Pikmin Park
Pikmin Park is a feature in Hey! Pikmin. It is a place where gathered Pikmin can play around and be safe, but it is also the source of some Sparklium. This Sparklium, be it in the form of treasures or bundles of Sparklium Seeds, is hidden beneath clutter in the park, which can be cleaned up by the Pikmin in the park. Some of the rubble has a specific hazard, meaning only certain types of Pikmin can clear it. The more Pikmin there are cleaning something, the faster it gets done, but progress is only made when an area is completed (whether it's the first time completing the area or not).
Plot
During the opening cutscene, Pikmin can be seen playing around in the Pikmin Park, next to the Onion. The S.S. Dolphin II crash-lands right next to the Onion. After Captain Olimar comes to, him and the ship's pod decide to head forward in the area to search for Sparklium. This is where he finds the Red Pikmin and the first few Sparklium Seeds. Following this, the pod takes him to the first main area, First Expedition.
After that area is completed, the ship recommends that Olimar brings the Pikmin he's found so far to a safe place. This doesn't include the Pikmin found in the Pikmin Park at the start of the game, since those got left behind when the initial exploration of the park finished. It then proceeds to beam up both Olimar and the Pikmin. After this, the Pikmin Park opens, and the Pikmin found are placed there, being the first ones to populate the park from here on out. While discussing the park, the S.S. Dolphin II points out that it found Sparklium readings within the park, but does not know where it is. The gathered Pikmin prove themselves useful here, as Olimar orders them to clean out the central part of the park. They start plucking away at the blades of grass there. After a short conversation, the ship points out that the Pikmin found something: the Distortion Chamber. Realizing that the Pikmin won't find anything else for a while, the ship tells Olimar to order the Pikmin to continue cleaning, as the duo heads off to a new area.
Types of clutter
- Grass: A small patch of tall grass. Pikmin pluck and carry away one blade at a time. Any Pikmin type can take care of it.
- Fireplace: A bundle of sticks on fire. Pikmin take a bit of wood at a time. Only Red Pikmin will clear them.
- Electrical wire: A bundle of wires with exposed conductors, and with current running through them. Pikmin take a piece of wire sheath at a time. Only Yellow Pikmin will clear them.
- Plants: A group of leafs and underwater plants in a lake. Pikmin take a small bundle of plant matter at a time. Only Blue Pikmin will clear them.
- Crystals: A solid crystals. Pikmin chip away a piece of the crystal and take it away, one at a time. Only Rock Pikmin will clear them.
- Rocks: A piles of rocks on top of a tall pot. Pikmin take one rock at a time. Only Winged Pikmin will clear them.
In addition, if the entrance is empty, there is a chance that a Coppeller carrying a Sparklium Seed will appear there. Pikmin can be ordered to go there to shoo it away, and make it drop what it was carrying.== Sections ==
Sections
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Rewards
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Pikmin
Pikmin in the park frolic around when they're idle, by either jumping in place, walking around, or running left and right. If they're tasked to work, they try their hardest to form an orderly line, so they can do take apart an object one by one. They sometimes trip down, which slows down the line, but this is only aesthetic.
Pikmin of all maturities appear in the park, but these are selected at random, and do not depend on the maturity the Pikmin were at when the player completed the area with them. On top of that, the maturity of a Pikmin does not have an impact on the process of cleaning up the park.
Mechanics
The Pikmin Park is accessed through the sector selection menu, through the area selection menu, or through the area completion analysis screen.
The park is divided into sections, which become available with time. Tapping on a section on the bottom screen will show it on the top screen. Each section has its own clutter. The player does not order individual Pikmin, but orders an entire group instead, consisted of Pikmin of the same type. The player also does not directly order them to work on tasks, but instead, tells them where to go. If they enter an area with something to clean up, they will begin doing so, forming an orderly line, and, one by one, jumping into the clutter, taking part of it, and jumping back out. However, if there's nothing they can do, they just idle on that part of the park. Besides cleaning up clutter, they can also shoo away Coppellers, when they appear on the main section of the park.
Adding Pikmin
Every time an area is completed, the Pikmin that made it with Olimar to the end are added to the park. The exceptions are Secret Spots, Sparklium Springs, and the first visit through the Pikmin Park, that only counts as a tutorial. That said, to complete a Secret Spot, the player must collect a pellet, and this adds 8 Pikmin of the pellet's type to the park.
When Pikmin are added to the park at the end of a level's completion, the next time the player visits the park, a small cutscene will play showing the new Pikmin joining the existing ones. If there are Pikmin in another part of the park whose type also got new Pikmin, then one cutscene will play for each section of the park individually.
Interface
The top screen is reserved entirely for showing the current section of the park live. The camera is static, and only a few dozen Pikmin are seen on-screen at once.
On the bottom screen, there is a blue band on the left that lists the number of Pikmin of each type available in the park. The rest bottom-left corner has a button to return to the area selection menu, and the button on the bottom-right allows the player to manage their Pikmin amiibo's level. The rest of the bottom screen shows a top-down map of the park. The player can tap the different sections here to go there. Each Pikmin type has an icon, and its location represents where that type is in the park right now. Tapping the icon and then a section will make the Pikmin go there. If the Pikmin have to head to the section that is already on-camera, the player gets to see them come up one by one to start the task or to idle, but if not, when the player chooses that section, they'll already spot the Pikmin at work or relaxing.
Each section also has icons on it that represent what types of clutter are still there, but since all icons would not fit, it only shows the most prominent ones. Sections tinted in blue are already fully clean.
Gallery
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Trivia
- If the player idles on the Pikmin Park for 3 minutes, the ship will eventually interrupt and say "Captain Olimar, why don't we leave this place to the Pikmin and go and explore somewhere else? The Pikmin know the drill when it comes to looking for Sparklium by now. We can leave them to their work." This helps players understand that waiting will not bring any progress, but exploring areas will. The timer resets upon performing an action (but just touching the screen does not count), and once the ship speaks, it won't do it again until the Pikmin Park is exited.