Anniversary: Pokémon Snap Turns 20 Years Old Today

I rented this from Blockbuster like 5 times but never bought it. It hit at the peak of the Pokemon craze and until Pokemon Stadium launched the next year, it was the only way to see them in 3D which was the major appeal. Good times. The concept would work great with the Switch as well.

I still remember the Mew level where he isn't visible until after the pictures are developed.

i would love to see a sequel.
i don't care if it was on labo vr or the switch itself. Pokemon Snap 2 would be alot of fun to play.

Why do I have the feeling that if there was a new Snap game, it would be on mobile? Pokemon GO allows the taking of AR photos, so they may already have a base for that. Personally, I would rather have a Switch version with gorgeous environments.

Oh Snap! <that is all>

One of my all time favourites! When both the 3DS and the Wii U were announced, I thought either console was perfect for a sequel. Alas, we have been deprived =0(

Good fun

For like 20 minutes, then you beat the game. Here is to hipes for a sequel

I'll have to play it today. I don't understand why it's fun. Stuck on rails, albeit with a pretty damn cool train thing, and only taking pictures, it just doesn't sound like a winner. Anyways, yeah a sequel would be nice!

Give me sequel.
pounds fist

Loved this game as a kid, dunno if I would anymore though tbqh.

As I said before, the fact we are 7+ regions and 800+ Pokémon deep at this point means there's more than enough content for multiple sequels. And considering we live in an age where documenting every facet of your life in pictures is second nature to many, I don't see how new ideas are that hard to come by

This is the only Pokémon spin off that I would be willing to buy. They tried to add something like this in Sun/Moon, but it was so barebones and useless than it became one of those one-time-use features that GF usually puts in Pokémon games. It would be cool if they add that feature and implement it in a somewhat useful way like in BotW. Picture this: You walk into a Pokemon Center and you see a Pokémon with their trainer. You pull out your camera and take a picture of it, that logs into our Pokedex and it also shows where you could find it. That would be cool and would add more to the game than the useless feature we got in Gen VII.

"They tried to add something like this in Sun/Moon, but it was so barebones and useless than it became one of those one-time-use features that GF usually puts in Pokémon games."

I was going to ask about that. Odd, since games like Smash, LoZ, and BotW have lots of camera features available at pretty much any time.

A sequel to this would have so much potential. I just really would love a Pokémon game where you can see hundreds of Pokémon in their natural habitat and all. Preferably with free roaming ability but I'll happily take another on rails one if that's what it takes.

Either way happy birthday Pokémon Snap! Thanks for the fun memories.~

@KingBowser86 The Pokefinder was more integrated into Let’s Go’s interpretation of Go’s catching mechanics than anything else.

Which makes it seem like even more of a step backward for those of us who want a Snap sequel.

I still want a sequel to this. I rented this game a lot back in the day and then bought it on Wii VC. Probably just the nostalgia, but I really do like this game.

Where's my sequel?

With modern technology the way it is now, a sequel would be awesome. One example, back then (early 00s) I had to go to Blockbuster to use their kiosk to pay and print stickers of my Pokemon pics. Now you can post on social media and save digitally.

I’m still shocked on the appreciation Snap is getting now. I still remember some of the hate it got when it first came out, especially when it was the 1st console Pokémon game (even though it was successful and praised by critics). There are no Pokémon battles, you don’t have direct control (pre-set path), not all the Pokémon are in it, etc. It’s almost similar to Let’s Go series and the Core series with the fan base divide.

I swear, this game has some of my all-time favorite game design. The way that specific interactions within the world would lead you to brand new photo opportunities lent the game such a sense of discovery. I loved how you have to discover Gyarados by hitting a Magikarp toward a couple Mankeys. And in the first level, taking pictures of every Lapras gave you a shot near the end with like four Lapras in it. It was so cool to discover those new ways of getting better pictures. And the linear path made it so that everyone was presented with the same opportunities; it was never a matter of not going to the right place, you just had to interact with the world the right way. And even when you found a great shot, the scoring system incentivized going back to get a slightly better shot. I really think this game has some of my favorite game design of all time. What I wouldn't give for a sequel...

It is actually a very clever idea. You couldn’t make a game where you go around shooting Pokémon with a gun. So you shoot them with a camera instead.

I would love a sequel, but I’m worried it would have the same problem as Star Fox, where developers couldn’t figure out how to advance the formula.

Pokemon Snap absolutely rules. Would love a sequel.

I don't think a sequel will ever happen. Game Freak and TPC seem pretty content with how they lazily shoehorned the idea into the Sun and Moon games. I think GO also recently updated to include a more robust photo mode. I'd have to reinstall it to find out for certain, though.

I have fond memories of knocking out that meowth at the beach.

No nostalgia here as I just played the game for the first time last year on the Wii U VC. IMO the mechanics have aged well. Graphically, I think it looks better than a lot of N64 games. I'd fully support a sequel.

@MrKettles What you so accurately described is why these recent attempts at photo gimmicks in US/UM and Go aren't even anywhere near what made Snap so great. It was that sense of discovery coupled with actual strategy. You weren't just taking Pokémon pictures. You were also strategizing to make the Pokémon interact with their environment, leading to really unexpected results. That's where the true fun lies in Snap. It's mind boggling with how big the series has grown what they can do with that core concept today

I would have DIED for a Pokémon Snap on the Wii U

Remember those kiosks at blockbuster where you could print stickers of your photos. That was awesome

@Dr_Lava Completely agree. Also, good to see you here.

I’m still waiting for a sequel to Pokemon trading card game and I don’t mean the GR one either, heck I’ll even have an app that allows me to play TCG Online

The 3DS AR seemed perfect for a Pokemon Snap sequel, as did the Wii U GamePad, but nothing ever came of either. Instead they brought Pokemon Go.

Now the Labo VR with the camera attachment again looks perfect, but again there's no Snap. Maybe we'll be surprised at E3 with an eShop game with additional VR compatibility.

Glad I'm not the only one who remembers that yes, the Alolan games did have camera spots. That could've given them something to work with, but I think in the end Gen 7 is going to be one of the most forgotten gens. Almost or no sidegames (depending on how you feel about LGPE, side or main game?). Even Gen 5 (the previous late console-gen) got a PMD and that DS typing game that America never got (perhaps because they thought an English-tutor game was unnecessary in the region? The soundtrack alone has made that a bit tempting to collect.)

@SamusLv7 Oh yeah I don't comment often, but I'm on this site all the time. Pretty much every time I roll outside for a cigarette. NintendoLife us definitely my daily Nintendo news site of choice.

Cheers Samus

Seems like a no-brainer to make an AR mobile game out of.

I would have died for a sequel on the Wii U.

@UmbreonsPapa Right? I think people sometimes neglect how robust the level design was; for what is effectively an on-rails shooter, it packs in a lot of discoverable depth. You can't do that with AR because you forfeit too much control over the player experience. (VR, on the other hand, would be a blast.) And yeah, the size of the franchise now would lead to an even greater variety of interactions in the event of a sequel. Maybe someday...