With Pikmin 2 now hitting store shelves across Japan, I just couldn't resist the temptation to play the game before its North American release in August. And so I imported my first GameCube game last week, along with the FreeLoader boot disc. After a quick swap, it loaded the game up without a hitch on my domestic GameCube, and from then on I've been having a blast.

I have to say that compared to their U.S. counterparts, Japanese GameCube titles come in much nicer packaging. The lengthy instruction manual features lots of Pikmin artwork, character profiles, and renders, and is completely in color on nice thick paper stock. Too bad I can't read much of it. In addition, a pack of Pikmin trading cards and a Nintendo Club coupon are included. I especially like the smaller plastic case and cardboard slipcover; it's the same type of packaging that was used with the Game Boy Player disc in the U.S.

Pikmin 2 has four different title screens, one for each season.

The first thing you see upon loading the game is the ubiquitous Nintendo logo, adorned with several different groups of pikmin each time. In one variation, a purple Sumo pikmin jumps onto the logo and knocks all the others off as if it's on a seesaw. Cute touches like this are sprinkled throughout the game. Pikmin 2 sports four different title screens, one themed for each season, and it's a hint that weather will be a bigger factor in the sequel than it was in the original.

All of the titles animate elaborately, too. For winter, the camera begins by following a flying snow moth as it cruises down the trunk of a tree to the ground, past the snowy game logo. If you leave the screen alone for awhile, various bugs wander in and the pikmin attack to drive them off.

Olimar, we need you to bail out the company with the help of them alien flower critters.

The language barrier makes it hard to understand the story or constant in-game advice from Olimar's guide robot, but the action is intuitive enough that it hasn't been much of a problem. Pikmin veterans should be able to jump right into the gameplay of the import version. As far as I can gather, the plot this time around centers on Olimar undertaking a treasure hunt of sorts to rescue his company from bankruptcy. Naturally, this quest takes him to a planet filled with pikmin and a host of new monsters. However, Olimar's got more than just the pikmin to help him out this time . . .

Olimar's friend, Louie, gives the player two pikmin leaders to work with.

His trusty buddy, Louie, is along for the ride. The Olimar-Louie dynamic adds a new wrinkle to the gameplay: pressing the Y button instantly switches control between the two, no matter how far apart they are. It's now even easier to multitask with dual leaders rounding up the troops on opposite sides of the map. Olimar can go on a recon mission while Louie holds down the fort for simple pikmin-gathering at the end of the day. There are situations where you have to tackle things from opposite angles and coordinate a joint effort. Louie is an amusing sidekick and even has his own distinctive flute tone (for calling troops to action) and a more laid-back, bumbling demeanor.

As the game proper begins, Olimar crash-lands into a snow stage, a big departure in terrain from the first Pikmin title. Louie has managed to fall off the ship on the way down, and this immediately thrusts the player into a situation where he has to switch between characters on the fly. The first task is to gather a few red pikmin and then guide Olimar and Louie over obstacles until they meet up. The graphics are of the same simple, appealing Pikmin art style, but they sport a higher number of simultaneous enemies onscreen and more elaborate textures. The introductory in-game cut scenes show the most graphical improvement.

Someone at Nintendo has been drinking the "Uncola."

Could Pikmin 2 feature the first instance of product placement in a Nintendo game? One of the early treasures that Olimario uncovers is a 7up soda bottle cap. Later on, the pikmin will cart off a tin of Kiwi shoe polish, a Dr. Pepper cap, and a roll of Gamma brand duct tape, as well as various real-life Japanese products and toys. It's likely that many of these advertisements will get changed or cut for the U.S. release, but I hope they do keep in the references to classic Nintendo toys that show up as well: a Game & Watch handheld, a floppy for the Nintendo Famicom disk system, a Nintendo playing card (the ace of spades), and more.

No, that's not Old Faithful; it's the entrance to the game's first dungeon.

On the second day, Olimar comes across the first "dungeon," which looks like a little geyser hole in the ground. These are mini-levels where the crew gathers up underground treasure inside a darkened cave, fights a boss or two, and basically tries to survive long enough to haul their booty back up to the surface. After each day and upon completion of each dungeon, the game scores your performance, with stats broken up for value of each treasure found, the number of pikmin killed in the line of duty, number of enemies killed, overall change in pikmin population, etc. Instead of Olimar's journal entries, daily advice is now doled out in the form of letters from his family and the company president.

A pikmin crossed with an eggplant? Meet the new Sumo species.

Of course it wouldn't be a true Pikmin sequel without a couple of new kinds of pikmin. The first dungeon sees the introduction of purple Sumo pikmin that have the strength of ten normal troops. They can tear down plants and walls like there's no tomorrow. The second new species (seen later in the game) are the white Poison types. These red-eyed pikmin are extremely useful and multitalented. They can pass through noxious purple gas that others cannot, they're able to detect and dig up secret buried treasure, and they can inflict extra damage by poisoning enemies. An effective combat tactic is to sacrifice them - eating a few white pikmin will take a nice chunk out of a monster's health and often leads to a speedy death. Those little buggers are toxic!

Beware the venomous albino pikmin!

The new Pikmin classes are a fun addition to the gameplay, but their numbers are limited compared to the regular red, blue, and yellow types. Instead of sprouting from the ground, these two pikmin can only be obtained by converting existing troops. Toss a few into a special purple or white flower, and they'll undergo an instant metamorphosis. The flowers shrivel up and disappear once they've produced five specialty pikmin, so it's important to use the new guys wisely until you can find another.

Finally, one of the most welcome changes for many fans will be something not added but taken away: the 30-day time limit imposed on Olimar in the first game is gone. This means that the whole of Pikmin 2 can be explored leisurely, which is a good idea because the game world is much larger. It can't be played from start to finish in an afternoon and features an impressive variety of settings and inventive situations. All this, and I haven't even tried the two-player co-op challenge mode yet. Though Pikmin 2 was delayed numerous times - almost a year past its initially announced U.S. date - it appears that the extra months of development have resulted in a solid sequel with plenty of new content and Nintendo polish.