20 years on, Pikmin 2’s Waterwraith remains Nintendo’s scariest moment
These are five sub-levels of every hazard imaginable (fire, water, electricity and poison) and as we mentioned, you only have the Blue Pikmin to deal with it. The enemies on each floor also do little to calm your nerves, with a Fiery Bulblax raising its half-hot, half-flaming face as soon as you turn the first corner – again, PEGI 3?!
Looking back now, this was spooky enough. But 20 years ago, I was lucky enough not to know about the hidden 5-minute clock on each floor. A time bomb that, when it reaches zero, will unleash the Waterwraith and make every horror you’ve seen up to that point seem like a walk in the park.
For those lucky enough to have avoided this abomination over the past two decades, the Waterwraith is a gelatinous blob that sits on two giant rollers and is capable of crushing your entire group of Pikmin with a single fall. Armed with a limited number of troops, its transparent body is immune to all attacks (until you reach sub-level five), so all you can do is run and hide .
And I ran away. My first encounter with the Waterwraith resulted in a rare ‘Game Over’, with all of my Pikmin down. Its sudden drop meant that each subsequent run was filled with paranoia. When will it come next? How long do I have left? Why are my palms so sweaty?
In the final sub-level, you can load up the Purple Pikmin and finally take down that sucker, but we Pikmin fans didn’t know that at the time (a feeling of panic you don’t get from Interesting experience is shown in the gameplay). As far as I’m concerned, this is an invincible demon who won’t rest until he has Olimar, Louie, and every Pikmin in sight flatter than an old can of Coke.
It was the best part of two decades before the blob monster appeared in the series again last year. Pikmin 4but it still makes me feel uncomfortable – and this time I know how to beat the damn thing. Who would have thought that a giant, faceless entity capable of instantly ending your game would be so terrifying?
In Nintendo’s defense, they’ve pumped out massive amounts of nightmare fuel over the years, likely scarring more than their innocent little minds — Dead Hand in Ocarina of time, Majora’s maskThe moon is setting, Big Boo is inside Super Mario 64the ghostly strings of Lavender Town. We can move on (if we are brave enough).
But for me, Waterwraith is the granddaddy of them all. It’s the ultimate combination of suspense, character design, and danger that culminates in an experience I’d rather never return to again. I want one Pikmin 5 just like anyone else, but I don’t know if my fragile little heart can handle another cameo from this monstrosity.
