Pikmin: Wide World/Challenge Mode

Challenge Mode is an alternate game mode in Pikmin: Wide World that combines elements from and  Challenge Modes and  Mission Mode. It is permanently unlocked by collecting the Telecommunications Device upgrade in any Story Mode save game. There are sixty stages total, including both the standard stages and the remixed versions unlocked by completing them with a high enough score. Stages are presented in sets of five, with the fifth stage of each set being a fight against a story mode boss. A particular set of Pikmin are provided in each stage, but more Pikmin or different kinds of them may be accessed in those stages to complete them. Up to four players can play together locally, online, or both to set new records for various stages, but this must be set up in the stage select screen.

Each stage has three objectives that are achieved separately, and they are Produce Pikmin!, Gather Treasures!, and Eliminate Enemies!. There is also a fourth objective, Battle Bosses!, which is exclusive to stages focused on a major boss in story mode and the only objective those stages have. Stages can take place above ground or in caves, the latter consisting of sublevels. Additionally, aboveground stages have static layouts, while those of underground stages are dynamic. Explorable space in either is also limited in various ways, as aboveground stages are surrounded by impassible terrain or indestructible obstacles, and underground stages are simple interiors. No matter the setting, each stage has a specific time limit, as indicated by a timer on the heads-up display.

Upon the completion of a stage, a benchmark medal and a flower badge are awarded to the player to rank their performance for that particular stage. The flower badge's tier can not surpass the benchmark medal's equivalent tier, only match it at most, to prevent cheating by doing nothing until the stage's timer runs out. Benchmark medals represent how high of a score was achieved for a particular stage, with the tiers, ordered from lowest to highest, being bronze, silver, and notably gold, which signifies the total score for a stage was reached or even surpassed. Flower badges represent how many Pikmin deaths occurred in a particular stage, with the tiers again ordered from worst to best: a white flower indicates some deaths, a pink flower signifies few deaths, and an indigo flower means there were no deaths whatsoever. In multiplayer, every player is awarded the same medal and flower badge upon the completion of a stage, and if it is a personal best, recorded on their save files.

Stages immediately end when their objectives are fulfilled in their entirety, and any extra time remaining is converted into points. Running out of time will end the stage, with the current score being recorded if it was a personal best, and a prompt will ask if the player would like to finish the stage. If accepted, gameplay will enter "after-hours" and continue from where it left off, with the timer counting up rather than down, to help the player understand how much more time they would have taken to complete the stage. Scores achieved during after-hours are not recorded whatsoever.

Completing every Challenge Mode stage with a gold benchmark medal and indigo flower badge is one of the several requirements to unlock Pikpik carrots as a usable Pikmin type in Battle Mode and Bottomless Abyss.