With the arrival of Pikmin 3 Deluxe, Nintendo is once again adding an original Wii U title to the ever-growing Switch catalog. As we are used to from similar ports, the subtitle ‘Deluxe’ is added and it is a complete package with streamlined gameplay and all released dlc included. But how deluxe is this transfer actually compared to the original? We compare the two versions.
Nintendo is quite clear about the exact contents of Pikmin 3 Deluxe. In addition to all the original content and additional DLC missions, the Pikmin Fun Pack adds a two-player cooperative mode so you can play the story in pairs. In addition, a brand new prologue and epilogue story will be added with Captain Olimar and Louie in the lead roles and “general improvements” will be made to the aiming system and difficulty, among other things. Nothing is actually said about the graphics, although we did notice some differences here – although we really had to put the two versions side by side to notice them.
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Hands on the buttons
Although you might initially think that porting the Wii U Gamepad-oriented control would be the biggest problem when porting to the Switch, it turns out that this is not much of a problem. Pikmin 3 made clever use of the Wii U Gamepad, for example by showing the card on it and letting you control the Pikmin directly via the touchpad, but the series has its roots on the Nintendo GameCube. Traditional control on the Switch therefore feels just as natural.
In fact, the touch-sensitive controls on the Wii U Gamepad were quite a hindrance for left-handers like yours truly, because you had to hold the stylus in your right hand. Fortunately, that is a thing of the past on the Nintendo Switch. Selecting and throwing Pikmin is done with the B and A buttons respectively and you move the cursor with the right analog stick. We’d rather have all our fingers on the buttons than a cramped left hand that has to lift the Wii U Gamepad while you are fiddling with the screen with your other hand.
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Smarter Pikmin
The conducting of dozens of Pikmin is therefore nice and smooth on the Switch, and that is partly thanks to one of the many subtle general improvements that we mentioned earlier. With the ZR button you can now easily ‘lock’ on enemies or objects, so all you have to do is hit the A button to fire a platoon of Pikmin at your target. It is a typical example of a simple but very effective addition that makes the controls feel much tighter. Your Pikmin will be grateful that you no longer accidentally send them to drowning because your cursor was not perfectly placed.
There are other subtle adjustments. Our favorite is that Pikmin who are already busy with a task, no longer immediately stop their activities when you quickly whistle them back. How often does it happen that you want to call a bunch of Pikmin to you, but just happen to pass three red Pikmin with a carcass in their paws when you use your flute. On the Wii U they would have immediately dropped everything, but on the Switch they pause and look at you expectantly, as if asking: “Did you mean us too?”. If you don’t confirm with a second whistle, they will shrug and happily continue with their task. Pikmin have become smarter on the Switch.
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Additional Challenges
We will keep it short about the added prologue and the epilogue with Olimar and Louie, because the complete verdict follows in the review. In the first few missions, you race against the clock while trying to collect as much fruit and treasure as possible – a set-up almost identical to the excellent DLC missions also included in Pikmin 3 Deluxe. So don’t expect completely new storylines with our favorite captains in the lead, but more challenge-oriented missions.
You can also play those missions in pairs, just like the main story. Since you are constantly switching between three main characters throughout Pikmin 3’s story, the addition of a cooperative mode only makes sense. Both players have full autonomy and can come and go as they please thanks to split-screen multiplayer – only you have to want to share your Pikmin with each other. Graphically or technically we did not encounter any major surprises during single or multiplayer, but that is probably because Pikmin 3 Deluxe makes little effort to be more beautiful and faster than the original.
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Although we cannot speak of a major remaster, Nintendo has made a lot of improvements to the port of Pikmin 3.
The graphics compared
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If we compare the main menu we actually see no differences between the Switch and Wii U versions. Okay, apart from the whole subtitle present then. In general, the Switch version remains very faithful to the original and we can therefore not speak of a ‘remaster’ (which was never promised), but there are some differences here and there.
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For example, you can see from the screenshots above that the texture of the sand under the water surface is different on the Switch. In the original the sand appears to be coarser and you see signs of pebbles buried under the sand, but on the Switch the sand is finer. We personally find the extra details in the Wii U version more interesting, but that’s a matter of taste.
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Two things strike us in the screenshots above: The texts have been changed and more is shown of the folder in the Switch version. We noticed that the game lyrics were largely rewritten or re-translated in the re-release, but the reason for this is unclear to us. In general, they are more informative and make it clearer what exactly is expected of the player. More illustrations have also been added to the tutorial.
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When we ‘zoom out’ we already see some more differences. The Switch version opts for more colorful environments, with greener fields and vegetation. Unfortunately, the textures of the soil remain very cloudy when viewed closely.
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This can be seen, for example, in the screenshots above. The Bulborb features sharper textures and more detail in the eyes on the Switch, but the ground is just as out of focus as in the original.
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Finally, the delicious-looking fruit has remained untouched between the two versions. On Wii U, the 3D models of all fruit pieces seemed almost photo-realistic, nowadays the bar for drool-inducing 3D food is a bit higher. But admittedly: we would still like to take a bite of this strawberry. On the Switch, the lighting seems different and the colors come out better, but the in-game time at which the photo was taken may have been an influence.
Although we cannot speak of a radical remaster, Nintendo has made a lot of improvements to the port of Pikmin 3. Whether that is enough after seven years, you will soon read in the review on Gamer.nl.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe will be released for Nintendo Switch on October 30th.
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