LogFAQs > #968570617

#5 - New Pokemon Snap

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/6/3/AAA-H0AADwa7.jpg

Remember when Pokemon spinoffs used to be bangers? I mean, maybe they weren't actually bangers but I just liked them because I was a kid. But like, Pokemon Puzzle League was good! Pokemon Pinball was good! Pokemon Trading Card Game was good! Okay, maybe Hey You Pikachu was kind of a weird gimmick, but Pokemon was largely a mark of quality. As Pokemon got bigger, though, it became more of a mixed bag, I think. There were still some decent Pokemon spinoffs - Mystery Dungeon was alright, and I think I heard Ranger was ok? - but there was a lot of stuff that was kinda low budget stuff just shoved out there. That's why it was hard for me to be anything but skeptical about New Pokemon Snap.

Pokemon Snap, of course, was kind of the crown jewel of awesome Pokemon spinoffs back in the late 90's/early 00's. I mean, I wouldn't even call the game any sort of a masterpiece, really, but it was fun and unique and made for a really nice companion piece to the Pokemon games. It's got that late 90's Pokemon aesthetic that just hits differently. It's a nice change of pace from the standard Pokemon setting, too - as far as being in the Pokemon world goes, the actual mainline Pokemon games are kinda my least favorite, because I just love the Pokemon in general and capturing and battling them feels strangely kind of perverse compared to just getting to enjoy them in all of their wild glory, in the same sort of way that we don't look kindly on the practices of circuses or early zoos. Pokemon Snap is a nice contrast to that. Again, not a great game, but charming enough to earn its place in my nostalgia banks.

I always felt for a really long time that Pokemon Snap deserved a sequel that had more Pokemon and improved upon the mechanics of the first game. Like, I wanted a Pokemon Snap sequel on Gamecube. That's how long I've been waiting for this! It's amazing that it took this long for them to make another. We went through the GC, the Wii, and the Wii U without any word on a Snap sequel, aside from it being re-released on Wii VC - this is a series that's been dead longer than F-Zero.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/6/4/AAA-H0AADwa8.jpg

When the news finally came that there was gonna be a new one in a Pokemon Direct, I was hesitantly excited. Yeah, it's about damn time that we got a new Pokemon Snap. But was it gonna be any good? By now, Pokemon has a spotty record. Yeah, sometimes Pokemon games are good, but sometimes they're cheap, and Pokemon Snap was a game that easily could have been low effort. I hoped for the best, but braced myself for the worst. But it's Switch-era Nintendo, so I needn't have ever worried. They only release bangers. New Pokemon Snap ended up exceeding my best case scenario. It's not merely as good as I hoped a Pokemon Snap sequel could be - it's better than I thought was possible.

If you're unfamiliar or need a refresher on the concept; New Pokemon Snap is a sort of 'on-rails shooter' where you drive through a nature area full of Pokemon and take photos of them. It sort of feels like a theme park ride; the Pokemon move around, interacting with each other, doing cute stuff, and you're kind of just along for the ride, driving by and looking at them. It's a pretty chill game, but at the same time, it's also surprisingly intense; Pokemon show off their best angles and poses for only the briefest of moments, and only if you know how to coax them out at the right time, and finding the best shots is at times requires extremely good aim and timing.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/6/5/AAA-H0AADwa9.jpg

There was a lot of work to do, considering that not even Gold and Silver got the Pokemon Snap treatment. The original Snap was just gen 1, and now they had to cover all the way up to gen 8. Fortunately, it's immediately obvious that this game was designed by fans, or at least people who love Pokemon. The sheer amount of effort is immediately on display here; there was a lot of love put into this game, and it's immediately obvious that it wasn't cheap. The Pokemon are lovingly modeled and animated with loads of character, which makes this game one of the best possible showcases of the Pokemon themselves; the mainline games focus on the Pokemon as monsters to raise in a game, but Snap focuses on them as living creatures just kinda doing their thing, and it really gives you the chance to appreciate the Pokemon's designs and personalities.

The environments in this game are gorgeous and showcase the Pokemon well. Obviously, since this is on-rails, the areas don't have a real sense of size - like I said, it all still feels like a theme park ride, a sort of miniaturized, sanitized version of the real thing. But that said, all of the areas do a great job of conveying an idea of size; they feel expansive and detailed, giving a lot to look at and a lot of places for Pokemon to hide in nooks and off in the distance. I'm a really big fan of the ocean areas (hey, water levels that don't suck!) and the spooky forest, but even some areas that would be more bland, like the desert and badlands, manage to be awe-inspiring in their own way.