2-Player Battle was introduced to the Pikmin series in Pikmin 2. It involves, as the name implies, two players, who control Captain Olimar and Captain Louie, in control of up to 50 of each Red Pikmin and Blue Pikmin respectively. Each player can start the match with a multiple of 5 Pikmin between 5 and 50, and cannot exceed 50 total Pikmin on the battlefield at any time. 2-Player Battle takes place in underground areas, their layouts randomly generated. Each player has an appropriate Onion, near which a similarly-colored marble lies at the start of the game. There are four ways to win (see below) and ten differently-themed areas to play on, ranging in difficulty. Returning a cherry to your Onion will allow you a spin of the roulette wheel. To make things even, Red Pikmin have lost their extra strength, and there are no pools of water.
If somebody has 3 Yellow Marbles, the Pikmin react by saying something repetitively, depending in which player has 3 Marbles. At first, the chants may be confused with a cheerful "Ha-ri a!" (Hurry up) or just a plain "Ha-ri" (Hurry), but note the lack of a "l" sound and it turns out that the Pikmin are actually cheering on their respective captains (E.g.: O-ri-ma! (Red Pikmin), Ru-i! (Blue Pikmin)). This is due to Olimar & Louie's Japanese pronunciation being Orimā (オリマー) and Rūi (ルーイ).
Ways to win
- Take 4 yellow marbles to your Onion. NOTE: There are only 7 in each area, so only one captain can get 4.
- Take your opponent's red or blue marble to your Onion
- Pikmin Extinction
- Your captain: Olimar/Louie is down!
Win and Lose Reactions
After a game is finished, the icon in the corner of the 2-Player Battle menu who won change to a grinning face of that character. The captain who loses will look angered. If one player wins three more matches than the opponent, then that character will appear even more happy, showing his teeth in his smile. The player 3 times under will look completely enraged, with evil looking eyes.
Battle Arenas
Roulette Wheel
The Roulette Wheel can be accessed when you find a cherry and a Pikmin successfully returns it to your Onion. You will have access to 12 different powers that benefit you, disadvantage your opponent or both, listed below:
| +5 Sprouts:
You gain five Pikmin sprouts if you have less than 50. | |
| +10 Sprouts:
You gain ten Pikmin sprouts if you have less than 50. | |
| Flower:
All of your Pikmin that are not planted in the ground will bloom into flowers. | |
| Ghost:
You and your Pikmin become invisible to your opponent for a limited amount of time. Your opponent can still see your footsteps and Ultra-spicy Spray effects. This effect picture seems to look like a rock pikmin. | |
| Ultra-bitter Spray:
Gain one drop of Ultra-bitter Spray. This does not petrify the other player, it sends their pikmin into the ground. | |
| Ultra-spicy Spray:
Gain one drop of Ultra-spicy Spray. | |
| Marble:
Your marble, if above ground, will bounce all the way back to your Onion, whether it is near or far. | |
| Withering Blowhog:
A Withering Blowhog will appear near your opponent's Onion. | |
| Swooping Snitchbug:
A Swooping Snitchbug will appear near your opponent's Onion. | |
| Volatile Dweevil:
| |
| Rocks:
Several rocks will drop near your opponent. Use this when the opponent has a large group (best with unflowered, like the volatile dweevil.) | |
| Fiery/Watery Blowhog:
A Fiery Blowhog will appear near Louie's Onion or a Watery Blowhog will appear near Olimar's Onion. |
Note that enemies created upon a spin of the Roulette Wheel disappear completely upon defeat, meaning their bodies cannot be returned to either Onion, and only last for a short amount of time regardless of whether they are attacked.
Pikmin Arithmetic
Enemies found underground in single player are also in 2-Player Battle. Below is a list of how many sprouts each creature is worth:
- Snow Bulborb: 4 sprouts
- Dwarf Orange Bulborb: 4 sprouts
- Breadbug: 4 sprouts
- Anode Beetle: 5 sprouts
- Careening Dirigibug: 8 sprouts
- Wollywog: 8 sprouts
Strategies
These are basic strategies. Mix and match to do even better!
Wasting opponent's Sprays
Sprays are an essential part of 2-Player Battle, as they can turn the tides in a Pikmin vs. Pikmin situation easily. Using a small squad, attacking the enemy might get the other player to use sprays prematurely. This can be repeated with the rest of the Pikmin.
Collecting marbles
With a small squad, the player can run to the opponent's base and steal the marble, assuming the other player is not there with a larger squad. Should the other player come to defend the marble, running up to him/her with the rest of the Pikmin can distract the enemy Pikmin from getting to the marble that is being carried away. Creatures can also be led to the enemy base as means of distraction or to kill idle Pikmin.
For yellow marbles, if the other player is likely to stop marbles from being brought back, it is advisable to collect ones that are on opposite side of each other, as it will force the other player to decide between them.
Defense
Leave about 7-15 pikmin at your marble to act as an alert system. When your numbers start to change, get back to base. They can also be left in crucial bottleneck passages.
Cherry Siege
This one often requires a bit of luck as it relies almost entirely on random generation. The cherries that allow you to use a roulette spin will oftentimes drop steadily in the same area of the arena over time (usually in one of the alcoves.) Take note of where cherries seem to drop more during the match, then keep Pikmin in that area to quickly transport them back to the onion. You can actually hold up to five spins at a time. Use the spins strategically or all at once in hopes that you'll drop lots of enemies and obstacles to keep your opponent busy. Large-scale distractions like this can help you steal marbles without them noticing or even a Pikmin Extinction if your opponent is careless enough.
Marble Loss
On some stages, a breadbug may steal your marble. If your opponent tries to take it back, attack him. Don't worry, you won't lose when your marble gets back to the breadbug's den. When your marble is gone, do not kill breadbugs. The breadbug will keep the marble safe in its den while it still lives. If the breadbug steals your opponents marble, use your pikmin to take to your onion. Overpower the breadbug 8/1.
Pikmin On Leader
Some ways to irritate the other captian is to swarm him with pikmin. This will cause him to become damaged but can not kill him. This will slow him down if trying to collect pikmin. If you have pikmin attacking you than get a lot of pikmin and swarm yourself, causing the pikmin on you to jump off and fight. A way to take advantage of this is use 49 pikmin on your opponent and he will need 49 to knock them all off, while you use one to steal his or her marble.
Kill Idle Pikmin
If the enemy captain leaves some Pikmin idle, you can kill them to reduce the amount of Pikmin they have or even cause a Pikmin Extinction. In order to make them disappear completely, do not kill them with Pikmin, as they will reborn as seeds, you may use:
- "Cherry" enemies: If the idle Pikmin are in the other captain's Onion, you may summon Blowhogs to kill them.
- Normal enemies: Spotty bulborbs, for example, can eat lots of enemy Pikmin. You can let the enemy chase you to the place where the Pikmin are, in the other side, you may let enemy Pikmin chase you and bring them to the enemies.
- Bomb-Rocks: Those can kill lots of Pikmin in a few seconds. They also work against captains.
- Hazards: In Hostile Territory, let enemy Pikmin chase you to places with electricity.
Finish last Pikmin
If the enemy captain has one Pikmin left, look for it and kill it with your Pikmin, this causes a Pikmin Extinction.
Gallery
2-Player Battle Rules page 1
2-Player Battle Rules page 2
- Pikmin2 Louie Light.png
In the original version of 2-Player Battle, the lighting changed depending on who the players were playing as.
Trivia
File:BulbearRoulette.pngFile:DweevilRoulette.pngFile:AntennaBeetleRoulette.png
- At one point in the development of Pikmin 2, the roulette wheel contained more enemies to summon at the opponent's base. These enemies included a Spotty Bulbear, an Antenna Beetle, and Fiery/Caustic Dweevils. The roulette icons of these enemies remain in the game's files.