Pokemon Snap

Okay, so I had to hire it twice to finish it. I got a bit stuck the first time. But I wanted to use that introductory phrase. Sue me. ^_^;

Still... two nights. Given the fact that I am not a great gamer, it's evidently not a great game for lastability or difficulty. But let's have a look at it.

The premise of this game is, you play the role of Todd, the Pokemon photographer. Immediately I have a problem with this. You get to type in your own name, and Professor Oak calls you that. (I do not like to see this boy called Leto.) You are not actually called Todd in the game, just the rulebook, I think. So, why couldn't they have called him Snap? I mean, the USA was the only English-speaking country to have him called Todd, and I KNOW the rulebook was adapted to Australians, because there were Aussie URLs/phone numbers in the back. Would it have been that hard to change it to make sense for all the people who didn't know his American name was Todd?

Anyway, sorry about that.

Professor Oak has written a letter to Todd, asking that he come to Pokemon Island, a place where the only inhabitants are Pokemon. Professor Oak is compiling a Pokemon Report for this island, and he needs photos of each Pokemon. He has devised a machine called the Zero-One Vehicle. It can fly, drive and go on water. Todd, upon accepting this mission, sits in the Zero-One Vehicle, which drives along, moving through each level towards a "Goal Gate".

Of course, this "Zero-One Vehicle" is just an excuse to prevent you from wandering around on your own, and prevent you from being able to take better pictures by, like, stopping. Also, I guess it makes it a little more plausible for Todd to survive when Charizards breath fire at him and so on.

There are 7 levels/courses. You get access to a new course either through solving a simple puzzle or through snapshotting a certain number of Pokemon. Each course has some different Pokemon that wander through it, along with different scenery/background and different music. Also, as one progresses through the game, one acquires items that can be used to interact with animals, such as apples (or apple-shaped food -_-;), pester balls and a Pokeflute. The courses are, in order, Beach, Tunnel, Volcano, River, Cave, Valley and Rainbow Cloud (the "secret" course).

The beach has some variety of Pokemon, no real theme, although it mostly consists of flying and normal types. There are Pikachu in almost every level. The track takes you along the shore, past grass and small cliffs. The most fun part of this course are the Meowth - they do a buncha stuff. You can knock them out, knock them over, make them dance, rescue them, tease them, etcetera.

Once you get enough shots from the beach, the tunnel comes up, which is actually a run-down power plant. Dark-ish atmosphere, lots of machinery that has broken down. Or has it? As you would imagine, there are a number of electric Pokemon here, as well as a coupla others. It is fun to pester the Electabuzz. ^_^.

If you successfully solve the puzzle in the tunnel, the volcano level opens. This is my favourite level. You travel along a rocky trail with lava on either side. There are nothing but fire types here. Except Magikarp. But Magikarp are omnipresent, like Pikachu, in this game. ^_^. Shots are easy to get, and it's fun to annoy the Magmar; they fight or faint at the drop of a hat.

With enough Pokemon, you'll get to the river, which has mostly water-types, but a few others along the side. I hate this level. Fairly dismal, and no interesting Pokemon, except maybe Vileplume.

Solve the river, and you reach the cave. More variety here, again, but poison and ice mostly. Dark, damp sort of dreary cave atmosphere. Jigglypuff can be interesting to mess about with, that's about it.

Enough Pokemon gets you through to the valley, where the specialty is ground, and more water Pokemon. The good part of this is that if one gets bored, one can throw things into the water and something will probably pop out. Possibility for a number of good shots here.

Passing the valley was where I had some difficulty the first time I played, but after I got through, and was looking forward to having almost finished the game, Professor Oak shows up and tells me about the Pokemon Signs.

Pokemon Signs are natural landmarks that look like Pokemon. For example, a mountain that resembles Dugtrio, a rock formation that looks like a Kingler, or a puff of gas that looks like a Koffing. Before, if you dared snap these, it would not be recognised as anything, but Oak gives you the license to take photos of all these signs before he lets you continue.

After you've gotten the signs, you are allowed access to the Rainbow Cloud. Mew is here, but it surrounds itself in a shield whenever you try to take a photo. Spend half the level wearing down the shield, and the other half trying to get a decent shot of the unprotected Mew. I didn't like Mew before I played this game. I like it even less now. Eehhh, annoying!

The aims of this game are threefold;
-pass the courses
-snap all the Pokemon there are
-get the highest scores you can

This is the basic idea of it. What happens is, Todd jumps in the Zero-One Vehicle, goes to whatever course you feel like doing, and snaps any interesting pictures he can alongside the vehicle's path. After the vehicle reaches the goal gate, and the course is over, you choose which pictures to show Oak. You can only show one of each Pokemon. Even if a Pokemon's photo is already in the guide, you can choose to submit another, and see if it meets his approval better.

Oak evaluates each photo and gives points for certain qualities. Points for size (depends not only on how close it is to the camera, but how much of the Pokemon is in the picture), pose (I don't know HOW Oak works this one out, I mean, how can you tell if a Magnemite looks happy?), technique (whether the Pokemon is in the middle of the frame or not; again, Oak's opinion sometimes contradicts my own) and if there are any other Pokemon of the same species in the pic.

There are also special bonuses, if you manage to get a Pokemon in a special pose. For example, throw an apple between two Magmar and they will fight over it. Fighting Magmar earns you bonus points. Or, if you rescue Jigglypuff from Koffing, she'll sing for you. A photo of that will earn you bonus points for getting "Jigglypuff on Stage".

I was told, "rent this game, don't buy it". Good advice, that was. I actually really enjoyed the game, it was fun, and pretty original. However, I know I would get sick of it very quickly. There are only so many times a person can do a course before the final thin threads of sanity break.

I am not sure if the fault lies in the game's relatively small size, its absence of new challenges, or in the fact that it is not terribly difficult.

I am reluctant to suggest the last one, as, despite having finished it fairly quickly, I know quite well that if not for reference to a Pokemon Snap 'net guide, I would still be vainly trying to get the last Pokemon I needed to enter the valley, or would still be looking for Pinsir's shadow, or would still be trying to find out how to evolve Slowpoke, etcetera. There were actually a lot of little things I found quite annoying because I just couldn't get them.

Nonetheless, I would suggest that it was aimed at a slightly younger audience to the one I fall into. It was nice to play a game that did not leave me grinding my teeth with frustration like platformers do. (You know the type; you spend five minutes getting onto a certain ledge, you jump, then you miss the landing you were trying to get to. So you have to do it all over again. Then you miss again. Then you throw down the controller, curse, and turn the game off without saving. Or is that just me? ^_^;)

Graphics-wise, this game is fairly good; not brilliant, but decent. Professor Oak looks weird when he talks; he stands still like in a picture (his Pokemon Power portrait, actually), and his mouth moves oddly. The actual levels, backgrounds, etcetera, are pretty typical of what one would expect, and the Pokemon themselves look good. It's nice to see them in 3d.

The music, I didn't notice it at first because it was quietish and unobtrusive. They suited their levels pretty well. Sound effects are also okay. When you go past them, Pokemon often make their 'call'. This is good, except in the Rainbow Cloud, where Mew is there all the time, and meows every time it goes near you. This was the level in which my sound had been firmly turned off. ^_^;

Some kept their Japanese voices, even some of those that have English ones. ^_^;; In the credits, only three people are listed; Jimmy Zoppi (Todd; you hear him occasionally say "yes!" or something), Stan Hart (presumably Oak, he says things like "you were close" or "wonderful!" or "welcome back!") and Ikue Otani (Pikachu). I guess it would be a bit daunting to list all the voice actors!

There are 63 different Pokemon in the game. Predictably, Ekans/Arbok got the short end of the stick. C'mon, let's show some snake appreciation! Taking out one's favourite Pokemon does not win brownie points with the reviewer! ^_-. I saw "preview" shots of Snap, before it was released to the public, and Ekans WAS IN IT. What happened?

Anyway, I'm aware this review isn't very coherant or orderly. It matters not. It's not like this is professional anyway. ^_-.

More good points... it is better than Game Boy versions of Pokemon, because, well, you can see the Pokemon move around, interact with each other, see them in their "natural environment". Looking peaceful. And then you can knock them out by throwing pesterballs at them. Hahaha.

Also, I do like the expressions on Todd's face. Especially when he passes the power plant/tunnel. He looks absolutely gobsmacked. ^_^.

It is also interesting to hear some of Oak's comments on your photos. For example, a knocked-out Magmar is deemed 'funny'. I suspect that Oak cares little for Magmar. ^_^; And a distance shot of Lapras, far enough away that I can't EVEN SEE IT, is given a score of 1000 and deemed "relaxed". How can he tell? A sixty-year-old has eyesight infinitely superior to mine?

If you take photos you like, but you know Oak won't care for, you can save them in a "photo album". Nice feature. Also, there is a gallery, where you can save four of your favourite shots, and if you happen to come across one of those machines that enables you to print Snap pictures as stickers, you can print those.

There is little much more to say. The game tries to come up with new challenges and elements to keep you interested, but the sad fact is that after you've beaten it, you're not likely to want to sit down for another ten hours trying to beat all the challenge scores. Or maybe that's just me.

Overall, this is not a bad game. It's fun, nearly anyone can play it, and it can be satisfying when you get just the perfect shot. It's also great for Pokemon fans. Still, you'd be best off saving your money for something else.

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