 |
POKÉMON SNAP
© 1995, 1996 Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK
© 1999 Nintendo / HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Nintendo 64/1 cartridge
1 player
NUS-P-NPFJ(JPN)
MSRP ¥5800
Available Now
—by Maria M. Rider
|
|
Just when you thought Nintendo couldn't make more video games about
POKÉMON, they come up with another unique and enticing product for those
fanatics out there. POKÉMON SNAP, one of the newest games for the Nintendo
64, is quite a change from the usual POKÉMON battle games. While POKÉMON
STADIUM and the original POKÉMON GameBoy game are mostly fighting, POKÉMON
SNAP is a Photo Safari adventure. The player is no longer Satoshi (Ash) in
this game but Toru (Todd), the Pokémon Photographer Master in the animated
series. Dr. Okido (Dr. Oak) sends Toru out to capture Pokémon not in
pokeballs but on film!
The player is armed with a camera containing 60 shots of film that he must
use to capture the best pictures of wild Pokémon in seven different
terrains. Toru is given a special vehicle by Dr. Okido which allows him to
travel around effortlessly. The locales are filled with multitudes of
different Pokémon, and it is up to the player to coax them out of hiding or
get them to look at the camera lens. Some Pokémon don't pay attention, some
do, and it takes some practice to figure out exactly what to do to take
that perfect Pokémon picture. The different terrains through which Toru
bravely travels range from a serene ice cave to a fiery volcanic land.
Each area has certain types of Pokémon and not all of the Pokémon are
visible to the naked eye. This gives POKÉMON SNAP a lot of playability
because not every photo safari is going to be exactly the same.
When Toru returns from each safari, Dr. Okido grades the pictures according
to the size of the Pokémon in the picture, the pose, technique, and the
number of the same Pokémon in the picture. If the player catches the
Pokémon in a special situation, Dr. Okido awards the player bonus points
depending on the Pokémon shot. As the player racks up the photo points,
Dr. Okido rewards him with different devices to get certain Pokémon to do
special things for the player's camera such as a gas bomb, a pokeflute, and
food (apples).
The player can also keep a photo album of the pictures he takes and the
game also keeps track of the player's highest scoring picture. When the
player reaches a certain score, Dr. Okido asks him to search out natural
terrain that may look like Pokémon. There are six different Pokémon
structures in the game, but they aren't hard to find if the player is a
watchful Pokémon photographer. After clearing all of the stages, the game
switches to a High Score game where the player must take as many pictures
of Pokémon as he can before the safari ends. There are different point
goals in each of the stages that the player must attain to gain a special
reward, but as of this writing this author has not attained any of them.
This game may be boring to most video game players if they are looking for
action and an engaging story. Alternatively, POKÉMON SNAP is great for
that POKÉMON fanatic (like yours truly) who cannot get enough POKÉMON in
their lives. The graphics are stunning and interesting for a photo safari
game, and if you thought POKÉMON STADIUM was cool you'll like this even
more. The game's music echoes the different stages, such as Western theme
music for the Rock and Fighting Pokémon. The game is a fresh new way of
looking at the POKÉMON craze in a more relaxed and colorful setting. Who
would have thought taking pictures of computer-generated Pokémon would be
so fun!
Rating: 9/10 |
|
