User:KamekSans/Pikmin 1 and 2 Texture Comparisons

This page compares some textures that are shared between Pikmin and Pikmin 2, and noting any oddities between them (as well as some texture oddities in general).
This is all coming from my observations from dumping the textures using the Dolphin emulator. "Identical textures" are textures that are the exact same between games, even down to the filename in the texture dump.

This is an ongoing project. I'll probably be working on this on-and-off when I get the chance. I likely won't be able to document absolutely everything (these games have lots of textures, you know!), but I'll try to include as much as I can find.

Environment

• Several foliage textures shared between the two games are recolored or otherwise edited in Pikmin 2 for use in other areas; for example, the versions of the textures used in the Valley of Repose are snowy.

Identical Textures

• The leaf overlay when zooming into the title screen.
• A texture map containing a leaf, a blade of grass, a clover, and a small red flower, which all appear on the title screen.
• A leaf and a green texture possibly used for reeds of some kind.
• Several environment textures from The Impact Site.

Objects

• The numbers on Pellets in Pikmin are at a smaller resolution than those in Pikmin 2, and are all mirrored.
• The design on the Onion is much smaller in Pikmin 2. In Pikmin, it is

Identical Textures

• The legs of an Onion.
• The specular maps for Pellets.

Creatures

• Many enemies with multiple, separated textures in Pikmin have their textures combined into one singular texture for Pikmin 2, presumably to save on space. Many of the textures are also lower-resolution.
• The Burrowing Snagret's scales are much flatter in color in Pikmin 2, but achieve a sense of depth by using specular maps.
• The Pikmin's leaves are a more vibrant green in Pikmin 2.
• The texture of Pikmin's Souls is identical between games, but the Pikmin 2 version trims off extra space on the sides.
• The purple part of the Male Sheargrub's texture in Pikmin has a lighter purple "rim" around the edges that is absent in Pikmin 2.
• The texture of the Female Sheargrub in Pikmin 2 is the same size as its body texture in Pikmin, but it is squished slightly to make room for its eye and mouth textures in the same texture.
• The Beady Long Legs' texture is the almost identical between games, but Pikmin 2's version is more compressed, resulting in fewer colors in some places. The Beady Long Legs in Pikmin 2 also has a specular map to give it depth.
• The texture of the Iridescent Flint Beetle in Pikmin 2's title screen easter egg is absolutely miniscule, measuring only 16x16. For comparison, the Iridescent Flint Beetle's body texture in Pikmin is 32x64.
• Shearwigs have yellow bellies in Pikmin, but light green bellies in Pikmin 2.
  • The texture of the Shearwig's wings in Pikmin are black and white, and presumably dynamically colored yellow in-game. In Pikmin 2, the texture itself is yellow to begin with. The wings in Pikmin are also translucent.

Identical Textures

• The spots on the back of a Bulborb.
• The fuzz on a Burrowing Snagret's head.
• The Emperor Bulblax's eyes.

Tools and Obstacles

• Bridges in Pikmin use a different texture when they're built as opposed to using the same texture for the bundle of sticks, like in Pikmin 2. This unique texture is also transparent.

Identical Textures

• Geysers.

GUI

• The "It is almost sundown. Hurry up!!" text is a higher resolution in Pikmin 2, but the actual countdown is lower resolution.
  • Interestingly, the message that appears during the countdown is a bit more urgent in Pikmin 2; in Pikmin, it says "Hurry, gather your Pikmin!", while in Pikmin 2 it says "Hurry! Gather your Pikmin!"
• The control stick animations in Pikmin are much, much brighter than in Pikmin 2.
• Despite being identical between games, the HUD icons for Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, and Blue Pikmin have different filenames in Pikmin 2.
• The icon of the reclining Pikmin to represent the number of idle Pikmin in Pikmin 2's pause menu is an edited version of the reclining Red Pikmin that can be seen in Pikmin's Challenge Mode menu.

Identical Textures

• The spotlight that appears in the Onion menu.
  • The arrow that appears in the same menu.
• The X, Y, and Z button icons.
• The textures of the Sun Meter.
• The compass on the map screen.

Oddities

• A smaller version of Olimar's icon on the health meter in Pikmin is loaded, seemingly unused, in Pikmin 2 when the game is paused.
• During the end of day cutscene in Pikmin 2, the HUD icon for a Blue Bud Pikmin is loaded into memory.
• The HUD icons for White Pikmin in Pikmin 2 are crudely-edited Yellow Pikmin icons. Interestingly, in early screenshots of the game, this is even more obvious, as they still retain Yellow Pikmin's distinctive ears.

Other

• The top half of the background of Pikmin 2's world map is the same stock photo that appears as the basis of Pikmin's map screen.