Hotdog! Hotdog!

I brought my Gamecube along to Hawaii, I don’t deny it. And I’m glad I did, because it was the perfect indoor activity on the rainy days. Paper Mario was pretty blah, but once I beat that I moved on to Pikmin 2, and what a treat! The game was so great that it earned a last second spot on my top games of 2004. And then I came back from Hawaii, and didn’t play it... Honestly, it was a busy time, interviewing for jobs, moving to Portland, looking for a place to stay, etc. So, my faithful troop of Pikmin sat lonely and neglected... until this past Sunday.

Kara and I were sitting around not doing much, so I pulled the game out to try the two player version... and it was a lot of fun! And it reminded me of what I’ve been missing, so I started playing the single player game again. The game has a neat sense of exploration to it. The levels are pretty open and have plenty of tasks that need to be completed. You have full control over what you do next, so it feels almost like you are writing a story as you play. I’ve nearly beat the game now, but I expect this’ll be one of those rare games that I keep coming back to. Even after I’ve met the goal of 10,000 Poko (that’s money) there’ll be plenty of treasures left to find (I haven’t even unlocked the 4th world OR the challenge mode yet!) This game reminds me of just how good Nintendo games can be... now if only they’d make more than two a year.