Pikmin isn't a new game, and after three years we can finally look forward to a Pikmin 2, but it's as original as the day it was released and still one heck of a lot of fun!

You play Captain Olivar, brave space explorer and master of the spaceship, Dolphin, until a meteor strikes your ship causing you to crash land and begin your search for your ship's parts so you can once again get home. One of your problems, among many, is that the planet's atmosphere is toxic to you and you have only 30 days to collect 30 parts to repair your ship and head home. And now the fun begins ...

At your landing site you come along a large structure that appears to be a bulbous flower on a tripod. For reasons unknown, you decide to call this structure an Onion. The Onions spits out seeds that germinate in the ground. Depending on how long they mature in the ground, you will see a plant with a leaf, bulb or flower at its head. Then you pluck it. Then it smiles at you! It fills you with longing of your home and reminds me of Pikmin carrots that you eat — and so you decide to call it a Pikmin in honor of said carrot.

Pikmin are odd little creatures. First off, they decide to help you find your missing ship parts with no explanation. So be it ... it's a big world and you can use the help. First off, you must understand the life cycle of a Pikmin, as you will be losing them to predators and occasionally drowning them or catching them on fire. Don't worry, you'll feel badly but you'll do it anyways. Pikmin are seeds that grow in the ground until harvested. They then will follow you (you have a whistle function to herd them) to other areas where they will pick up other seeds to bring back to the Onion so they may then be planted. Also, throughout the planet, seeds will grow into plants that must then be voraciously torn down by the Pikmin so the seed can be harvested ... you get the picture. If a Pikmin dies, he leaves behind a seed and will later grow — so, I'm not sure what they are, plant or animal or both. If you can manage to kill a predator or two you'll be able to bring their bodies back to the Onion which will then produce more seeds and yet more Pikmin. Got all that?

Now, you have three types of Pikmin to work with (but you don't know this at the beginning of the game). You begin with the red — who are immune to fire, but you learn this rather the hard way; the yellow have larger ears, are lighter and can carry bombs — how sweet; and finally, after countless massacres of red and yellow Pikmin you come upon the blue, the one's that have gills and can survive water. All of them can build bridges, break down walls and well, just generally congregate nowhere particularly useful causing you to go on "the great search" to find your missing 63 Pikmin.

Pikmin do all of the carrying for you. Once you find a piece of your ship, they'll be the ones to get it back. But, you've got to lead them to it and find the best way to get the ship part. This is where the strategy comes in. The pieces of the ship aren't just lying around. Some are in water, on hills, behind stone walls, near predators or a combination of all three. You'll need to determine based on the attribute of each colored Pikmin what path you are to follow, with whom and why — all the while avoiding damage to yourself and your cadre from indigenous life forms. Oh yes, and did I mention you can toss your Pikmin as a weapon?

For a 3-year-old game the graphics in Pikmin are still suitably impressive. You have three aspect ratios — at it's furthest, the game is played most often as you can see predators, seeds or ship parts in the distance. Close up is where you see the detail drawn into every piece of flora and fauna in the game and also makes it easier to harvest your Pikmin as opposed to using one as a Frisbee accidentally.

There are other strategies as time passes — once you find your radar you'll be able to view a map of all your ship's pieces (for all the good it will do you). As each day passes the predators become more dangerous and you'll find you'll need to keep an eye on your own health as well as that of your followers. And some things only happen at certain times of day so paying attention is important. Yet, for all of this weirdness, this is a fun game. It's addicting. Getting those ship parts becomes imperative not because you want to get home but because herding 100 Pikmin around the landscape at a time is just cool!

Luckily, the developers understood this, and there is bonus play where you try to beat your own best score at growing the most Pikmin in a day — while not being eaten.

The only reason I can see not to play Pikmin is if you just can't handle silly. The controls are very simple to learn — my son could manage them as a 5-year-old. And, this isn't an arcade game, it's real time strategy. But, it's what I think is the best kind — FUN! No death, no dying, no missions you can fail ... just herd those plant/animal/pikmin things throughout the world and rebuild your ship to get home!