well as the addition of updated controls that fall in line with those found in Pikmin 3. You can also choose to use motion controls if you so wish, and there are some little nips and tucks here, such as fast-pulling multiple Pikmin from the ground by holding in 'A' rather than repeatedly pressing it, and some reworked icons and renders here and there.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Is it going to knock your socks off in terms of presentation in the same way that Metroid Prime Remastered did? No, it is not, and this is a little disappointing given the not-insignificant price point for a game of this vintage. If it's not outright sloppy, it's certainly a little bare bones in places, with the likes of the UI having been upscaled rather than recreated. It's more Mario 3D All-Stars than Prime Remastered — perfectly serviceable, but you may expect more.

Overall, though, Pikmin 1 is such a great game that it's hard to knock, even with these minor complaints with regards to this particular port. What you've got here is a timeless slice of Nintendo at its most charming and inventive. The first Pikmin nailed its uniquely approachable RTS formula so hard that over two decades later — and even if we were playing sans any sort of upgrades whatsoever — it's impossible to blast through without a great big smile on your face. If these re-releases were designed to whet our appetites for Pikmin 4, consider us now well and truly starving.

Conclusion

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.