Pikmin 3 is one of the best accessible strategy games on console. Splendid art direction, well-integrated new Pikmin, varied bonus missions. GamePad excellent for management. A WiiU gem worth visiting.
Your verdict
Category
Real-Time Strategy1 player3+
Description
Three explorers use armies of colorful Pikmin with complementary powers to recover starship components and solve environmental puzzles. Published by Nintendo, released in 2013 in Japan, the United States and Europe. Wii U exclusive featuring three alternating playable protagonists, two-team puzzles, the GamePad for an independent top-down view, fruits to collect, and Bingo Battle mode.
Pikmin 3 review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
3/5
Story
★★★★★
"Solid"
In high definition, the smallest blade of grass, the tiniest drop of water take on the look of a giant set crossed by minuscule explorers. The raking light and life-soaked colours sublimate this miniature world. This naturalist beauty, gentle and precise, endlessly invites you to stop and look.
All delicacy, the music blends orchestra, soft percussion and natural pads to dress the miniature world in a soothed poetry. The themes evolve with the day and the danger, underlining the wonder of exploration. This sonic richness, refined and organic, wonderfully extends the magic of the series.
Pikmin 3, a Nintendo real-time strategy game of botanical charm, returning after a long wait with multi-captain management and lush production. Sought on a console with a small install base, its desirability rests on this status as the return of a rare and cherished series and a tenacious demand rather than a manufactured scarcity. A prime piece for fans of singular strategy on the machine.
Memorable bosses
Leading squads of plant creatures against outsized monsters demands constant strategy: splitting your troops, exploiting the terrain and aiming at the flaw of sometimes baffling guardians, like a living mass that endlessly reforms. Throwing your Pikmin at the right moment under the pressure of the clock turns each fight into a tactical puzzle. This contrast of scale and the cunning it takes remain a delight.
Is Pikmin 3 still worth playing in 2026?
A direct sequel by Nintendo EAD, Pikmin 3 offers a miniature real time strategy with three captains exploring a mysterious planet to recover fruits with the famous Pikmin. The sublime art direction, multiple command system and poetic scenario make it an absolutely unmissable reference of the Wii U catalogue. For anyone fond of Pikmin or seeking an absolutely essential original strategy, an absolutely essential recommendation today still without any hesitation on the Nintendo machine for genre fans truly here indeed.
