Pokémon Snap

aka: Pocket Monsters Snap
Moby ID: 4681
Nintendo 64 Specs
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Description official descriptions

As Todd Snap, an aspiring Pokémon photographer, you must travel through different environment types in order to photograph as many Pokémon as you can find. With the help of Professor Oak, you will discover new places to photograph Pokémon, ranging from those such as a volcano which houses Fire Pokémon to a jungle housing Grass Pokémon. The game features 63 of the original 151 Pokémon, including favorites such as Pikachu and Charizard.

Throughout your journey as a Pokémon photographer you will obtain new items from Professor Oak to help snap a photo of those Pokémon whose attention you just can't seem to attract. At first you are equipped with only an apple, but by taking great photos of various species you will get access to items such as a Pester Ball or a Poké Flute. Gameplay is similar to that of a rail-shooter, in which you move across a linear route and are only able to look around to take pictures. At the end of each route you receive a score from Oak depending on things such as the position of the Pokémon in the frame shot, the size of the Pokémon in the picture, or how many of that Pokémon are together in the shot. Up to 60 photos can be taken during each course and you choose the one to submit to Oak. All the photos you take can later be accessed in your own Pokémon album. The game features six different courses, but a seventh one can be unlocked by taking a picture of a mysterious Pokémon sign in each of the other courses. The seventh course known as Rainbow Cloud offers the only opportunity to snap a photo of the rare and elusive psychic Pokémon, Mew.

When released for Virtual Console on the Wii, a couple changes were made to the game. First, Jynx's skin color was changed from black to purple to match its current design and avoid the controversy its original design had caused due to its resemblance of the blackface caricature. Second, in order to mimic the functionality of the Pokémon Snap Stations found in stores that let players bring in their cartridges and print their pictures, a feature was added that let players upload one picture each day to the Wii Message Board to share with people on their friend list.

Spellings

  • ポケモンスナップ - Japanese spelling

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Credits (Nintendo 64 version)

60 People (51 developers, 9 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 76% (based on 28 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 64 ratings with 1 reviews)

Pokémon Snapped!

The Good
The sprite art is really good on the island screen. It would have been nice to have more of it. The sounds that Pokemon make are quite faithful to their sounds in the anime. Apart from the camera, the only decent interaction you have with the Pokémon is tossing available projectiles at them. Little fun stuff, but overwhelmed by the deep layer of boringness all over this game.

The Bad
The gameplay fills you to the brim with boredom. You just sit in Professor Oak's mine cart/little raft (that's supposed to be his brilliant little invention?), swiveling around to take pictures of Pokémon. You have absolutely no freedom of movement or exploration. And when you're done with one location you have another boring task of showing Oak your album, one photo at a time, then it's time for the next round of tedium. The location "Pokemon Island" isn't a very original name, they could have come up with something like "Tealmarine Islet". There's no real plot in the game either, you're just some errand boy doing Oak's photography.

The bulk of the graphics in the game are nothing to admire. A lot of the 3D textures don't look very well textured, being flat on multiple sides. Many of the Pokémon look deformed like they took a seven hour sun tan or something. The choice of text font is awful and squiggly. It doesn't even resemble the classic font used in the main series.

Sound effects are annoying cartoonish toots when you swivel about, it gets annoying very quickly. Professor Oak's little voices don't sound very encouraging, they just add to the repetition. Music also adds to the repetition as it loops after a number of seconds and drifts you off to sleep with the controller in your hand.

The Bottom Line
This is perhaps one of the worst Pokemon spin-offs in existence. It doesn't begin to capture the atmosphere and experience of a Pokémon safari trip. It can't even reach the quality and standards of Super Mario 64. The Wii version is equally bad, so don't bother with either. In this entire cartridge is a whole game of nothing with features of nothing. You'll be sorely disappointed that you ever bought this one and it cannot fit anywhere in a Pokémon game collection. Pokémon Snap indeed. Break out the deck of Pokémon cards and play snap instead.

Nintendo 64 · by Kayburt (30393) · 2022

Trivia

Number of Pokémon

There are a total of 63 different types of Pokémon in Pokémon Snap. This being a Nintendo 64 game, many people have searched in vain for one last "hidden" Pokémon. Beta footage features Ekans, which doesn't appear in the final release, suggesting it may have been the 64th Pokémon.

Unused areas and boss

There is also beta footage showing a desert area that didn't make it into the final release. Additionally, the game's sound designer, Ikuko Mimori posted a track on her website that was to be used for a cut area. The song's title, Fantastic Horror, suggests that the area may have had a ghost theme. Another track on Mimori's website is stated to be a boss theme for the same area; in the final release, only one stage has a boss.

Origins

The original concept for Pokémon Snap wasn't a Pokémon game at all, but rather a generic photography game. When the developers realized there was no motivating factor for the gameplay, they decided to add Pokémon as an appealing photography subject for players.

Information also contributed by Cantillon, Opipeuter, Michael Cassidy and Lain Crowley

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  • MobyGames ID: 4681
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by dragonsoul.

Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto. Wii U added by Harmony♡. Wii added by gamewarrior.

Additional contributors: skl, gamewarrior, DreinIX, Lain Crowley, Harmony♡.

Game added August 3, 2001. Last modified January 19, 2024.