Pokemon Snap still holds up in 2021



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I don’t regret having recently purchased the Wii U Virtual Console version

Many of you still have your original Pokémon Snap cartridge, but for those of us who never bought the 1999 photo-snapping spin-off (or strictly experienced it as a weekend rental at the time), it’s not too late to come back before New Pokémon Snap carries the torch on Nintendo Switch at the end of April.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq8Kn6mhUxA

Inspired by the recent release date trailer, I fished my Wii U out of storage, wiped the GamePad covered in shiny fingerprints, added ten dollars to my account, and bought the original N64 that is remembered affectionately – a low-key shocking experience as someone who has grown extremely comfortable with their Switch and tends to forget how slow the Wii U can be, even when all you do is bring up menus.

Yes, you can still buy games on the Wii U eShop in 2021. It’s not ideal, and I would like more of these Virtual Console favorites to move to Switch. Their continued absence confuses me. That said, if you don’t have the original hardware or your current TV isn’t well equipped to handle legacy platforms (latency, lack of inputs, etc.), this is an option. Playing on Wii U made sense for my setup.

It takes a while to adjust to the (intentionally) darker picture quality of Nintendo 64 games running on Wii U, and I would say a lot of these games feel best on the controller they were designed to be used for. originally, but I succeeded. And the ability to create save states is certainly useful for Pokémon Snap.

Todd Snap

I’m not here to convince you it’s the best place to play Pokémon Snap – there are obvious pros and cons – but I’m here to tell you that it absolutely holds. It’s still the perfect “weekend” video game.

It’s as short and easy going as you want it to be. The puzzles that baffled me as a Poké-obsessed kid seem more intuitive now, and after exhausting all the environmental interactions in each area to the best of my ability, well, there’s the Internet – I don’t mind. to seek out some of the more obscure solutions. .

There is such a joy to see Pokémon “playing” all around you while you are stuck on a rail ride through distinct habitats. Yes, the levels are super short. And yes, a lot of your interactions involve throwing trash all over the place until you get a climb from these wild creatures.

But the game basically works. It’s fun the first time – and the thirtieth. I still love him in 2021.

Jigglypuff Singing

Even if Pokémon Snap is a heavily scripted game with dated graphics and a very simple premise, there is enough quick chaos to keep you scrambled. The controls hit back just enough. It feels like there’s a healthy mix of skill and luck in catching the rarest Pokémon from the perfect angle at the right time. If that balance seemed out of balance, it would be frustrating. The mood would change.

Instead, you don’t really know what you got in the field until you consult Professor Oak. I think delayed judging has a huge impact on the flow of the game and the players’ continued motivation to improve every shot. It’s inherently enjoyable to take photos, whether they end up being good or bad, and it doesn’t sting much when sorting through your submissions just to find a bunch of duds.

Does nostalgia play a role here? Of course. There is something to be said about having an organized group of iconic Pokémon from the original. red and Blue list, to say nothing of the N64 as a console in general. But I also think New Pokémon Snap may be successful with those of us who aren’t as close to the larger series as before. The images from the latest trailer click with me. It looks perfect.

As long as the shot-in-the-dark interactions and a-ha moments can live up to the vastly improved visuals, we should be in something special again. It’s been two whole decades. I am more than ready.

I can’t wait to see a flood of ridiculous photographs of Pokémon in my social media feed.

[Image Credit: LaunchBox Games Database]

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