Pikmin is a game with an incredibly strong core concept that ends up stumbling in execution thanks to the way it controls and the ways the Pikmin themselves act. Your squad of Pikmin are constantly doing things you don't want them to, whether that be picking up random things as you pass by them, suddenly attacking Pellet Posies without being ordered and before they've even matured, and most infamously, stepping out of the group to go pick grass, just for fun. They're very easily distracted. Combat suffers from limitations of the controls, as precise aiming is difficult and there's no way to throw Pikmin somewhere other than where you're facing. In fact, the game doesn't seem to like the idea of you throwing Pikmin and moving at the same time at all. The speed at which you can toss the little guys is inconsistent too, with the game sometimes allowing you to go full on rapid-fire, and other times feeling oddly slow for how fast you press the button. There's not even any way to choose which Pikmin to throw without awkwardly trying to position yourself closest to the type you want (which was addressed in Pikmin 2 and quickly fixed in all rereleases of the first game), making combat with multiple Pikmin types clunky. The game doesn't tend to ask for too much precision in that area, as enemies aren't complicated enough to be specialized for more than one Pikmin type, but it certainly makes usage of bomb rocks frustrating and hazardous. You'll find yourself dismissing your Pikmin a lot more than later games simply so you don't have to worry about selecting the wrong type to throw, but did I mention that sometimes the Pikmin just don't dismiss into very defined type groups and you'll have to do it again a couple times just to avoid accidentally whistling some you don't need? For a game that's supposed to have a heavy emphasis on strategy, your lack of control over your little army is frustrating.
In the end though, Pikmin 1 is the first of its kind, so it makes sense that all its concepts wouldn't be fully refined yet. What Pikmin does offer, however, is an incredibly charming and unique experience that's still enjoyable in spite of some control frustrations. Olimar himself is much more vocal than most Nintendo protagonists, and the notes he logs at the end of each day serve as a great way to humanize him (messages about his family especially get you to sympathize... the game by no means has to delve into Olimar's background at all, but in doing so, it gets you to care for him a lot more). His little descriptions of each ship part you find are entertaining as well, and the game has a subtle comedy to it that'd fly over most kids' heads. I couldn't help but smile when I found Olimar's Geiger counter and he was like, “It clicks like crazy sometimes when I'm flying but I just ignore it, I dunno man ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.” There's a variety of wacky ship parts that Olimar has no clue the purpose of, but he seems eager to recover them nonetheless.
The game's chock full of goofy creatures that seemingly all want nothing more than to eat you, some more intimidating than others. There's a certain level of “disaster strikes” that's just part of Pikmin's appeal... you've not really played Pikmin until you've watched 50 Pikmin die right in front of your eyes and you slowly turn towards the camera like “...welp”. You can conveniently reload your last save from the pause menu if things go too bad, but it's also important to be able to laugh these kind of fumbles off. You'll know better next time. And Pikmin's certainly designed with a “next time” in mind. With its short length, multiple endings, secret bosses (which lend the game a certain air of mystery a lot of modern games lack), and full-on leaderboard that shows up at the game's end stacking you against your previous playthroughs, Pikmin is clearly designed to be played again and again, as you slowly grow more efficient each time. “Short but sweet (and replayable!)” is a design philosophy I can get behind, though I never found myself very motivated to dive into Pikmin often, as per the reasons listed at this review's start. This is only my second time playing the game.
Pikmin tosses you into a world of quirky creatures and the all-deadly threat of time management, managing to create an engaging world and nail all its core gameplay concepts surprisingly well... but unfortunately held back by controls that needed more refinement and Pikmin that were a little too distractible. Rereleases of the game would give the controls the refinement they needed (though unfortunately not touch up the Pikmin AI besides one quick fix with bomb rocks), so if you're going to play Pikmin at all, I'd recommend playing either the Wii version or the newly released Switch version (which I'd probably rate higher for the improved controls alone! ...The only downside being Fiddlebert's removal, of course).