Pokémon Snap (1999)

Caught you!

Premise

Pokemon Snap is a marvel for its time, nobody expected the Nintendo 64 would have the ability to screenshot pictures built into its core, and it managed to do so with quite the precision. Pokemon Snap even allowed you to print the photos if you went to certain Blockbusters stores, that had the Pokemon Snap printer station. You could even print them using the gameboy printer if you had the right setup.

The good

• The Pokemon feel actually alive. You can see them interact with each other, predation, intimidation, evolution, etc. It does feel like an actual safari where you can see animals actually interact with each other.
• The simple on-rails movement is relaxing, forcing you to focus entirely on composition and timing. You have to remember which Pokemon appears where, how to hit them with the pester ball or food, or know which poke flute song makes them react.
• Pokemon actually react to you taking photos, if you take too many photos of Digglett, a Dugtrio appears, if you take too many photos of Lapras, the ones you photograpphed appear near the end and pose. If you get the timing right, you can get awesome photos of the three legendary birds right after they are born.
• Professor Oak's scoring system adds surprising depth. It's not just about taking a picture; it's about "Pose," "Size," "Composition," and getting all six Pokémon in the same frame. This turns a simple photo into a challenging puzzle.
• The unlockable items (Pokemon Food/Apples, Pester Balls, Flute) encourage replayability. You need to revisit levels with new tools to find the hidden "Photo Opportunities" and trigger rare, high-scoring interactions (like getting Pikachu on a surfboard or flying Pikachu).

The bad

• The game is very short, featuring only 7 courses. Once you've found all 63 Pokemon and unlocked the final photo, there isn't much left to do beyond improving your scores.
• The game only includes 63 of the original 151 original and they are extremely easy to find even without a guide, just throw pester balls, food or use the pokeflute anywhere and you will eventually get all 63 in less than 4 hours. Even Mew is relatively easy if you luck out and manage to combo him with pesterballs.
• The game doesn't let you brake, if you are too slow to get a photograph, you are screwed and have to reset or wait until the end.

Conclusion

It is a must-play piece of N64 history and a brilliant example of how to make a truly unique spin-off. It paved the way for the future New Pokémon Snap on the Switch.

"Yep. That one's going in my cringe compilation." -Shrek

This was literally the first console game I had ever owned but I got rid of it a couple years later and before replaying it recently I could only remember the general gameplay and little bits and pieces of what it was about. One night a few months ago I had a dream where I was playing this game on a Game Boy Player somehow, which suddenly led me to impulse purchase it off eBay in real life. Upon receiving it and getting the cartridge to work I have to say I have no regrets re-obtaining this cherished relic and would say it's easily one of the best things the N64 has to offer.

The game puts you in the shoes of TODD SNAP, who can be renamed to whatever you like, as he goes on a journey through six plus one fun stages to take the best pictures of generation 1 pokemon he possibly can. You ride in a funny little car along a set path, taking pictures of whatever pokemon you can find. The controls are simple and easy to use, just aim and shoot. At the end of each stage you may select one picture of each pokemon to give Prof. Oak, and higher scoring pokemon will let you unlock new stages and features. While your set of actions seems limited to start with eventually you unlock new tools: Apples that pokemon can eat, pester balls which bring pokemon out of hiding, and the pokeflute which will make pokemon behave in ways you may have never expected. Replaying each stage with new items lets you discover new things that you may have missed the first time around.

Each level in this game is adorned with small quirks and secrets that are an endless joy to discover. Pokemon will run around and react to what you do, and may move around to different locations as well, allowing you to get better shots of them. Special events may happen as well, such as a Jigglypuff you saved earlier in a stage performing a live concert. If anything this game showcases the world of pokemon best and while the novelty of seeing pokemon on something that isn't a tiny Game Boy screen isn't really a thing it's still incredible to see interactions such as magmars fighting or a slowpoke evolving into a slowbro in real time. There are also a lot of pikachus in the world, including the illustrious Balloon Pikachu

If you manage to unlock every stage and photograph every secret pokemon sign, which includes cameos by some pokemon who don't appear normally, you can unlock the Rainbow Cloud and meet Mew. The stage is a simple "boss fight" where you throw apples and take the best picture of Mew you can, and while there's not really much to the stage it's very nice looking and feels like the game is telling you "Congrats! You did it!" While this game is very short and can be finished in a single sitting there are also special high score challenges, and to be honest they seem like they were kind of implemented very hastily because some high score targets are way harder to get than others (looking at you volcano). Even if you don't want to get high scores you can still replay levels and get the best pics you can in your album.

Out of all pokemon spinoff games I see this one cherished quite frequently and a lot of people have requested a sequel to it, which is kind of strange because everybody wants one but nobody really wants to make one. Even though this game is very short I still consider it one of the best because of how well designed every aspect is, making this unlike any other. At the very least you can sort of recreate the same sort of good feeling this game gives you by going outside and taking pictures of bugs in real life.

I FINALLY got to play Pokemon Snap again. I consider it one of my favourite games of all time, but I haven't been able to play it since I was a kid, so I've been looking forward to replaying it and hoping that it held up. It did.

It's such a simple concept: There are 6 stages that you move through on a fixed track, and you take pictures of pokemon in their natural environment. At first all you do is point and click, and the only skill used is good timing and being able to get the pokemon in the middle of the frame. But then you're slowly introduced to new mechanics. Soon you're actually interacting with the environment by throwing food and pester balls and playing a flute to get the pokemon in better positions, do poses, and even evolve. You end up getting a sense of actual pride when you nail that perfect shot.

Beyond this, there's actually a good amount of secrets for such a short game (It took me about five hours to snap a pic of every single pokemon). The stage secrets are fairly obvious, as Professor Oak all but tells you where they are, but the ways you get certain pokemon to appear, evolve, or get in the perfect pose are actually pretty tricky. I admit I had to look up how to get Gyarados and Muk, as I'd forgotten the tricks.

I believe Nintendo has said that they're not necessarily opposed to a sequel to Snap, but that they're waiting until they have a unique idea, because they're not about recycling old game mechanics. That's fair, but in my opinion, Pokemon Snap seriously deserves a modern sequel. With the hundreds of pokemon now available and the power of the modern consoles, Nintendo could make a genuinely fun and unique gaming experience.

5 stars every time.