Not everyone in Smash Ultimate is the hero of their own story. Captain Olimar, the de facto protagonist of the first two Pikmin games, isn’t even the most iconic character in his franchise. While he’s plenty cute in his own way, it’s the titular Pikmin that most player recognize from that strange strategy series. Luckily, Olimar brings his color-coded buddies with him into battle, inflating an already huge cast of playable fighters.
Smash Ultimate sports 74 different playable characters at launch — including every single previous character from the super-franchise and a bunch of fresh faces. That’s not even including the glut of DLC fighters, assist trophies, and more. There’s so much that no one person could possibly keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a guide to every single character.
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Olimar brings a lot to the battle. That’s mostly because he literally brings a set of sapient plants, all with slightly different attributes, into every fight. And just like in Pikmin, these little buds do a lot of the actual fighting themselves. But Olimar isn’t completely against getting his hands dirty.
According to Nintendo description of Olimar…
Captain Olimar battles by issuing commands to various types of Pikmin under his control. Pikmin come in different colors that correspond to different abilities. Olimar’s alternate appearance lets you play as Alph!
Olimar Moves
Pikmin Pluck (B) – Plucks a maximum of three Pikmin in this order: red, yellow, blue, white, purple.
Pikmin Throw (Side + B) – Throws Pikmin. Most Pikmin stick to opponents, but Purple Pikmin slam them.
Winged Pikmin (Up + B) – Summons Winged Pikmin to fly him around. Less effective if laden with Pikmin.
Pikmin Order (Down + B) – Blows his whistle to recall Pikmin and change their order.
End of Day (Final Smash) – Olimar boards a ship and flies off, leaving his foes at the mercy of the indigenous creatures. The ship’s return can be controlled with left and right. Upon landing, it explodes and launches nearby foes.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
Good news, Pikmin fans: The Smash Ultimate version of Captain Olimar is noticeably improved. He picks his Pikmin faster and they do more damage when latched, upping his overall damage potential. The strategy is still the same: throw Pikmin, let them do some damage, recall, repeat. Then, when the percentage is high, go for the knockout. Olimar is great for players who like to let summons or sub-characters do the fighting. He’s one of the best at what he does.
Weaknesses
On the flip side, Olimar relies on his Pikmin to make things happen. If you whittle down his Pikmin count, his recovery and damage potential get weaker. If you catch him alone, it can be easy to lock him down and send him flying. Those that struggle against the new-and-improved Captain should be patient and pressure him to keep him from endlessly reinforcing his army of little dudes.
Olimar Outfits
Our boy Olimar here mostly has palette swaps. The front half of his skins have his eyes closed. The latter four technically have you play as the very similar looking Alph. Their eyes are wide open, staring at you with all of their piercing, inner curiosity.
And now you have the dirt on the good captain! His Pikmin-centric attacks open up a lot of opportunities, but it’s up to you, the player, to capitalize on them. Let’s just hope this breakdown gives you the tools you need to begin the battle on the right foot. That is unless you want to wind up buried with your little veggie pals…
All of our Smash Ultimate guides created with the help of Eric Van Allen.
