Pros: Puzzle-centric on-rails "shooter" of sorts, well, a photo safari game where your subjects are Pokemon instead of regular wild animals, but, I really appreciate the Pokemon in this game acting like wild animals, in habitats that they would inhabit in nature. It's fun to see them move about, animate, express emotions, and do cute little animal-like things that you never got to see the Pokemon do in games beforehand. The puzzle aspect is one of my favorites though, throwing balls, or bait, to get the Pokemon to do things, so you can set them up for the right photos that'll get you tons of points, is really fun, and the photos are nice rewards you can always look at later, but more than just getting a good photo-op, is getting the stage or your path to change, interacting with it in similar ways. My favorite of these, is getting Pokemon to evolve through such interactions! Getting a Slowpoke to walk over to a river to drop its tail and evolve into a Slowbro, getting a Charmeleon to evolve into a Charizard by knocking it into a lava crater, or getting a Magikarp towards a waterfall to evolve into a Gyarados! These among many others, were the highlight of the game for me, and especially in terms of "catching them all", well... on film anyway, heh.
Cons: The controls are very stiff, and getting the right photo with the right framing, is more of a chaotic venture than it is a fun activity, particularly because you're moving on a track the entire time... hard to do photos right while in constant motion. That's a bit of a fundamental issue with the whole concept behind the game. As fun as on-rails shooter stuff is, and the safari aspect of seeing Pokemon through a course and altering their behaviors... It's not exactly the best way to get a photo, and getting those photos are the crux of this game, so, gotta dock it a bit there. Though however, you do unlock the ability to hit the brakes on your vehicle, or even boost through a stage, but that doesn't change the nature in which you move through a course on a rail... does help a little though.
What it means to me: This was the first Pokemon game for Nintendo 64 in the west, the first time we'd see any of the Pokemon we fell in love with from Red & Blue in 3D! And that was exciting, so I really got into this game for that reason. I recall playing that Mew stage, over and over and over again, to get the perfect picture. And eventually I figured out the right amount of distance to get the shot of my dreams! That was satisfying, for sure! But y'know, afterwards, and since then, it hasn't been nearly as enjoyable to go back to, and the control issues and fun of photography, just ain't there like it used to be.
Cons: The controls are very stiff, and getting the right photo with the right framing, is more of a chaotic venture than it is a fun activity, particularly because you're moving on a track the entire time... hard to do photos right while in constant motion. That's a bit of a fundamental issue with the whole concept behind the game. As fun as on-rails shooter stuff is, and the safari aspect of seeing Pokemon through a course and altering their behaviors... It's not exactly the best way to get a photo, and getting those photos are the crux of this game, so, gotta dock it a bit there. Though however, you do unlock the ability to hit the brakes on your vehicle, or even boost through a stage, but that doesn't change the nature in which you move through a course on a rail... does help a little though.
What it means to me: This was the first Pokemon game for Nintendo 64 in the west, the first time we'd see any of the Pokemon we fell in love with from Red & Blue in 3D! And that was exciting, so I really got into this game for that reason. I recall playing that Mew stage, over and over and over again, to get the perfect picture. And eventually I figured out the right amount of distance to get the shot of my dreams! That was satisfying, for sure! But y'know, afterwards, and since then, it hasn't been nearly as enjoyable to go back to, and the control issues and fun of photography, just ain't there like it used to be.