New Pokemon Snap

As one of the most popular series of all-time, Pokémon has rightly become a major name within the gaming world. It’s a media platform that has spanned numerous games, movies, TV series, and more. The latest edition to the Pokémon family from Bandai Namco is New Pokémon Snap. This intriguing little game has managed to capture a lot of fans interest in the first-person photography genre.

While it’s hard to find too many games that follow the same theme, you can find a lot of similarities with many simulator games that offer photo modes. The game is a long-awaited sequel to the Pokémon Snap released in 1999 on the Nintendo 64. By taking on that idea and adding even more to it, players head off to Lental and use a hovercraft to fly around and snap Pokémon in various habitats and situations.

Photographic fun, mostly for kids

The first thing to note is that, like many photographically-built games, NPS is built with kids in mind. As an adult, you might simply find this lacks enough depth and interesting things to do. For a child, though, it’s ideal for importing them directly into the Pokémon world and allowing them to interact with the various creatures that they can find within the game. You play the role as a Pokémon photographer who heads off to various islands in the Lental region to try and research the studies of Professor Mirror.

Unlike other Pokémon games, there is no combat system here and you essentially spend the game on an on-rails hovercraft, taking snaps of Pokémon in various guises and activities. With over 200 Pokémon to snap, though, there is plenty for you to do as you go through the game. Those who have played classic rail shooter games like Time Crisis, though, might immediately feel at home – except here you aren’t firing shots, but snaps of your camera. Your photos are then graded in terms of the rareness of a Pokémon activity, rated out of four stars. Each photo takes into account things like the closeness of the Pokémon, the position it takes, and what is actually happening in the shot.

A fitting sequel to a Pokémon classic

While to b fair there isn’t a huge amount to really do, this is the ultimate calm-me-down game. You spend your time basically taking photos of Pokémon in interesting scenarios, trying to create content that is certain to make the professor happy.

Pros:

• A great way for kids to get into the photography world
• Fun, easy, calming gameplay that requires little effort
• Amazing detail and exciting, lifelike nature to the Pokémon
• 200 Pokémon to try and snap photos of throughout

Cons:

• Perhaps lacks the depth and detail to keep you coming back