Pikmin 3 is the feverishly anticipated real-time strategy game for Nintendo’s innovative, brand spanking new home console, the Wii U. This game is the third instalment in the Pikmin franchise, and is the direct sequel to Pikmin 2, which was released in 2004 on Nintendo’s Game Cube. As with the previous Pikmin games, you will be in charge of a personal army of up to 100 Pikmin, each with their own special abilities that will enable them to perform various tasks. The game has been overhauled to match up to the Wii U’s graphics and capabilities, re-introducing you with four new main characters to the beautiful world filled with Pikmin, treasure, as well as various strange creatures and enemies; a world you must help the Pikmin to navigate and survive. As their leader, you can command them to build bridges, carry building materials, pick up fruit to carry back to the little spaceships, and defeat enemies. New Pikmin species have been introduced in this game, including the pink flying Pikmin, and the Rock Pikmin. The Rock Pikmin can throw themselves at walls, barriers and objects to break or smash them, and come in handy if an enemy has a shell, as they can destroy the armour so the other Pikmin can take them down. Pikmin 3 is much more action-oriented than its predecessors in the franchise, and also has a greater amount of variety when it comes to strategy. This is helped with the versatility of how you wish to play the game, as you can play with the Wii Motion Plus and Nunchuck combo, where shaking the Wii remote throws your Pikmin, and shaking the Nunchuck makes your Pikmin charge. You can use the Wii U’s Game Pad also, as it acts as an overhead map and radar, allowing you to track your Pikmin’s actions in real time. Controlling multiple groups of Pikmin at once is also easier thanks to the Game Pad, making gameplay more fluid, as players can slide a finger across the touch screen to instantly switch between areas of the map. The amount of versatility offered when it comes to your personal playstyle with this game is improved with how intuitive the controls are, as now you can aim at objects directly, and can command your Pikmin armies in various different ways, depending on your strategy’s current requirements. The Game Pad also offers a replay feature when a player completes a stage, where it shows the entire map at once with the ability to fast forward, pause and rewind, so the player can rewatch the decisions and actions they made throughout the day and re-evaluate their strategy based upon that. Delve into the fun and beautiful world of the Pikmin once more, greatly and vastly improved thanks to the Wii U’s greater processing and HD capabilities and Game Pad. This highly updated game can now offer more options when it comes to game play, and allows you to completely personalise your own playstyle and strategies. (Cat Emerson)