Pokémon Snap Review

Summary:

Can you catch 'em all -- on film?

Pros:

+ Unique game concept

+ Execution is pretty solid

+ Transfer photos to Wii Message Board

Cons:

- Lots of Pokémon are missing

- Very few levels; very shallow

- Controls feel too stiff

- Not enough control to capture original photos

Review:

[Originally written for Zentendo in July of 2008.]

Most Nintendo franchises start off on a console and then later may jump to a portable device. Pokémon, however, started off on the Game Boy and, in tandem with Tetris, practically revitalized the portable gaming market, which had been in decline at the time, and started one of Nintendo's biggest money-making franchises. Pokémon Snap was the first title in the series to be on a home console. It featured 63 of the original 151 Pokémon, and was quite different from its Game Boy counterparts.

Pokémon Snap stars Todd Snap, a character based off of the Pokémon anime, who has been assigned by Professor Oak to take pictures of Pokemon on a recluse island for research purposes. The product of this concept is unique, if anything: an on-rails shooter where one is shooting pictures rather than bullets. Todd rides in the Zero-One, a vehicle that can hover, float, and drive on the ground. As Zero-One slowly makes its way through the environment, players must aim their cameras at the Pokémon that appear, zoom in, and try to take photos at the best moments. Keeping the Pokémon centered, getting close ups, catching notable poses, and including other Pokémon of the same type in the photograph will all add up to a high scoring snapshot that pleases the professor. As players prove their photography skills, Oak will give them bait to lure Pokémon to optimal locations, stun gas balls that will provoke them or draw them out of hiding, and a flute that will elicit some dance moves or simply grab their attention.

Taking all of these elements together and applying them to 63 Pokémon over seven stages (six, really, as the last one is just one Pokémon in the sky), Pokémon Snap kind of feels arcade-like in its basic nature but original in its concept and execution. This is the only Virtual Console title to date which takes advantage of a Wii feature: players can send photos they've taken to the Wii Message Board to send to friends. Going back and replaying stages will enable players to uncover Pokémon they missed and take better shots for higher scores using the items they've acquired and the knowledge of the stage's layout.

Despite its interesting setup, Pokemon Snap has some problems. For one, the controls can sometimes feel a little insensitive, not taking advantage of the N64's control stick sensitivity at all. There feels like one moving speed, which can be frustrating when one wishes to simply tweak a shot just a teeny tiny bit to the left and they wind up accidentally overcompensating and blowing their shot, all because the controls are too stiff. The reticle moves around the screen and flicks back to the center when you let go of the control stick unless zoomed in -- which becomes kind of irritating. Adding to the frustration is the act of throwing objects, which travel in an arc when thrown -- this makes sense, but it is highly difficult to judge distance when the objects you're throwing are 2D and the controls are so stiff, resulting in constant stick flicking to twitch the reticle to just the right spot. Furthermore, each given stage only lasts a few minutes (roughly five apiece) and there are only a handful of them. Granted, the game encourages replays, but even so, there's simply very little content here. And also, yes, 150 Pokémon is a lot, but this title doesn't even have half of said Pokémon in it. The Pokémon Stadium games had all of the up-to-date Pokémon in them, complete with various animations and such, and that game had full-fledged battles. Surely a few more stages at the least could have been added in to include more of the Pokémon. As it is, it ends up feeling woefully incomplete. In a sense it's like the original Pikmin -- a fine game with original ideas but lacking the content and polish to make it feel whole: a task Pikmin 2 accomplished later on.

Pokémon Snap is not a bad game in the thick of playing it, and it was a quirky and engaging title back in the days of the N64 (Pokémon fans surely ate it up as the first console release in the franchise), but taking a step back reveals that the title is severely lacking in content and could have used more time in development to tweak the controls and make a more complete package. The bottom line is that Pokémon Snap will be enjoyable to many players but ultimately falls flat due to a lack of content and any real incentive for replay value, try as it may. Even posting photos to the Wii Message Board gets old after a few days (you can only post one per day, as it is), as the game doesn't really give players enough control to take truly original photos.

Bottom Line:

As it stands, Pokémon Snap is light-hearted fun which is executed adequately, but the asking price is simply too steep for the lacking amount of content compared to what else is available. For the same cost, players can get a much more developed on-rails title with over twice as many levels, more engaging gameplay, tighter controls, and more replay value: Starfox 64. The Pokémon Stadium games offered a much more full-bodied experience, as well, focusing on strategic battle tournaments that provided hours of enjoyment derived from the heart of the series -- turn-based battles. On the flip side, this title can by and large be completed in an hour or two with no incentive to go back. If you've never played Pokémon Snap and are a big fan of the franchise, consider giving this a go, but this is too shallow an experience for ten dollars to truly recommend, especially with what else is out there.