I spent some time with Pikmin 3 during E3 and the demo I got to try had a timed mode where the goal was to collect as much giant fruit as you can before time runs out. Alph, one of the new explorers in Pikmin 3, started out with a small group of red Pikmin which you can throw by pointing at objects like fruit with the Wii remote. The controls are accurate and aiming where you want to throw Pikmin is a piece of cake. However, you need to step back when throwing Pikmin up high because Alph’s throw arcs upwards so if you’re standing right in front of a ledge the Pikmin will bounce off the ledge. You use the nunchuck to move Alph around and the
After grabbing all of the nearby strawberries I moved away from the onion, but a gate that the red Pikmin can’t break by whacking it with their leaves and a puddle of water blocked my way. Fortunately, Alph can cross through the water, but the red Pikmin will drown if they follow him. I left the red Pikmin at the base and scrambled past Bulbmin. This open area had more items to collect, but I needed to amass a new Pikmin army. The level was conveniently designed with easy access to Purple Pikmin which were useful to defeat the Bulbmin and Winged Pikmin to open the gate. The Winged Pikmin lifted the columns, which let me bring my Red Pikmin out in the big world. However, these Winged Pikmin were stuck holding the columns up. If you call them to follow Alphthe gate closes.
In addition to opening special gates, Winged Pikmin can fly over water and even fly things back to the Onion. The downside about Winged Pikmin is they don’t do much damage. That’s where Rock Pikmin come in. Rock Pikmin are powerful, but they don’t latch on to enemies. You toss Rock Pikmin and they roll back to you. Rock Pikmin were showcased in last year’s demo which had a boss fight. This video showcases all of the Pikmin types including the Purple Pikmin and White Pikmin from Pikmin 2.
