It's finally getting a remake. Or... A sequel? Anyway it's new and it looks beautiful.



Obviously this won't be to everyone's taste but for anyone that got the Mankey to kick the Magikarp on N64, this is gonna be a blast from the past.

 

Not a remake or a sequel. Think I heard it best described as a "Re-imagining."

I'm hyped. I spent weeks getting the mathematically highest score in Pokemon Snap so I could send it in and try to win a prize at Blockbuster. That damn final level with invisible Mew. I remember replaying that so many times.

I managed to get the highest possible score, but so did many others. I speculate it was a random draw after that, but I'm unsure.

 

There were so many gems in that game, I remember spending hours trying to find secret strategies like chucking things into a Vileplume's... Hole? That sounds wrong. Regardless.

I'm most looking forward to all the things then can do with so many new Pokémon. I fully expect to be able to wake up a Slaking that ends up rampaging and unlocking cool things.

 

Yesss.

And it's not developed by Game Freak, which means it might actually be ambitious and good!

 

I got it for Christmas with that awful looking pokemon n64. Beat it that morning. One of my most cherished Christmas memories.

 

Oh you can bet I'm full of hype.

 

A little bit of sex wee came out

 

Remember getting Zapdos to turn the power back on and getting the massive Pinsir shadow on the cave wall?

These flashbacks are hitting hard.

 

I think some of my fav pics were getting those herd of Charmander juuuust right.

And snapping Pikachu getting killed, obviously.

 

My most vivid memory of Snap was getting a shot of Articuno - you had to play the Pokeflute to make a bunch of Jynx dance around its egg for to hatch. That's always stuck with me way more than ever actually catching the Pokemon in the main-line games.

I'm not sure how to feel about it being on-rails again. I know that's how the original was, and it's obviously much easier for them to craft cool set-pieces this way, but the idea of a more open, exploration-focused Pokemon photography game seems incredible.

 

I like the on rails aspect as it adds tons of replay value as you try new strategies to get the perfect shot.

 

I always wanted to play Snap, but we never had a 64, and none of my friends did either. I remember a multi-page spread in an old console gaming mag (I'd say Playstation one, but I don't know why they'd have a 64 game), which went into detail on loads of the little tips and tricks to get higher scores - something on making Magikarp get beaten up?

Luckily, I'm now an adult, and can blow all my money on Japanese cartoons. And I already have a switch (that I definitely did not buy for Shield). Really looking forward to finally being my inner David Attenborough.

 

Snap is almost like a metroidvania. You run the levels one time, but you go back later when you get new 'powers' and either open up new aspects to the level, or get new unique opportunities to snap pokemon, or make pokemon come out of hiding etc.

 

Trailer out and release date announced! Coming April 30th!

 

I stand by my "Yesss" statements. To temper expectations, they didn't show off very many zones and the original Pokemon Snap was only a 90 minute game to 100%. This one has over 200 pokemon (so 3 times the content of the first one), but still might be relatively small.

 

Looks like almost everything I wanted in a sequel.

It's a shame in-field evolutions seem to not be a thing, and instead of more tools and ways to interact with the levels, they just increased the scope of the game. I think my ideal would have been to have half a dozen or so tools and have to select a loadout to take with you on each level, but I'm pretty satisfied with what I'm seeing so far.

I'll be getting this.

Oh, and to make you guys feel as old as I do. The first came out 22 years ago. TWENTY TWO. ugh

 

Overall reviews are hovering at an 8/10 mark, so for a niche game that seems amazing!

 

Just finished the story (after ~10 hours of gameplay). If you liked the original, you'll love this one. They've basically just taken all the concepts and expanded them. And then expanded *that*.

Unlike the original, you cannot 100% this in under an hour, and it's actual gameplay, not cutscene or level padding or anything.

Content spoilers:

Spoiler

5 and a half islands, day/night stage for each one, with an extra "bonus" stage. So the sand island has sand day, sand night, and volcano, for example. Each stage also gets 2-4 "research levels" which basically reshuffles the pokemon and their behaviours. So you'll see different things in research level 1 and 2, even if the paths are the same. Most levels also have alternate paths -- either discoverable (hit the right obstacles, then scan the right thing, etc) or on certain paths (bidoof start building a dam in research level 1, in research level 3 they finish and you can ride on it).

(The half is the final island which doesn't have a night version or a bonus stage.)

Unlike the original, each pokemon has 4 different levels you can photo. Level 1 is typically neutral, level 2 is them eating or similar, up until level 4 which require some really elaborate environment tweaks. And then each level is rated separately on a 5000 point scale.

The expanded boss fights are great. They're inspired by the mew fight with multiple stages, and are unique enough that they all feel different. Final boss is great as well.

I enjoyed the underused pokemon being used in this one. The only minor nit I have is if you have multiple star shots of a pokemon in one level run, you can only keep one of them. That's the only part that feels like padding slightly, but it's technically true to the original.

10/10 for fans of the original. If you didn't like the original, you won't like this one. If you didn't play the original, might be worth giving a chance.

Now can we get Bandai Namco to do *all* pokemon games please?

 

Lol, if only. I've only just unlocked the night stage on the first map. Between this and Returnal though, I'm happy I'll be toying with this for a while.