In this hands-on we'll only give you our first impressions of the game. We won't give you any details on the story etc.

Whenever I saw a Pikmin screenshot, movie or (p)review, I always thought that this was a really boring childish game.
After playing Pikmin at Milia, I've changed my mind.

There was only a demo level, not a full game for unknown reasons. The GameCubes were modded so I thought they could as well have demonstrated the full version of Pikmin.

Anyway, a demo it was, and not a bad one. At first the controls were explained to me, and then I was ready to play. If you don't know what Pikmin are, they are little things that look like colored onions. If you take them out of the ground, they get alive. You can use them to remove obstacles, collect items or kill enemies.
I had unlimited Pikmin in the demo, so it didn't mind if I'd drown some. That was pretty cool actually, because you see a ghost flying up to heaven whenever a Pikmin dies.

The first thing I had to do was collecting round items with numbers on them, the number indicated the amount of Pikmin I'd need to pick it up. The Pikmin would bring those things to flowers, and you'd get some new Pikmin. Even though it was fun to watch and do, I was hoping for some more action after a while. Then I saw a red arrow at a rock, indicating that I could use my Pikmin to do something over there. They broke down the wall, and I was free! Now I was in an environment with more enemies, and I also had to cross some water somehow. Many Pikmin lost their lives during that battle. That went on and on, until I had to beat some endboss. Unfortunately, I failed and the guys behind me wanted to play. I will get my revenge some day when I have my own copy of Pikmin.

The graphics look nice and friendly. They are pretty detailed, if you've played any other game by Miyamoto (the main guy responsible for this game), like the Mario or Zelda-series, you know what to expect. Pikmin is really Miyamoto-style.
I didn't have any problems with the camera angles, if you can't see the Pikmin, just press the R-button and the camera will zoom behind the guys.

The sound was pretty funny as, with weird background music. Pikmin make cool sounds as well.

The control was very good, but what else could you expect from Nintendo and, especially, Miyamoto. Just press A to pick Pikmin from the ground, and throw them to the selected place.

Overall conclusion: Pikmin kicks ass. Even though the game looks pretty childish, it's really fun to do, and it's not as easy as it looks. It may not be your kind of game, but I'm sure many teenagers will like this. I will definitely buy this one. If you're not sure yet though, you may want to check it out at a friend who has it, or rent it.
Another masterpiece by Miyamoto.