"This game is so cute!" That was the reaction my ex-girlfriend had when she played the 2001 GameCube hit Pikmin. On the surface she is absolutely correct. Pikmin is a game that stars tiny little plant creatures, each with their own silly flower hat.
The art direction for the game is as colorful as the pikmin themselves, with a design that makes even vicious monsters seem like desirable household pets. The protagonist of the game, Captain Olimar, flew in on a miniature spaceship while wearing an antenna on his head. Basically, your simple minded ex-girlfriend has every reason to call Pikmin a "cute" game.
I ask that you stop giggling for just a moment. Remove your mind from those happy Pikmin memories, and take just a few minutes to really think about the events that transpired during the game. As I sit here taking my own advice, I begin to feel cold chills when I remember all those pikmin who died by my hand. I can still hear them scream as they fell to their death in water, or became the meal of a giant bug.
I even remember controlling Captain Olimar as he threw pikmin purposely into harm's way, just to occupy a monster in hopes of creating safe passage. Suddenly Pikmin doesn't seem like such a cute game anymore. Below the cuddly surface, this is a dark game seeping with brilliant social commentary.
