A masterful experience and a unique gem on the Nintendo 64
Pokemon's success on Game Boy quickly led to several games on Nintendo's home console of the time, the Nintendo 64. However, the games on N64 were spin-off games, and the first of these was Pokemon Snap. Developed by HAL Laboratory, published by Nintendo, and released in 1999, this game put you into the shoes of a young photographer as he took pictures of Pokemon on a mysterious island for Professor Oak. So it's a first person rail shooter, but the shooting is all done with a camera.
There are six courses in the game, each one being a different area of the island. You'll travel through the course at a nice pace, allowing you to look around and snap pictures of Pokemon. The Pokemon in the courses will be doing all kinds of things, such as sitting, moving, flying, or even interacting with one another. The controls are easy: the Z button will let you look through the camera lens and the A button will snap a picture. Your film allows you to take up to 60 pictures. You can't zoom in or out, making it more challenging, but teaching you to wait for just the right moment to snap that picture.
After getting pictures for a particular course, you'll review the pictures you've taken and pick the best ones to present to Professor Oak. The Professor will then critique your pics and give you points. He judges on three things: size (how big the Pokemon was in the shot), pose (if the Pokemon was doing anything), and technique (basically, was the Pokemon in the center of the frame). If everything is good, he'll double your points. You can only keep one picture of each Pokemon, so if you take a picture of a Pokemon you already have, you can choose to keep it or disregard it.
So far, the game sounds very basic, but HAL did a good job of introducing new things as the game progressed. You'll get three items throughout the game: the apple (which you can use to make Pokemon come closer to you), the pester ball (which will cause Pokemon in hiding to come out), and the Poke Flute (which will entice rare Pokemon to appear). These items allow you to go back to old courses and find new Pokemon which you wouldn't have been able to find before. And because there are so many Pokemon in the game (over 60), this offers you some great replayability. Who doesn't want to find and take pictures of rare Pokemon?
It doesn't take long for you to discover the brilliance of Pokemon Snap. With only six courses, the game seems small and cheap, yet each course is filled with secrets. You'll have to play courses several times before opening the next course. Sometimes you'll have to rack up a certain number of points; other times you'll have to get a certain number of new shots; and then at times you'll have to find a way to hit a switch (which is a puzzle) to open a new path. This makes it very exciting when you finally open a new course. Not only that, but the courses are very enjoyable, giving you a fun, casual experience which anyone can enjoy, and you never know which Pokemon you'll find.
Some of the secrets are really great, and would make any Pokemon fan smile or shout for joy. In order to find some of these secrets, you'll have to experiment, and the game encourages this. Let me give you an example: in the volcano course, if you throw an apple at Charmeleon, you'll knock him into the lava, and he will evolve into Charizard and emerge in triumph. I was surprised at that one! Here's another neat one: if you hit the Coffing that's chasing Jigglypuff with an apple in the cave course, Jigglypuff will show up at the end of the course and will sing for you! There are all kinds of secrets and fun things to discover when you interact with the Pokemon using the items. And just when it seems that the game's going to end, you get a new mission: to find six Pokemon signs. This doesn't feel like padding at all, but rather adds to the exciting experience of discovering new things.
Back at the lab, you can look at the pictures you've taken at any time by looking at the Pokemon Report. Here you choose your favorites and even enlarge them to look at them with your TV's full screen. Believe it or not, the game's graphics hold up nicely. The environments and the Pokemon look great, meaning that Pokemon Snap has aged better than 90% of the N64's library. The game's music is also great, giving you some catchy tunes to enjoy while catching snapshots of your favorite Pokemon.
Final Verdict--5 Stars: Awesome!
The idea behind Pokemon Snap is brilliant. Taking pictures of animals is okay, but taking pictures of Pokemon is pretty sweet. This game simply excels on every level. It's a simple, casual game that gives you plenty to do. There's always more Pokemon to photograph, and should you get them all, you can always go back and try to get better snapshots of them. The Pokemon themselves are the real stars of the game, and all the secrets in the courses is just the icing on the cake. This fantastic spin-off game is available on the Wii Virtual Console, and I would recommend that everyone give it a shot. Casual or hardcore gamer, every person can find something to enjoy with Pokemon Snap.
Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.
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