Around the launch of the GameCube, Shigeru Miyamoto announced Pikmin, his project that he designed after spending time in his garden. As there always have been, critics insinuated that Miyamoto was "losing it." "It," of course, was the ability to make ground-breaking, fun and original games like Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and so on. Pikmin proved them wrong with a game that was beautiful, controlled extremely well, and was a joy to play. Pikmin 2, it could be said, is "more of the same." But it's much, much more. The game has added new pikmin, new items to collect, new abilities, new characters, multiplayer modes, and more. It's just a much more complete package than the first game, and it makes a game that was great before into a real treasure that shouldn't be missed. For those unfamiliar with what Pikmin is all about, here's a quick rundown. The game is a real-time strategy game that involves you as Captain Olimar (and in Pikmin 2, his comrade Louie) who use tiny plant-like creatures dubbed "pikmin" to help accomplish various goals. In Pikmin, you were using them to regain the pieces to your ship before 30 days passed and your air supply ran out. In Pikmin 2, you're using them to collect "valuable" items in order to pay off your company's massive debt. Thankfully, the 30-day time limit has been removed, allowing you to spend as much time as you want building up your troops, exploring, or battling creatures. Just as any strategy game comes with a variety of types of units, the pikmin come in a variety of colors, and each one sports its own unique abilities. Your red pikmin are your standard attack pikmin, yellow are invulnerable to electricity, blue can breathe underwater. These pikmin were also present in the original game. Pikmin 2 adds two new pikmin to harvest and manage: white pikmin, which although small and weak, are invulnerable to poison and can dig up hidden treasures. Their poisonous nature also causes enemy creatures that eat them to be poisoned. The purple pikmin are extremely large, and very slow. Their lack of speed is compensated by their strength, which is that of ten red pikmin. The name of the game, as in all real-time strategies, is management. Using these pikmin, you scour the landscape, looking for treasures for your pikmin to carry back to your ship. Along the way, you'll meet various types of creatures which will eat your pikmin, crush them, carry them off, and other things. By attacking these creatures, and by using your pikmin to carry various pellets to your ship, you can harvest more pikmin for your troops. Managing the numbers of your pikmin, as well as the quantity of each type of pikmin, is a large part of the game. Commanding some pikmin to construct a bridge for you and your other pikmin to cross, while having another group of pikmin to carry a treasure to the ship, and fending off the creatures around you all at the same time is a common occurrence in Pikmin 2. In order to find treasures, you often must delve into various caverns that are littered about each area. By entering a cave, you take your current troop of pikmin with you (the maximum amount of pikmin you can have at any time is 100) and face the perils within. The caverns don't allow you to escape any time you want, and therefore whatever pikmin you brought in are all the pikmin you get, because you can't harvest any more. Caves are the only place to change your current pikmin into purple or white pikmin, however. As you delve deeper, you protect your pikmin, gather treasures, and keep diving deeper. Only through expert management and quick decisions will you make it to the lowest levels of many of the caves with enough pikmin remaining to fight off the final bosses and gather the greater treasures. These caves add a lot of challenge to the single-player mode. Overall, the control is tight and responsive, and it makes accomplishing tasks enjoyable and addictive. What are the treasures? I won't spoil them for you, but they are generally small things that we use every day, but are completely alien to Olimar and Louie. You might find bottle caps or lipstick, and these are considered treasure (and they're huge to the miniscule Olimar and the pikmin). You will also run into some clever little nods to Nintendo and its products, but I won't ruin those little gems for you. As far as production, Nintendo really went all out with this title. The presentation values of the game are through the roof. Nintendo even went so far as to utilize some very crisp FMV sequences to enhance the story of the game, which is something Nintendo has normally shied away from. The music is simple, clean, and simply makes the experience pleasant. The graphics, as they were in the original, are crisp, lush, and beautiful. The reason I am so short with these aspects is that while they are all top-notch, they don't really make the game. The gameplay and character is what shines. The gameplay I've already discussed. But what about the character? What Nintendo really did a great job making Olimar and Louie more "humanized." The player gets mail from Olimar's boss and family every day, enriching a bit of Olimar's character. Furthermore, each treasure and creature you document is contained in an extensive collection of notes by Olimar. These notes are often very humorous, and are a nice feature that adds to the feel of the game. The really impressive character accomplishment has to do with the pikmin, however. While you may have hundreds upon hundreds of pikmin at your disposal, you gain a bit of an attachment to the pikmin. While you accomplish tasks, the pikmin look curious, attack bravely, and even sing as a group after you've been victorious. Little things like these, along with animation that brings the pikmin to life really makes you connect with them. Even as you're sending them into battle, you can't help but feel a little twinge when your pikmin die. There are other modes of play, as well. Challenge mode, which must be unlocked in single-player mode, is very challenging and will give you something to really master your skills at, and does an excellent job of extending the life of the title. The multiplayer, while limited to two players, is an absolute blast. Co-op is all well and good, and can be entertaining, but battling is really where it's at. Using small troops of pikmin, you must either gather four yellow marbles and bring them back to your ship, or steal your opponent's special marble. This mode leads to absolute chaos. Not only are you sending your pikmin to ambush your opponents pikmin as they carry marbles and kill enemies, but you're collecting cherries, which once brought back to your ship, cause a slot machine to roll, which gives you a random bonus item. Sometimes these items allow you to send creatures that burn or blow away your opponents pikmin, while others boost your troop count by 10, or give your pikmin an attack power boost. This mode leads to a ton of laughs, and is so well balanced that it doesn't feel like anybody has a serious advantage for any length of time. Overall, Pikmin 2 is a masterpiece of fun. While the game may seem simplistic, there is a lot of depth to the gameplay that is left up to the player. The mechanics of the game have been refined and expanded upon since the original, turning what was already a good formula into a truly great and addictive one. Many gamers may overlook this title in anticipation of the onslaught of high-profile games coming later this year, but don't let yourself be one of them. This is one game that belongs in any GameCube owner's collection. 5 out of 5 singing pikmin