New Play Control! Pikmin 2

New Play Control! Pikmin 2
Also known as: Wii de Asobu Pikmin 2 (JP), Pikmin 2 (US) Developer: Nintendo EAD Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Wii Released in JP: March 15, 2009 Released in US: June 10, 2012 Released in EU: April 24, 2009 Released in AU: May 14, 2009 This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has unused text. This game has regional differences.

If you've seen New Play Control! Pikmin, then you know what New Play Control! Pikmin 2 brings to the table. Notable for getting a very belated release in North America, for whatever reason. It was also released as a Nintendo Selects title over there despite the fact that it didn't have a standard one.

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Pikmin 1 and 2 on Wii

This game has a folder that's also used in New Play Control! Pikmin. Everything of interest about that folder is documented in that article.

Pikmin 2 Leftovers

Because this is a port of Pikmin 2, some leftovers were never cleaned out.

Memory Card

While most GameCube-related strings in /pikmin2/message/mesRes_engEU.szs/message/pikmin2.bmg have been updated to match the Wii version, one of them remains:

The data in the file on the Memory
Card in Slot A is corrupted. 
Is it OK to overwrite this file?

GameCube Cursor

The model for the GameCube version's cursor is still present in /pikmin2/user/Kando/piki/pikis.szs/designer/cursor.

Unused Content

To do: Check the Japanese and American versions to see if the version-exclusive unused stuff is still there. Double-check that the development text strings (e.g. mouse on cars) really were removed. I only tried the .wbfs file.

All the content that goes unused in Pikmin 2 goes unused here as well, including the e-Reader content, but excluding the following:

• The early English script that was only found in the Japanese version of Pikmin 2 is nowhere to be seen here.
• The unused content in early Treasure Hoard settings (/user/Abe/Pellet/*/otakara_config.txt) in the Japanese version are likewise missing.
• The old European treasure models found in the /user/Abe/Pellet folder for the American and Japanese versions are also missing.
• Some unused strings were cleaned off:
  • The "This message was moved" messages have been removed.
  • The placeholder Piklopedia and Treasure Hoard item descriptions were removed.
  • "It's been added to your Treasure Log!" was removed.
  • "You can't log this treasure until you reach the surface." was removed.
  • The message explaining that excessive damage to the spacesuit is fatal was also removed.
  • The strings about the Yellow and Blue Onions awakening were removed.
  • The text for the "camera tutorial" cutscene was also deleted.
  • Text relating to the cut Return to Last Save menu was deleted.
  • The development text strings were removed (e.g. "MOC = Mouse on Cars!").
• The /user/Kando/develop folder was removed.
• The map screen mockup image was removed.
• Data referring to the canceled Dutch translation was removed.

Regional Differences

To do: Check if the original Pikmin 2 regional differences are still here. Also, the European-only treasure descriptions here need adding; we don't need to add the ones for the other treasures because they're the same regional differences as on the GameCube.

• Similarly to New Play Control! Pikmin, on the European version, Wollywogs, Yellow Wollywogs, and Wogpoles have been renamed to Wollyhops, Yellow Wollyhops, and Wolpoles, respectively. This change didn't exist in the GameCube version, but the trend continued for the European version of Pikmin 3; it's presumed this happened because "wog" in British English is a racial slur.
• The journal entry for the Flare Cannon has the word "monstrous" in the European version, and the misspelling "monsterous" in the US version. In the GameCube release, the same scenario happens...except with the regions swapped.

Totaka's Song

Unlike in the original GameCube version, Totaka's song initially seemed to be totally inaccessible in the New Play Control port - the song has been completely removed from the cave completion screen, and due to the Wii version (seemingly) being guaranteed to always autosave, it should be impossible for the cave transition music to ever remain playing long enough to reach Totaka's song.

However, using an Action Replay code, it is possible to force the game to prompt the user for a manual save rather than autosaving when transitioning between areas.

USA NPC!
$Disable Autosave [Proboscis-2] 0466A5A8 00000001

And indeed, unlike the cave completion screen, the song is in fact still present in the cave transition music! (Though strangely, it seems to use the shorter notes of the GameCube's Treasures Salvaged screen, rather than the GameCube's Memory Card Check screen.)

Waiting on the Save Data Check screen when accessed on the way into a sublevel. (wait until 3:50)

(Source: @floofcheeks)