New Pokemon Snap delivers on exactly what the name implies, an updated version of the 1999 N64 classic that provides a stunning and thoughtful portrayal of the behaviors of Pokemon's ever-expanding cast.
Like the first game, the player is tasked with traveling on rails through courses filled with Pokemon to snap photos of them for a professor and ultimately uncover secrets within the environment that lead to new paths and courses.
The decision to stick to the classic formula has been somewhat controversial with some folks hoping the new game would add more freedom, but ultimately I find Pokemon Snap to be more of a rail shooter than a photography game.
Through this lens, I think the game most excels at guiding you through paths that allow you to take in gorgeous scenes and the exciting interactions the Pokemon have with the environment and each other on your first run through and then use subsequent runs to try to set up your perfect shots. Some of my personal highlights involved being surprised by a Pokemon I did not expect to see in a certain area or an interaction between two or more Pokemon.
New Pokemon Snap's visuals are breathtaking with a wide range of environments spanning from quiet fields and serene beaches to lush jungles and dank caves. The Pokemon animations also do so much to bring each creature to life.
Capturing photos of Pokemon for the professor still follows the somewhat nonsensical rubric of judging your photos based on size and how centered the Pokemon is in the frame.
New to New Pokemon Snap, however, are star ratings for photos and course levels.
Each Pokemon has a slot of 1- to 4-star photos that denote different poses with the higher stars often requiring special conditions to be met to set up the snap. The work to find these stellar photos is often ultimately worth it but can be made frustrating by the fact that the tools you gain to interact with Pokemon don't really have defined roles. Much like the first game as you progress you gain access to fluffruit, apple-like fruits that Pokemon will eat and react to when struck by, illumina orbs which make Pokemon glow and can interact with some environmental elements and the ability to play music which can cause some Pokemon to dance or perform special actions. This ultimately gets muddled as all three methods can be used to do things such as wake a Pokemon up or get them to perform a specific action and in some cases, a combination of two or all three is required and the only means to determine what is necessary is trial and error.
Course levels use points that you are granted for having photos scored by the professor on each run to unlock new variations of the levels with different Pokemon that appear and occasionally different optional paths. Some courses also have a day and night version with their own individual level system, meaning each course can contain as many as six different versions without factoring in alternate paths within them.
These two factors combined with the ability to alter the zoom and framing of your photos after a run and further alter them with filters, stickers etc. that can be earned by completing requests (which essentially offer tips to 3- and 4-star photos) make each level incredibly dense and provide dozens of hours of replayability.
Outside of the standard courses, each area contains a special Illumina Pokemon course where you are tasked with following around a single (usually supersized) Pokemon and pelting them with illumina orbs to take their photos. These sequences were the weakest part of the game for me taking a lot of the most frustrating elements from the Mew final boss stage in the original game and eliminating much of the spectacle that makes the main courses interesting.
After more than 20 years of waiting New Pokemon Snap provides an update to the original that feels both modern and faithful, while offering nearly endless possibilities for those who want to go the extra mile and track down each and every shot.
Like the first game, the player is tasked with traveling on rails through courses filled with Pokemon to snap photos of them for a professor and ultimately uncover secrets within the environment that lead to new paths and courses.
The decision to stick to the classic formula has been somewhat controversial with some folks hoping the new game would add more freedom, but ultimately I find Pokemon Snap to be more of a rail shooter than a photography game.
Through this lens, I think the game most excels at guiding you through paths that allow you to take in gorgeous scenes and the exciting interactions the Pokemon have with the environment and each other on your first run through and then use subsequent runs to try to set up your perfect shots. Some of my personal highlights involved being surprised by a Pokemon I did not expect to see in a certain area or an interaction between two or more Pokemon.
New Pokemon Snap's visuals are breathtaking with a wide range of environments spanning from quiet fields and serene beaches to lush jungles and dank caves. The Pokemon animations also do so much to bring each creature to life.
Capturing photos of Pokemon for the professor still follows the somewhat nonsensical rubric of judging your photos based on size and how centered the Pokemon is in the frame.
New to New Pokemon Snap, however, are star ratings for photos and course levels.
Each Pokemon has a slot of 1- to 4-star photos that denote different poses with the higher stars often requiring special conditions to be met to set up the snap. The work to find these stellar photos is often ultimately worth it but can be made frustrating by the fact that the tools you gain to interact with Pokemon don't really have defined roles. Much like the first game as you progress you gain access to fluffruit, apple-like fruits that Pokemon will eat and react to when struck by, illumina orbs which make Pokemon glow and can interact with some environmental elements and the ability to play music which can cause some Pokemon to dance or perform special actions. This ultimately gets muddled as all three methods can be used to do things such as wake a Pokemon up or get them to perform a specific action and in some cases, a combination of two or all three is required and the only means to determine what is necessary is trial and error.
Course levels use points that you are granted for having photos scored by the professor on each run to unlock new variations of the levels with different Pokemon that appear and occasionally different optional paths. Some courses also have a day and night version with their own individual level system, meaning each course can contain as many as six different versions without factoring in alternate paths within them.
These two factors combined with the ability to alter the zoom and framing of your photos after a run and further alter them with filters, stickers etc. that can be earned by completing requests (which essentially offer tips to 3- and 4-star photos) make each level incredibly dense and provide dozens of hours of replayability.
Outside of the standard courses, each area contains a special Illumina Pokemon course where you are tasked with following around a single (usually supersized) Pokemon and pelting them with illumina orbs to take their photos. These sequences were the weakest part of the game for me taking a lot of the most frustrating elements from the Mew final boss stage in the original game and eliminating much of the spectacle that makes the main courses interesting.
After more than 20 years of waiting New Pokemon Snap provides an update to the original that feels both modern and faithful, while offering nearly endless possibilities for those who want to go the extra mile and track down each and every shot.