As Switch continued to accept Wii U gaming ports, the number of original exclusives on Nintendo’s previous console began to dwindle. Pickmin3 Switch is the latest game to be treated, and while most of its improvements are small, so far they all seem to be positive.

For those unfamiliar with the game. Pickmin 3 does not feature Captain Olimar as the main protagonist this time. Instead, the main story revolves around three new characters, Alf, Brittany and Charlie. While scouting various planets in search of food for their famine-stricken planet Copa, the trio crash on PNF-404 and initially split apart.

The three of them get together very early into the game, but they are not out of the woods yet (literally). They now need to find the lost cosmic drive key of their ship to give up the desire and return home, while making sure they can find the food they need to stay alive. Fortunately, they soon meet Pick and immediately develop an active relationship with them.

Its deluxe moniker means that many new features have been added, and it may come as a surprise to realize that not all the features of the Wii U version jump to the switch. The original Wii U release offered several different control schemes, some of which were implemented in the switch version while others were omitted.

Most notable was the lack of touchscreen support, which was finally added to the Wii U game after a fan request. For some players, this will make your pick more intuitive, and we’m sure it will appeal to some here, given the handheld nature of the switch. Sadly, this is not the case: you either need to use the standard twin-stick controls (left to aim and right to turn the camera) or activate gyro controls.

These utilize the motion sensors of the right joy-angle and allow you to move the target like a temporary Wii remote. Like anyone who has played Super Mario Galaxy Port in 3D All-Stars As a testimonial, this solution can sometimes cause the cursor to slip, so as with the Galaxy, you can press the R button to focus on it whenever you want.

Thankfully, most other changes add or improve things instead of being removed. The updated lock-on system is a prime example. Locking in on enemies and other items was a bit of a chore on the Wii U, but now it’s a little easier; Move the cursor over your target and tap the ZR button, and you will be immediately locked into it. You can continue tapping the button to toggle between other nearby potential targets. It may still take some time, but it’s better than before.

There is also a new signaling system, which we are sure of of course It does not bother anyone on the internet. If you are stuck not knowing where to go next, you will get a pop-up info box that tells you what to do next when you press the D-Pad, and a set of blue arrows will appear on the floor to guide you to your next destination.

This will irritate some purists who do not believe in a game like Pickmin, which is the focal point of exploration, and players should be guided by this style. At the end of the day, you can turn it off in the options, and if something like this helps the newcomers in the series to follow in their footsteps, we will all be there for it. In addition, there are now levels that are difficult to choose from, so you can all set up “all of these challenges” where your money is in your mouth.

Outside of the main story mode, you still have the mission mode, where you take several small steps, and are tasked with collecting treasure, fighting enemies or fighting bosses. This mode now includes all pre-paid DLC missions as standard: it supports a total of 36 missions, all of which can be played on a solo split screen (co-fans are happy to know the full story mode and can now play with a partner).

What if the original Wii U game was already well-washed and a big Pickmin 3 fan who had already seen and done everything the version offered, DLC, everything? OK, then the new Side Stories mode will be enabled. This is an introduction to a series of epilogue missions, complete with new cut-outs that explain what happened to Olimar and Louis before and after the events of the game.

It’s too early to see how much content there is in these side stories and how fleshy they can be, but we’ve played the first couple so far, they seem like you’re in mission mode, giving you a limited amount of time to collect as much fruit and other items as you can, and then depending on how well you performed. Another medal will be awarded. So far, Side Stories seems to be offering a fair bonus to Pickmin 3 fans, though they have yet to prove that it’s worth buying a second time to play the game.

This is very good, then. As of this writing we are still moving away from the game, but we may already feel like we are being dragged out, as we did with the Wii U version of “Let’s play one more day, okay, one more day after that”. While the changes do not seem to have changed much yet, most of them make sense and create a more user-friendly heart experience. As long as we keep this up throughout the rest of the game, we may have another switch to have on hand.

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