Pokemon games have always marched to the same pixel and drumbeat. You start in a quaint little town, pick an adorable starter, conquer Gym Leaders, thwart a suspiciously color-coded crime syndicate, and climb to the top to become Champion.
And of course, you catch 'em all along the way. That’s the rhythm we've danced to since Red and Blue.
But then, like a calm breeze through a field of Tall Grass, came a game that said, “What if we didn’t battle them?” Instead of capturing Pokemon in Poke Balls, it lets us capture their essence. Their beauty. Their quirks and quiet moments. That game is Pokemon Snap, a game unlike any other in the franchise.
Released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, Pokemon Snap was something nobody saw coming. It wasn't your typical spin-off. It wasn’t a puzzle game or a card game remix.
It was, in essence, a Pokemon safari simulator. Critics were charmed. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it an impressive 8.5 out of 10. Metacritic clocked it in at a healthy 77 percent. And fans? They loved it and voted with their wallets. The game sold over 1.5 million copies internationally.
For a game about taking photos of monsters instead of battling them, that was an undeniable success.
Let’s talk lore for a second. You play as Todd Snap. Yes, really. That name alone deserves a standing ovation. You’ve been handpicked by the venerable Professor Oak, who needs photos of wild Pokemon for his never-ending research.
To do this, you hop aboard the Zero-One, a futuristic amphibious buggy that drives itself across islands full of untamed Pokemon wonder. No steering. No control over the destination.
Just your hi-tech camera, instincts, and desire to snap the perfect shot. Think of it as the chillest science internship in the Pokemon world.
And here’s the twist that gave Pokemon Snap its unique essence: it’s a rail shooter, but instead of bullets, you shoot photos.
Think Time Crisis, but for Pokemon and nature lovers. Scoring depends on how well you frame your shots, the size of the Pokemon in the shot, and its pose.
A perfectly centered Pikachu doing something adorable will net you more points than a barely visible Squirtle half-hidden behind a rock. The game is all about experimentation and passion for exquisite beauty!
Some Pokemon don’t appear unless you toss an Apple near a bush. Others react to Pester Balls, popping out of hiding or becoming hilariously annoyed. There's even a Poké Flute that makes some of them dance, sing, or evolve.
You play each level multiple times, not because you have to, but because you want to see what new secrets it might reveal on your next run.
What sets Pokemon Snap apart and makes it so beloved is that it felt alive. Pokemon weren’t waiting in tall grass for you to bump into them or for a turn to attack. They were living their best lives.
Butterfree fluttered in pairs. Magikarp leapt helplessly out of the water. Meowth chased after Pidgey, only to get blasted with Gust. The game created dioramas of nature that felt believable within this fantasy world. Interactivity was woven into the environment.
A Porygon could accidentally hit a hidden button that opens a new area. An Electrode might explode and clear a path. Push a Charmeleon into lava, and boom! You’ve got a flaming, dramatic Charizard born of flint and flames.
These were not just Easter eggs. They were invitations to explore the world of Pokemon differently each time.
Still, let’s not pretend the game is flawless. For all its charm, Pokémon Snap is short. Really short. A casual player could see the credits in a single afternoon.
While vibrant for their time, the graphics look blocky by today’s standards. And the controls, especially aiming with that stiff N64 stick, could sometimes make you wish you had the reflexes of a real-life Pidgeot.
It’s a bite-sized Pokemon game, no doubt. But sometimes, that’s okay. It’s like a well-crafted photo album, and it is not meant to go on forever, just to capture fleeting magic.
Fast-forward to 2021, and fans were treated to a long-awaited sequel, New Pokemon Snap, for the Nintendo Switch. It sold 2.4 million copies, proving people hadn’t forgotten about this quiet corner of the franchise, and it is still loved.
This time, you're part of L.E.N.S., the Laboratory of Ecological and Natural Sciences, and you're helping Professor Mirror study the mysterious Illumina phenomenon, which makes some Pokemon glow with an ethereal light.
Todd Snap even makes a cameo, passing the torch like a proud big brother. The gameplay stays true to its roots, but the visuals are stunning. Every frame is a painting, and every biome is brimming with Pokemon just waiting to do something picture-worthy.
In a way, Pokemon Snap represents one of the best implementations of linearity in the entire Pokemon series. While recent open-world entries often feel sparse, undercooked, and empty, Snap delivers concentrated beauty in every frame.
There’s no filler here—no backtracking just for the sake of padding hours. Every moment you spend is curated and intentional.
The game doesn’t pretend to be an epic RPG. It doesn’t promise hundreds of hours. It just wants you to look, like really look, at these creatures we’ve loved for decades and see them as living beings with routines, emotions, and quirks. Not battlers. Just Pokemon.
And that’s the real reason Pokemon Snap is so adored. It isn't just a game. It’s a celebration. A love letter. It allows us to slow down, to admire, to cherish. It’s not about becoming a Champion. It’s about being a witness.
Watching a Scyther slash through tall grass. Seeing a Lapras gently rise from the ocean. Observing Pokemon in moments they don’t even know they’re being watched. That intimacy, that quiet joy. That’s what makes Snap unforgettable.
In the end, Pokemon Snap gave us something rare—not just gameplay but pause—a reason to notice the little things. It told us that not every adventure needs to be loud or long.
Sometimes, the best journey is one you take with a camera in hand, a peaceful heart, and a wide-eyed curiosity.
It reminded us that there is still beauty worth capturing in a world of battles and badges. And maybe, just maybe, that’s the best way to catch 'em all.
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