Nintendo announces new Pikmin platformer for 3DS

Nintendo's 1 September Direct conference ends with surprise reveal of Pikmin 3DS game.

Nintendo 3DS Pikmin — A screenshot from Pikmin on 3DS, from the Nintendo Direct announcement. Nintendo

Nintendo has announced a brand new Pikmin title for the Nintendo 3DS handheld, set for release sometime in 2017. The game, which hasn't been given a final name, will be a side-scrolling action platformer.

Designed "with action in mind" the Pikmin in this new iteration will help explorer Olimar with their various abilities. Players direct them with the touch screen, using the fire resistance of red Pikmin to solve puzzles for example.

Blue Pikmin work well in water, while yellow Pikmin can be thrown to higher ground. No other Pikmin were shown in the footage (the only other thing we spotted was a Bulborb enemy) but of course many will be included.

Footage of the game in action accompanied the announcement, which you can watch below from the 32:05 mark.

Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed the existence of a Pikmin 4 in the summer of 2014, confirming it was still in the works one year later. It's unclear whether this is the game Miyamoto was referring to. Most had assumed he was talking about Wii U or Nintendo NX game.