Challenge Mode (Pikmin 2)
The Challenge Mode in Pikmin 2 is very different from the one in the first game. To unlock it, the player needs to collect The Key from the final floor of the Citadel of Spiders in the Perplexing Pool. Challenge Mode takes place in many cave areas and the player will need to collect The Key in each to advance through sublevels, and so complete the level. Challenge mode starts with 5 levels unlocked and for every level complete another level is unlocked. There are 30 levels in all.
In each sublevel, a time limit is given, within which one must advance to the next sublevel or fail the challenge. Being awarded a white flower upon completion means that one or more Pikmin has died, while a no-death completion earns a pink flower. A widely held misconception is that in order to beat challenge mode, one must collect all the treasures and have no Pikmin losses - but only the key on each level is required. To unlock a special cutscene with Louie, the player must complete the challenge mode with all pink flowers.
Co-op
Co-op is a variation of challenge mode with two players, as the name implies. As with 2-Player battle, player one controls Olimar, and player two controls Louie, and the screen is split horizontally. Other than this, Co-op is completely identical to regular Challenge Mode.
Levels
- Explorer's Cave
- Novice Training
- Lost Toy Box
- Creator's Garden
- Green Hole
- Hot House
- Brawny Abyss
- Red Chasm
- Trampled Garden
- Twilight Garden
- Cryptic Cavern
- Concrete Maze
- Collector's Room
- Dweevil Nest
- Cavernous Abyss
- Snack Pit
- Three Color Training
- Hazard Training
- Cave of Snarls
- The Giant's Bath
- Rumbling Grotto
- Subterranean Lair
- Hidden Garden
- Abduction Den
- Secret Testing Range
- Breeding Ground
- Cave of Pain
- Bully Den
- Sniper Room
- Emperor's Realm
Minor glitch
If one of the captains is about to get injured and the player presses "give up" after having paused the game in that exact moment, the captain about to get hit will fall down as if damaged when the ship picks up the captains in the triggered cutscene. Instead of picking the damaged captain up, the ship will leave and let the glitched captain lay on the ground.