Though Nintendo has been doing absolutely astounding in terms of the company's software and hardware sales, the company's first-party game releases have unfortunately been very few and far between for most of 2020. Nintendo has seen just a few major releases on the Switch this year with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Paper Mario: The Origami King and Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and not much else of notability. Pikmin 3 Deluxe marks one of the few larger releases that the Japanese gaming company has left to release for the year, and is due out to release this Friday, October 30.
With Pikmin 3 Deluxe's release just around the corner, the review embargo has just been lifted for the Switch port and gaming sites everywhere are releasing their own reviews for it. Pikmin 3 was a great game for the Wii U back when it was initially released way back in 2013, and it appears to be just as good seven years later for Nintendo's current-gen console, the Switch. The game aims to bring the original base game along with all of its downloadable content onto the hybrid console, along with plenty of brand-new content, including new story content, a new difficulty mode, and more.
Those looking to see whether this new Wii U port is up to Nintendo's very high standards are in luck, as reviews are out now and have painted a picture of where the title stands in terms of quality. Without further ado, here's a review roundup of some of the biggest gaming news sites' impressions of Pikmin 3 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch.
IGN (Tom Marks)
"Pikmin 3 Deluxe makes an already excellent game even better and transplants it onto a console where far more people have a chance to see how good it really is. Its Side Stories and difficulty modes aren’t massive additions, but they gave me more of the already clever and fast-paced fun that made me fall in love with the original game seven years ago. And while not as flashy new missions, there are a downright impressive amount of smaller touches and quality-of-life adjustments throughout (including replacing the Wii U’s Gamepad screen with Switch-friendly controls) that make this the best the Pikmin series has ever felt. There’s plenty of reason to come back for returning players, and if you missed Pikmin 3 on the Wii U then you absolutely shouldn’t repeat that mistake here."
Score: 9/10
GameSpot (Kevin Knezevic)
"Although Pikmin 3 Deluxe may not offer much in the way of substantial new content, the game still holds up wonderfully thanks to its unique gameplay and carefully constructed levels, and the tweaks and additions that have been implemented here help smooth over the whole package for newer players. Even three installments in, there is no other series quite like Pikmin, which helps Pikmin 3 still feel fresh seven years after its original release."
Score: 8/10
PC Mag (Jordan Minor)
"It’s not Pikmin 4, but Pikmin 3 Deluxe adds just enough to the base game to satisfy fans looking for a Pikmin fix on the Switch. Nintendo could have added more content, but at least the company added something. That said, series newcomers should increase our review score by one point, since the core game carries the same magic that delights us in Nintendo’s more-famous franchises. Enjoy the fruit of Pikmin 3’s garden."
Score: 3.5/5
GamesRadar (Rachel Weber)
"Honestly, the Deluxe part of the experience, like DLC and extra missions are all just the icing piped carefully around the main gameplay cake and will be of interest only to the hardcore who need an excuse to purchase Pikmin 3 for a second time. Not that you need one, the game is still a classic and its Honey I Shrunk The Kids miniature world and gameplay translates perfectly to Switch. It's been seven years since Pikmin 3 arrived on the Wii U, and with its tweaks and extra goodies it absolutely deserves another chance in the sun."
Score: 4/5
Bleacher Report (Chris Roling)
"Pikmin 3 Deluxe delivering such a strong package to players despite undergoing so few changes is a testament to just how great the original release was, even if it popped up on a niche system. While we could argue the merits of a simple re-release like this (hardcore fans surely just want Pikmin 4 already), it's never a bad thing to have a great game added to the Switch's library. And in this case specifically, Pikmin 3's core experience feels like a dream match for the Switch hardware. Re-release or not, this is the perfect entry point for new players to enjoy one of the most charismatic and unique franchises out there, never mind one of the better strategy offerings in gaming that has withstood the test of time. "
Score: N/A
NME (Jordan Oloman)
"I’ve enjoyed my time with Pikmin 3 Deluxe. It’s certainly the definitive version of the game, and easily the most accessible Pikmin adventure for kids and RTS-adjacent gamers who may not be familiar with the genre, but want a wholesome introduction to some of its most satisfying facets."
Score: 4/5
Eurogamer (Tom Phillips)
"While they're still set in Pikmin 3's original areas and a bit of a kitbash, they offer the closest thing to a Pikmin 4 you're going to play this year. And that's the real hope with this re-release - that this return of the Wii U campaign with extra bells and whistles is the launch pad for an all-new Pikmin in the relatively close future. Just like its own small treasures, Pikmin 3 is well worth dusting off, as we wait for the series to properly end its garden leave."
Score: N/A
Overall, it seems that critics are loving Pikmin 3 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch, with most reviews being generally very favorable, and reviewers stating that the title is indeed the definitive edition of the now seven-year-old game. Critics are stating that the base game's already excellent content is only further complimented and boosted by the deluxe edition's bonus content, and "icing on the gameplay cake," to quote GamesRadar's Rachel Weber.
Though many critics state that it would be nice if this was Pikmin 4, it's still great to get a re-release of Pikmin 3 onto the current console generation, with all of its DLC and bonus content. Ports are never a bad thing, as they expose great games to brand-new generations of gamers, and Pikmin 3 Deluxe for the Switch is no different as the game initially released on the Wii U, a console that notoriously sold quite poorly. With Pikmin 3 now ported over, very few Wii U games remain on the console, with Super Mario 3D World due to come to the new generation early next year.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe releases exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on October 30, 2020.
