Okay, I didn't originally have this opening paragraph as part of my post, but I'm adding right now that this is gonna be a particularly big post from me here lol.
Pikmin is a game I have a storied history with. I originally discovered it through the semi-early trailer of the game in the Luigi's Mansion Options/Bonus Features menu. I'm not sure exactly what it was that got me as invested in it, whether it was the Pikmin themselves and the gameplay of building, controlling and defending a massive army of them that could fight hostile creatures and carry items to help benefit them and the player, the hostile creatures like Bulborbs themselves, or all of the above combined that it was a science fiction game with an emphasis on space and (what I thought at the time)) interplanetary exploration, but I was absolutely fascinated by the trailer, and it became yet another Gamecube game that I really wanted ot play. I eventually had my mom look at the same trailer for the game and requested her to try looking for it, but she was unable to find it.
A few years later, however, she was able to find that the more recent Pikmin 2 was still widely available, and got that for me intstead. Despite my lack of familiarty with the first game's mechanics and story, I still found myself absolutely hooked on the game for it's gameplay and character and creature designs. I was fascinated by the real-time strategy and growing mechanics, an the game even helped me better understand mathematics, in particular early level fractions, the latter of which my mom was happy about when I told her lol.
But as this is about the first game, I'll refrain from discussing the sequel too much until it gets brought up here as the future topic of discussion for the week. Instead, I wanted to bring this up to discuss my introduction to the franchise and to lead into how I eventually did get the first game: a few years after being Pikmin 2, my mom surprised me when I woke up one morning with a small gift bag, mostly containing gifts themed-around penguins (why penguins? Because my family and I had recently watched Happy Feet, and we loved it), but the one item that wasn't penguin-related happened to be a copy of the first Pikmin game that my mom had finally found and bought. I was positively delighted, and got to playing the game either later that very day or the next one. I don't remember for sure.
Having started with the sequel, I'll admit that going into 1 was a bit odd. I was almost more interested in the fact that most of the game's original areas returned and evolved into the new locations in Pikmin 2, as well as moreso the game's intriguing and saddening storyline of Olimar being stranded and trying to return home before his life support system gave out than I was invested in the gameplay itself. Part of this was because compared to the first, the game seemed...slower-paced and more difficult for weird reasons. Pikmin took longer to drink nectar and turn into Flower Pikmin from it, enemies showed up at more random days, there were no Purple or White Pikmin yet, enemies had abilities in the first game that they lacked in the sequel (like how Sheargrubs had invincibility when chewing on Pikmin and would only die after swallowing them even if they were completely drained of their heatlh while attacking, and how Swooping Snitchbugs could roam the entire area map freely), Pikmin died of most hazards far more quickly, barely giving the player any time to whistle them to safety, electricty wasn't present as a hazard yet and the Yellow Pikmin had the unique but odd ability to carry Bomb Rocks instead, etc. I have to admit that while I enjoyed the game, I was a little disappointed and frustrated with the difficulty of the game at the time after enjoying 2 so much.
That being said, I was still invested in the gameplay and setting and, after totally screwing up my first run, was determined to do better and finish the game for real. I eventually succeeded, and boy almighty was I shocked to find out that not only did the final area later make up part of Pikmin 2's own final area, but that the final boss was none other than a far larger and stronger Emperor Bulblax itself, an enemy that initially terrified me and decimated my army when I first encountered it in Pikmin 2. Beating it after a long, grueling battle (yeah, I had no idea how to use effective Bomb Rock strategies on it at the time lol) and finally getting to send Olimar home was massively satisfying and heartwarming, more so seeing that the Pikmin had learned to start standing up for themselves in the process.
Looking back, I honestly don't think I looked at the game that fairly at first. Sure, I was young at the time, but I played the sequel first and had read the dialogue and got invested into the storyo f that one just fine. In hindisght, I really don't know why I ever skipped over so much of the dialogue in 1 considering that. I was also constantly comparing the game's mechanics and difficulty level to those of 2, and it made me think that the game was poorly made or unfair compared to the later games. Nowadays, I have a much higher appreciation for the story for developing so much of Olimar's character and giving more insight on his thoughts and self-doubt as a leader and his family life, as well as giving the player a real sense of isolation even with the Pikmin's presence and help, simply for being stranded on the dangerous planet to begin, and sympathy and emotional impact for his desperation to return home to his family and home planet alive. His journal log entries are still a major highlight of the game.
Gameplay-wise, while I still think some of the game's mechanics haven't aged as well as 2 or even 3's, I do appreciate it for offering a high challenge with so many of it's boss fights and more dangerous hazards and enemies, although, I'm still glad both the New Play Control! edition and the sequels gave players a more reasonable window of time to save Pikmin from fire and water bubbles considering how far Pikmin could quickly scatter when struck by them, I do think the game still offered a greater challenge in terms of enemies compared to most of 2's, as most of them had higher health in the first game and many also had more difficult to dodge attack. The 30 day time limit, however, I didn't particularly miss, as while it does offer a greater challenge as well and the sense of urgency adds more layers to the story, the sequels giving the players far more time to grow and manage Pikmin squads was a welcome change as it allows the player to better realize the full potential of each Pikmin type and build up their numbers and customize their squads to their needs without a major rush that could ruin the save file's run. Still, I appreciated that the game offered more difficulty even so.
Regardless of the game's flaws and how some elements of the gameplay haven't aged well compared to how the sequels handled things...The game has far more pros that far outweight it's fewer cons. I have a massive amount of nostalgia for this game and it along with the whole Pikmin franchise holds a special place in my heart. While ranking the Pikmin games has and always will be difficult for me, I'd still recommend it for it's phenomenal gameplay and the challenges it offers, as well as the game's story and writing being among some of Nintendo's best. The franchise remained underrated up until Pikmin 3 brought the series back into the limelight, and I still think it deserves more attention to this day.
If you have money and time to spare, pick this game and it's sequel up on the Switch. You won't regret it. Especially if you're a fan of Real-Time Strategy Games and science fiction genre tales with an emotional core.