Pikmin (game)

Pikmin prerelease information

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This article or section needs to be cleaned up, either its format or general style.
Notes: Remove the opening paragraph's direction to the unused content article and instead, on this article, give brief mentions of the unused content that hints to cut enemies, areas, etc. (i.e. exclude obvious debugging content).

To do: Document this video (mirror) that has uncommented gameplay from E3 2001. Also this.
Care to do so?

Some information about prerelease content in Pikmin exists, in the form of trailers and gameplay footage. This content differs from what can be found in the final game. The videos, screenshots, etc. shown here are about development versions, and although their exact labels are not known, fans commonly call them "beta", "alpha", "pre-alpha", or "prerelease" versions.

Some unused content also exists inside the final version, that hints at what sort of content was meant to appear in the final version, but that information is listed on the unused content page instead.

Trailers[edit]

The game's trailers showed footage that contained some changes from Pikmin's final version. These following 3 trailers are presumably ordered chronologically.

Trailer 1[edit]

The first trailer shows a lot of differences from the final version of the game. These changes can also be seen on screenshots showcased in Nintendo Power #145.[1]

View trailer
Alternative footage with higher quality, but no Beady Long Legs cliffhanger at the end
Alternative footage from the E3 2001 Tech Demo Show Off, with the extra gameplay split into four

The following is different from the final version:

  • Gameplay appears to happen in three areas; tuto2, map_06, and an area not in the final game's files that resembles the location seen on Pikmin's international box art.
    • There are several aesthetic changes. Notably, tuto2 looks more rocky and foggier.
    • There is semi-opaque water with a different texture in clips of map_06. This water is not present on the unused model of map_06 in the final game.
  • Despite retaining mostly the same placements as the final game, the HUD is styled notably differently in several areas, with different Pikmin icons and surrounding bubbles, a box only being around the total Pikmin counter, and the HUD's encasing elements being bluer and more opaque. Interestingly, Olimar's icon and health wheel survive mostly unchanged into the final game.
    • The current day is shown just below the day timer rather that beside it.
    • Due to the day timer's additional horizontal length, it's made up of 16 dots compared to the final's 13. In addition, unlike in the final game noon is not represented with a larger dot, likely due to the even number of dots not allowing so.
    • Olimar's health wheel appears to be not yet implemented properly. At different times, the wheel can be seen completely full, completely depleted (along with warning effects), or absent altogether with only the enclosing bubble remaining.
  • Olimar uses an older model with an appearance matching that of his HUD icon.
  • Olimar has a unique, bouncier walking animation.
  • In some clips, the Onions briefly stretch upwards when sucking in something, in addition to being bounced upwards like in the final game.
  • The Dolphin or an equivalent appears to not exist.
  • The Blue Onion, is isolated from the other two Onions in every area.
  • The Spotty Bulborb's eyes are dark blue like its dwarf counterparts and they appear to have slightly different animations, including having its eye stalks droop down significantly when dead.
    • The Spotty Bulborb's bomb-rock/punching exclusive wake-up animation appears to have originally played when being attacked, allowing grabbed Pikmin to be saved from its jaws.
  • Dwarf Bulborbs have larger spots.
  • The Fiery Blowhog's fire looks very different, with it significantly brighter and more opaque, stretching out less far horizontally (better aligning with the fire's hitbox in the final game), lingering for longer, not creating any smoke, and instead rises up like smoke once it's finished being exhaled.
  • The Burrowing Snagret's scales are close to white in color, similar to the color of the its head's feathers.
  • The Pikmin appear to move slower.
  • Olimar can pluck Pikmin with his whistle in the same way the Pluckaphone is used in Pikmin 2. This ability is also left unused in the code of the released version of Pikmin.
  • Small firework-like effects can be seen coming from Olimar's antenna in some clips.
  • Pikmin make higher-pitched, notably different sounds when preforming actions.
  • Carriable strawberrys can be seen, similar to the Sunseed Berry from Pikmin 2. Notably, they get carried to Onions and not a ship.
  • Over 100 Pikmin could be on the field at a time.
  • The body colors of idle Pikmin all change to a whitish color rather than a pale version of their usual color.
  • Multiple clips show Pikmin doing strange things while in Olimar's squad, like lining up in a straight line and all repeating one animation over and over again. One clip shows Pikmin being bumped out of this state like an idle Pikmin joining Olimar's squad, despite them supposedly being in his squad in the first place.
  • In one clip where a Yellow Wollyhop dies, Pikmin souls can be seen emerging from seemingly nowhere, while the counters stay unchanging (aside from the squad counter's last digit flickering between several numbers). Why this is happening in this clip is unknown.
  • The Pikmin's souls appear different, being taller and thinner, having a far longer tail, and lack the dark blue glow the final game's souls have.
  • Yellow Wollyhops are missing the subtle shine effect their final model has.
  • Yellow Wollyhops do not leave corpses, instead disappearing and leaving pellets in their wake. Whether this is a deliberate choice or merely a result of their corpse behaviour not being finished yet is uncertain.
  • The sparkle effect upon a creature dropping something upon death is significantly more apparent here, with the effect being more like a big purple firework at this point in development rather than sparkles.
  • Pellet Posies are taller and have (presumably harmless) thorns on their sides.
    • Pellet Posies appear to start mono-colour, with the colour of pellet dropped seemingly being decided by what type of Pikmin destroyed the plant.
    • The Pellet Posy's death animation is slightly different and significantly slower than in the final game.
  • All Pellets have a more concave surface that curves inwards around their very top and bottom.
  • A Yellow 20-pellet can be seen producing 40 Pikmin; double its amount, implying that all pellet sizes were going to produce Pikmin amounts like 1-pellets do, rather than the different rules all other pellet sizes produce Pikmin by in the final game.
  • The Beady Long Legs appears to be tinted in hues orange compared to the final creature's yellow and red pattern.

At the start of the trailer there is an extra bit of gameplay split into four quadrants:

  • Top left panel: Olimar is moving through a plain with Pikmin, although most of the camera is obscured by vegetation. The camera then turns around to show a Dwarf Red Bulborb which promptly notices Olimar and walks towards him. The next clip is of a clip of Pikmin fighting the Beady Long Legs.
  • Top right panel: Olimar throws Pikmin at two strawberries in the west arena of map_06. The next clip is of Olimar moving around an ordered array of idle Pikmin.
  • Bottom left panel: Olimar can be seen whistling Pikmin in a dark area. The next clip is of Olimar moving with a squad of Pikmin, then moving off a cliff downwards. An activated Yellow Onion can be seen nearby, on the cliff.
  • Bottom right panel: Blue Pikmin knocking down a white bramble wall. The next clip shows Olimar moving through an area with the camera close to him, with a small army of Pikmin. The next clip shows the camera changing to face two Dwarf Bulborbs.

Trailer 2[edit]

A second trailer has eventually been released. It shows a lot less changes from the final version, but it still has some.

View trailer
Alternative footage, with crisper sound but worse video
Alternative footage, without music

The following changes from the final version can be spotted:

  • Minor aesthetic differences.
  • The HUD is the same as the final version's, but the day counter is at the bottom right corner of the screen, and the Pikmin-type counter is missing. Red Pikmin are also shown as Blue Pikmin.
  • Bridges aren't complete yet; they are blue with a weird glassy texture. The opposite end where the bridges end is some sort of white platform.
  • Some blue nectar can be seen.
  • Pikmin can be seen taking down a stone gate, something that can only be destroyed with bomb-rocks in the final game.
    • In the same clip, a ship part that appears to be an early version of the Anti-Dioxin Filter can be seen, on the stump closest to the stone gate.
  • The Puffy Blowhog's attack throws Pikmin and Olimar a lot higher and farther.
  • Some areas look the same as in the final game, but others seem to be entirely different. The enemy and object placement in the final areas is also different.
  • The section of The Distant Spring with the UV Lamp has an entirely different design, and has no ramp leading up to the upper section, and the ramp that the UV Lamp rests on is also not present. The upper section instead has low walls on it (similar to the wall that is designed to have Pikmin thrown on it that leads to the Repair-Type Bolt in the final release) and has three battlements on its right side that face towards an unknown object somewhat lower than it.
  • The Puffstool can be seen on The Forest of Hope.
  • There is an unknown bell-shaped object at The Distant Spring, that doesn't appear anywhere in the final game (at 0:41 in the video, near the top left corner).
  • On one of the videos, an early version of The Impact Site's theme at sunset is played, in which the fippled flute starts out solo.
  • A lot of sound effects are missing.
  • After a Pikmin is plucked, a throwing sound effect plays instead of the Pikmin making a sound.
  • Pikmin that land after being thrown make their dismiss sound.
  • Footstep sounds have a higher interval between them.
  • At times, a wobbly sound can be heard when controlling a group of Pikmin.
  • Metallic banging sounds can be heard when knocking on stone gates and bridges; both sounds are different.
  • The Yellow Wollyhop's jump has a more cartoony sound effect.

Trailer 3[edit]

A third trailer has also been released. It is present as a bonus option in Luigi's Mansion, and a Japanese version can be found in the Pikmin Jitsuen-You Demo Disc. The game in this state looks quite close to the final version.

Alternative link
Japanese version

The following differences from the final version can be seen:

  • The Extraordinary Bolt replaces the location of the Whimsical Radar.
    • The stone gate by the Extraordinary Bolt is instead a black bramble gate.
  • The white bramble gate and one-way cliff connecting the water area and the landing area in The Impact Site seem to be absent.
  • The white stone gate by the landing site in The Forest of Hope is now a black stone gate.
    • The one-way access by the stone gate is not there.
  • All types of Pikmin seem to be breaking down the second bramble gate in The Forest of Hope before the Yellow Onion is even unlocked.
  • The S.S. Dolphin when it is crashed is noticeably more empty.
  • Minor aesthetic differences.
  • The day counter is in the bottom-right corner. It's now a circle instead of an oval.
  • When Pikmin are plucked, they become pale.
  • When a Puffy Blowhog attacks, it send the Pikmin and Olimar much higher and farther.
  • Pikmin can be seen climbing a really long vertical pole on The Distant Spring.
  • An unbuilt bridge can be seen right in front of the cliff leading to the Armored Cannon Beetle in The Forest of Hope.
  • An Ionium Jet, probably the #2 Ionium Jet seems to be near the Yellow Wollyhops in the lake part of The Distant Spring. As it is unlikely that the Pikmin would pass by there, this hints towards a different ship part location.
  • A black bramble gate is present on the ledge leading to the Shock Absorber.
  • The black stone gate by the location of the Extraordinary Bolt in the final game is instead a white bramble gate.
  • The white stone gate in the Distant Spring is instead a black bramble gate.
  • The yellow Candypop Bud in the Distant Spring is located in a stump adjacent to the Pilot's Seat instead of on a small plateau in the water.
  • The Gluon Drive is present in the water near the location that the Chronos Reactor is found at in the final game, suggesting that it may have originally occupied that position.

E3 2001 Tech Demo Show Off[edit]

Some gameplay could be seen at the E3 2001 Tech Demo Show Off, with Shigeru Miyamoto playing the game, while a translator translates his speech live. The gameplay appears to initially take place in map_06, then later tuto2, starting from the larger area and finally what is presumably E3play_3, starting from the high ground.

View video
Alternative footage

The following can be noted in the gameplay footage that comes after the trailer:

  • The pause menu is consisted of a rough rectangle, made out of four constantly-moving cyan rectangles. The options "continue" and "exit" exist, in lowercase, and with a more lively font than normal.
  • The Sun Meter lacks the three larger circles, and has 16 dots instead of 13.
  • The HUD is the same as the one on the 2nd trailer, with the day counter at the bottom-right corner, and only a party-Pikmin and total-Pikmin counter.
  • Climbing sticks are larger and thicker, and look more like dried pieces of curled wood.
  • the A Button on the GameCube controller and the B Button on the GameCube controller are reversed in this build – the B Button on the GameCube controller throws and the A Button on the GameCube controller whistles.
  • Pellets look a bit more rounded on the sides, but have blunter rims at the top.
  • Pikmin carry items a bit slower. In addition, they grab onto the item in the location they land at, instead of spreading around evenly. Finally, the fraction numbers do not exist.
  • Pikmin can be plucked by being whistled at, something only possible in a finished game in Pikmin 2, with the Pluckaphone.
  • The yellow nucleus on the flowers atop the Pikmin's heads is a lot darker in this build.
  • The camera tries to focus on the center-point between Olimar and the group of Pikmin he's commanding. This does not happen in the final game, where the camera is always locked on Olimar, but something similar happens in Pikmin 2, albeit to a less extreme degree.
  • On the Onion menu, the plural of "Pikmin" is "pikmins". Not only is it in lowercase, but it also has an "s" at the end. Both of these elements are incorrect, as the correct canonical way of typing the plural is "Pikmin", the same as singular.
  • Spotty Bulborbs are a bit weaker than they are in the final game.
  • Souls also leave some white particles, like dust.
  • When enemies die, some bland firework-like particles come out, and a huge donut-shaped cloud of dust appears.

Early gameplay[edit]

Japanese Pikmin website gameplay[edit]

This video is from the Japanese Pikmin website and could be downloaded in two formats: one for a higher quality version of the video and a lower quality version.

View video

The following differences can be noted:

  • An early HUD seen in some gameplay videos, trailers, and screenshots is used.
  • This video was taken at the same time that the enemy reel was created, considering the location of the Spotty Bulborbs and the Lapis Lazuli Candypop Bud, as well as the slightly different terrain in The Distant Spring.
  • It is always day 4 in almost all clips, except for the last clip, where it is instead day 7.
  • The Gravity Jumper is present instead of the Eternal Fuel Dynamo.
  • Like in the third trailer, Yellow Pikmin and Blue Pikmin are unlocked before the second bramble gate is even broken down.
  • The Spotty Bulborb emits two souls after dying, presumably due to a glitch.
  • There are Yellow Wollyhops in The Forest Navel.
  • Pikmin sometimes shake violently while carrying an object, presumably a glitch. The camera seems to zoom in to take note of this.
  • Some drowning Red Pikmin jump out of the water on their own, after a long delay.
  • The camera's closest level of zoom is very close, and lower down than in the final game.

IGN Pikmin GameCube gameplay video[edit]

This forty second video posted by IGN does not show much, but differences are present.

View video

The following differences can be noted:

  • It is day 1 in both clips of both areas, which indicates that the gameplay might be in a debug mode.
  • tuto2 is shown to be an actual area in the game (or at least a Challenge Mode area, which would indicate the Challenge Mode banner is not present yet) and is the first area shown.
    • In the clip depicting tuto2, Pikmin are thrown at a red 20 pellet but then do nothing, which presumably means the carrying engine is unfinished.
  • E3play_3 is shown again, but the landing site is instead in the Armored Cannon Beetle arena.
    • Two already built climbing sticks are present to the left of the Red Onion and appear to serve no purpose.

Enemy reel[edit]

Main article: Enemy reel discrepancies.

The pre-rendered clips on the enemy reel show some enemies in places where they can't be found in the final game, as well as areas that look a bit different. The enemy reel was probably recorded before some of the levels' layouts changed.

Other info[edit]

  • On the page of the manual that describes how Onions and pellets work, there is a picture showing three Pikmin carrying a 1 pellet. This was likely a possibility during development.
  • In an interview between Nintendo staff members and Nintendo Player's Guide, it was revealed that one enemy was originally meant to carry a Pikmin's leg in the corner of its mouth.[2] This was removed for being deemed too frightening.
  • The manual image showing 3 Pikmin on a 1 pellet.

    The manual image showing 3 Pikmin on a 1 pellet.

  • The page from the guide's interview, where Miyamoto and Reed discuss the scrapped enemy.

    The page from the guide's interview, where Miyamoto and Reed discuss the scrapped enemy.

Gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Old Game Mags on tumblr
  2. ^ “The enemy creatures aren't frightening, but they became frightening once the programmers created creatures that eat Pikmin. / The most frightening one was the creature that kept doing its own thing while keeping a Pikmin leg hanging out of the side of its mouth. (Laughs.) Of course, I removed it.” – Miyamoto and Reed in a Nintendo Player's Guide interview
Prerelease information
General info Pikmin • Pikmin 2 • Pikmin 3 • Pikmin 4 • Hey! Pikmin
Unused content Pikmin • Pikmin 2 • Pikmin 3 • Pikmin 4 • Hey! Pikmin
Unreleased games Adam and Eve • Patent US7762893 • Stage Debut
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