Nintendo Land

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Nintendo Land
Nintendo Land
Japanese name	ニンテンドーランド
Console	Wii U
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo
Genre	Party game
Players	{{{players}}}
Release date
Japan	December 8, 2012
North America	November 18, 2012
Europe	November 30, 2012
Australia	November 30, 2012
South Korea	N/A

Nintendo Land is one of the Wii U's launch titles. The game is set in a amusement park of sorts with a general Nintendo franchise theme. The main point of the game is to chose one of the several sub-games available in the park, all based on a specific franchise, like Mario or Pikmin, the latter's game being called Pikmin Adventure.

Pikmin Adventure

The logo

In this game, one player plays on the Wii U GamePad as a leader (presumably Olimar), while the other players, if any, play as a Red, Blue Yellow and White Pikmin-dressed Miis with their respective Wii Remotes.

The game takes place in a garden of sorts, with dirt, some bushes, a few ponds and wooden structures. The whole game has a robotic and blocky feel, given that the greenery is composed of blocks of different shapes, and the enemies are all robotic in nature. Some man-made objects can be seen, like vases and fences.

Gameplay

The goal is for all players to work together in order to break blocks, navigate the rooms and defeat the robotic Bulborbs that populate the floors in the "cave". After certain criteria are met, the portal to the next floor is activated. In addition, some rooms are blocked by hydraulic blockades, which are lowered when all enemies in the room are defeated. At the end of the final floor, there is a boss that must be defeated in order to complete the game. After being brought down, players must enter the Hocotate Ship which is located nearby in order to effectively finish.

All players can move around freely, attack and pick up rocks and bombs. The Captain player can issue small Pikmin to attack blocks or enemies, while the Pikmin players can strike with their heads. The main premise of the game is that the Pikmin players must collect blobs of nectar in order to increase their levels, which gives them a longer lifespan (damage reduces levels) and upgrades the top of their heads, from leaves, to buds, to flowers.

The health meter is shared between all players, which is indicated on the top-left corner of the screen in the form of hearts. When hit, Pikmin players will lose levels, and if they're hit when on the bottommost level, they will die. Whenever a player dies, the game freezes for a second, showing the defeated player, and when it thaws, that player will be sent flying upwards at an angle. A heart is depleted from the meter and, provided there are still any left, the player will briefly join the game again after a couple of seconds.

One of the main mechanics of the game is the Captain's whistle. When used, all Pikmin, human or not, will be grouped with the Captain. The player Pikmin will stack on top of the captain's head; player Pikmin can be thrown in this fashion. If a player Pikmin doesn't want to be grouped, they can shake the Wii Remote after the whistle.

Some spring-loaded pads, which require all players to be stacked in order to be activated, propel everyone onto other rooms.

Walls block the players' path sometimes, but these can be broken down. Some of these blocks are replaced with Question Blocks, which give out a bit of nectar or a heart when broken. In addition, larger variants of these blocks are on the ground in certain spots, and trigger certain events to happen when broken, such as spawning a bridge. Some Question Blocks appear spontaneously and randomly from the ground, and when broken, reveal several pools of nectar and sometimes hearts.

There is a robotic UFO piloted by the villainous Dark Monita that appears in some rooms, and drops enemies inside vending machine capsules. The most common enemies chomp Pikmin or the Captain, although there is a variety that can grab their prey, throw them up in the air, swallow them, and encapsulate them inside blocks shaped like feces. Players who are trapped will constantly shout "Help!" via a speech bubble near them, and they can be freed from these prisons if other characters or Pikmin attack them, at which point they'll say "Thank you!" via another speech bubble.

There are three powerups that captains and Pikmin can obtain. Hammer Seeds allow thrown Pikmin to slam the ground and potentially stun enemies. Whip Seeds increase the amount of Pikmin thrown at once (provided the captain has upgraded to bud or flower level) and also allows thrown Pikmin to home in on enemies. Finally, Knuckle Seeds allow the captain to fire his or her Pikmin like bullets at rapid speed. If damaged, the captain or Pikmin will lose their powerup instead of being knocked out.

Enemies

Some of the well-known creatures such as Red Bulborbs reappear, but there are also enemies never seen before in the actual series. The most common is a race of spherical insects, called "Beebs". Cannons are also featured; they either fire bombs or spiked balls. Blowhogs are featured, but they blow air and charge.

In the extra levels, some enemies are imbued with elemental properties; fire, water and electricity. These do not affect Pikmin like the hazards of the main Pikmin games but instead indicate which type of Pikmin will deal the most damage. For example, an enemy with an electrified weak point would be weak to Yellow Pikmin, but Red and Blue Pikmin would not deal as much damage.

• Bulborb - Comes in three colors, red, yellow, and green. Red Bulborbs charge after players in a straight line, while Yellow Bulborbs hop back and forth to dodge attacks and can also spit projectiles like water or spiked balls. Green Bulborbs attack like the Red Bulborb, but have the added ability of following the player while charging. All of these Bulborbs can eat players and trap them inside of a bulborb dropping.
• Bilious Bulborb - Similar to the Orange Bulborb in appearance, the Bilious Bulborb has three weak points; one on its back and two more on its sides. It attacks by spitting projectiles at players.
• Beeb - An enemy that walks around and has a simple tackle attack. Beeb size varies, and larger specimens (called "King Beebs") can also roll after captains and Pikmin.
• Bombardier Beeb - A Beeb variant that will explode shortly after spotting a player. The larger the Bombardier Beeb, the bigger the blast radius. It can be defeated before detonating, which yields nectar or coins.
• Telescoping Pumphog - A type of Blowhog that is anchored to the ground. It mainly acts as a cannon that fires bombs or spiked balls. White Pumphogs lack weak points and are invincible. This enemy is typically stationary, but a rare variant can burrow through the ground as means of travel.

Bosses

• Bulblord- A large Bulborb with a hexagon-shaped body. It charges, rolls, and bites. A stamp can be obtained if you break its eyes.
• Large-Mouth Wollywog- A large Wollywog. It uses its tongue to attack, or it tries to hop on you.
• Emperor Pinchipede- A large centipede with pincers. Its main attack is to just try and bite you.
• Greater Bladed Beeb- A insect which bears blades on its hands. It obviously tries to cut you.
• Grand Bulblord- A green Bulblord.
• Translucent Wollywog- A ghost-like Large-Mouth Wollywog.
• Greater Studded Beeb- A spike-ball handed Greater-Bladed Beeb.
• Monochromatic Pinchipede- A white Pinchipede.

Controls

The Captain player can move their character around the map with either analog stick, or by sliding on the screen to the point they want to go to. To throw the small Pikmin, the player must tap on the pretended target. On the bottom-right corner of the screen is the whistle button. To grab a rock or bomb, the player must tap on the corresponding object when they're close enough.

The Pikmin players play the game with the Wii Remote sideways, moving with the D-pad, and attack or grab rocks with the right-side button(s). When the Captain whistles, these players can shake the Wii Remote to ignore the call.

External links

• Gameplay video of the first mission on Kotaku
• Gameplay video of the second mission on YouTube

Trivia

• At the start of level 14, "Out of the Darkness", a castle that resembles the ones in the original Super Mario Bros. can be seen.