Pikmin 2 is easier than the first game, and more fun, and in my opinion, it's one of the best gamecube games ever made.
Pikmin 2 begins after the end of the first game when Captain Olimar returns home from his "vacation", in which he accidentally crashed onto an unknown planet. He finds that the company he works for, Hocotate Freight is in serious debt, forcing the sale of Olimar's ship, the S.S. Dolphin which is the only remaining corporate asset.
Captain Olimar drops the bottle cap he brought with him as a souvenir for his child. It rolls towards the company's remaining ship, which evaluates the objects as having a value of 100 Pokos, the unit of currency on Hocotate.
After commenting that this is more than a year's salary, Olimar's boss sends him on a trip with a character named Louie, a fellow employee, back to the Pikmin planet to collect 10,000 Pokos' worth of treasure to pay off the debt.
So yeah, you can control not only Olimar, but also Louie, and also the President of Hocotate when you progress more into the game. You can take turns controling them with the Y button.
Gameplay is similer to the previous game, Pikmin 2 revolves around using different combination of Pikmin to retrieve various 'treasures' from the planet's surface. These treasures range from a Duracell battery to a Game and Watch to a Poker Card to a Diamond.
Several of the treasures found on the planet are items from previous Nintendo ventures. Different obstacles and enemies make the retrieval of each treasure unique. The player must take into consideration the strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and numbers of each type of Pikmin when carrying out the challenges needed to retrieve these treasures. This is compounded in difficulty by the fact that no more than 100 Pikmin may be in play at any given time.
In addition to above-ground areas, caves can be found throughout the landscape. Caves contain multiple treasures and enemies spread across multiple sub-levels. The layout of the sub-level and the placement of the enemies and treasures within the sub-level is random, and changes each time the player enters the cave. A player can exploit this, as the game saves after the completion of each sub-level. If the layout of a sub-level is unfavorable to the player, he or she can begin the sub-level again, and it will have a new, possibly more favorable, layout.
In Pikmin 2, you may continue to search for treasure for as many days as they wish. The game contains 201 collectible treasure pieces, as opposed to the 30 ship parts of the original Pikmin.
The controls are also improved over the previous game and Pikmin can be thrown slightly faster.
As well as the main game (story mode), there are also 2-player battle and challenge modes. The 2-Player battle is unlocked from the beginning of the game where two characters (Olimar and Louie), are each controlled by a player.
The red, yellow, and blue Pikmin from the previous game return, along with two new colors of Pikmin, purple and white, as well as the unique Bulbmin. White Pikmin are smaller than other Pikmin, but are faster and immune to poisonous gases. They can also poison enemies who eat them. Purple Pikmin are bigger than the other Pikmin, but are very slow. However, these types of Pikmin are strong, counting for ten Pikmin when lifting objects. When thrown, Purple Pikmin can stun most enemies. Bulbmin are a parasitic species of Pikmin that infect.
There are special traits shared by all Pikmin, as well as many that are unique to special kinds. Every Pikmin has small arms and legs, and a head that is topped with a leaf, bud, or flower depending on their level of maturity. The flower Pikmin, the most mature Pikmin, are the fastest and fiercest Pikmin fighters. The leaf Pikmin, which are the least mature, are quite slow and fight with less ferocity. Bud Pikmin are somewhere in between.
Many people who know Pikmin and Pikmin 2 love those games to death, i should know, i had a friend who got me into these games. Pikmin 1 was superb little game that only had 2 downfalls, short and diificult. Pikmin 2 fixed those problems. Making Pikmin 2, a superior game than the first.
Pikmin 2's price is still steep. $39.99, yee-ouch!!! But it's worth it. The replay value is amazing, the 2-player mode is, like, soooo fun. ;) Pikmin 2 is easier than the first game, and more fun, and in my opinion, one of the best gamecube games ever made. BUY IT!!!