Pikmin 3 Deluxe is a strategy/puzzle game developed and published by Nintendo for the Switch, which offers hours of adorable fun, but the new content is light enough that there isn't much reason to double-dip if already owned on the Wii U. Pikmin 3 Deluxe follows the crew of the S.S. Drake starship, which crash lands on the mysterious planet PNF-404. The three members of the crew are separated in the crash, and they need to find food and shelter if they have any hope of survival. They soon encounter a plantlike race known as Pikmin, who act as allies to the stranded astronauts. After uniting, the crew must find parts for their vessel and try to escape the planet, as it's full of monstrous alien lifeforms that want to devour them.
The gameplay of Pikmin 3 Deluxe involves controlling one of the crew as they command legions of Pikmin, who will come when called with a whistle, can be flung onto enemies, sent charging like a legion of soldiers, or be used to bypass natural barriers. There are different types of Pikmin that the player can find, including the fire-resistant Red Pikmin, the aquatic Blue Pikmin, and the flying Winged Pikmin. The goal of the game involves using Pikmin to complete tasks, including finding food and defeating enemies. Once the crew is reunited, the player can split the Pikmin between them, in order to complete tasks in different parts of the level.
The gameplay loop of Pikmin 3 Deluxe is excellent, as managing the Pikmin to solve puzzles remains fun throughout the duration of the game. The visuals are gorgeous and the Pikmin are as adorable as ever, while the soundtrack adds to the cartoon charm of the world. The same can't be said for the sound effects, like the whistle and the Pikmin throwing noise, which will quickly grate on the eardrums. The controls are finicky at first, but it won't take long to get used to them. At no point did we miss the Wii U GamePad while playing Pikmin 3 Deluxe. The people who are unsure can try it out for themselves, as there is a demo Pikmin 3 Deluxe on the eShop, with progress carrying over to the main game. The controls become more of an issue when playing with a single Joy-Con during the multiplayer modes, as this controller struggles to match the functions of the game.
It's a shame that the multiplayer component of Pikmin 3 Deluxe isn't as interesting as the single-player content, as it mostly involves rehashes of existing content. The exception to this Bingo Battle, where two players have to assemble a team of Pikmin and search the battlefield for specific items, in order to line-up items on a bingo card. This mode has a little more to it than the others in the game, but none of them are particularly memorable, especially on a system with so many incredible co-op experiences.
The only major let-down for Pikmin 3 Deluxe will be for people who played the original game on the Wii U, as there isn't much new content. Pikmin 3 Deluxe includes all of the DLC from the original game, alongside some other draws: two players can take on the main campaign in co-op mode, there are some new missions starring Olimar and Louie from the older Pikmin games, a number of QoL improvements have been made to the gameplay (like a lock-on feature for aiming), and an extra difficulty mode has been included. The post-story missions starring Olimar are the highlight of the new content, as they offer some genuinely challenging experiences, but the rest of the additions don't warrant the price tag of the game for returning players.
Pikmin 3 was one of the last holdouts of the Wii U, but people who already own the game shouldn't be so quick to buy Pikmin 3 Deluxe. The additions to the game are fun, but they don't offer a substantial amount of new content for people who finished the original. Then again, Pikmin 3 sold fewer than a million copies, which was partly due to the Wii U's tiny userbase, so these issues won't be a factor for everyone. For newcomers to the series, Pikmin 3 Deluxe is well-worth the investment and is another great addition to the Switch's library.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe is available for Nintendo Switch on October 30, 2020. Screen Rant was provided with a digital code for the purposes of this review.