Pikmin Short Movies 3D Review

Review Written By: Adolph Vega

3D

Totally inconsistent is the only way to describe the 3D presentation of these animated shorts. Maybe 40% of the time of the 3D video pops out and shows different layers in 3D, but a majority of the time the 3D aspect only separates the foreground and background. It’s odd the credits are presented in good quality 3D, but the majorities of the shorts aren’t worth watching in 3D and are not visually more interesting because of the 3D aspect. I feel that the 3DS hardware has a history of poorly presenting 3D video, and sadly this Nintendo presentation also suffers from the hardware limitations.

Final Verdict: Terrible 3D

Movie(s):

Pikmin Shorts contains three animated shorts and a of special feature section, these shorts are based on the Nintendo Pikmin videogames. You don’t need prior experience of playing the games to enjoy the shorts. Pikmin are small ant plant like creatures that are controlled by human characters and explore huge outdoor environments. Having a basic knowledge of the games will help you understand more aspects of what is going on. The three animated shorts are independent from each other so the order you watch is irrelevant. The first short revolves a misunderstanding with Pikmin and an electronic juicer. The second Pikmin short movie is a single red pikmin trying to recover treasure from a glass bottle. The third and final Pikmin Short is the longest with a running time near 13 minutes and Pikmin are in a junk yard trying to survive. The special feature section has some storyboard sketches and a few tiny trailers. The video is presented on the top screen of the 3DS, and the touch screen has video controls. The various buttons make various sound effects when you press them during the video and at any time you can pause and skip forward/backward the video. I found the all three of the videos very charming, funny and look incredibly sharp and vivid. No voice acting or text is presented within the shorts but the Pikmin mannerisms are interesting to watch. 

Final score: 7/10

© 2014 Nintendo