Pokemon Snap

Written by Steve Graff  on June 22, 2000

Review: Too bad you can't snap the Pokemon's heads off then this game would actually last longer

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Todd, a world famous Pokemon Photographer was invited by an especially excited Professor Oak to visit a new theme park of his Pokemon Island. Todd's mission (to which he accepted) was to photograph each of the Pokemon species dwelling on the island for Oak's Pokemon Report, which had to be completed. You are Todd (no not literally, in the game silly) and if you don't hurry, you could miss your big break in the Pokemon Industry. Your safari is about to begin, what are you waiting for? GET SNAPPING!

The visuals in Pokemon Snap are slightly outdated merely due to the fact that the game is not new to the faces of gamers. In fact, it's been around for quite a while in Japan. With that in mind, lets be truthful and say that Pokemon really aren't detailed things; the essence of the Pokemon are still captured (no pun intended) in the 3d graphics. The Pokemon included are instantly recognizable in the newer dimension, so no problem here. Good clear graphics.

The controls are very easy and simple to use. Perfect and just right for a game like this. As you ride around on the pre-set course the basic controls are point, zoom, click. Later on you earn the right to throw Pokemon food with A, pester balls with B, and use a little booster for your vehicle with R. Incredibly simple? Yes. Effective? Very. The analog stick gives the precise movement needed to scan across the island environments

As for the audio well, personally, I happen to think that the Pokemon sound cute in the cartoon. : ) If you think they sound annoying then you can turn the sound down, but if you are like me then you will be thrilled to hear the Pokemon's voices perfectly. They even say different things, and Jigglypuff even sings! The downsides? The music doesn't sound like Pokemon music, not familiar at all. It just doesn't seem to match the Pokemon spirit. I'm also pretty sure that I heard some Pokemon not fully translated, but don't worry, your precious Pikachu is safe, as he isn't translated in the show anyways.

Was I satisfied? Being the big of a Pokemon freak that I am, I thought that this game sounded stupid, yet as big of a Pokemon freak that I am, I still rented it. I was satisfied with the game as a whole. It was a very creative game and I greatly enjoyed it. There are so many little extra things that you can do in the game just for fun. For example, if you are quick enough you can make a Pikachu ride a Voltorb like a circus ball. It makes you want to just yell out "PIKA! PIKA CHU!" (or not).

Now for the replay. Sadly, after you photograph the 63 Pokemon species on the island, there isn't really much else. You could retake photos but by the time you have all of the Pokemon pictures, you probably already have done the best you could. This game is strictly RENTAL ONLY. That is of course you absolutely must have every piece of Pokemon merchandise known to man.