OVERALL RATING: 8
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Control: 8
Fresh Factor: 9
Game life: 6
I like Pokemon. There, I said it, and I'm not ashamed. When you've got games as good as Pokemon Snap to back up your position, it's easy to be a proud Pokemon player. The Game Boy staple makes the leap to it's 64bit big brother very nicely, retaining all the cutesy Pokemon junk that made the original a huge success, and adding a ton of gameplay and phenomenal graphics to appeal to older folks that aren't too embarrassed to plug in the cartridge.
For those of you who may think this game is only about taking pictures of Pikachu in precious poses, you need to open your mind a bit. Pikachu makes his presence known, and were I a 10 year old girl, I guess the word cute would come to mind, but there's a ton of gameplay hidden inside this cartridge. At the heart of this game is a rail-shooter. You may be armed with a camera rather than a more volatile weapon, but the idea is the same. You have 360-degree freedom of viewpoint, and the path you're taken on winds its way through some fantastic locales on Pokemon Island. You have to be quick on the draw to capture the elusive critters on film, but you also need some smarts to beat the many puzzles in the game. You're armed with Pokemon food, Pesterballs (things you hurl at the Pokemon to get their attention), and a flute. Each one has a different effect on nearly every 'mon in the game. One puzzle has you drawing out some shy Squirtles with Pokemon food, then hurling a Pesterball at them to make them slink into their shells, then chucking another Pesterball at them to send their shells flying over a hill where they hit a Mankey, which then falls onto a switch opening up another level. Either kids are a lot smarter than I give them credit for, or I'm a dope. This took me a while to figure out, and I'm probably a wee bit older than the target audience. There's plenty of gameplay to go around, and I doubt even the savviest youngster could wring all the secrets out of this.
The graphics in Pokemon Snap are really well done. For the most part they're pre-rendered, but the animations of the Pokemon themselves are dependent on the player's actions, and they look great. The beasties react to each other, fight over food, and do all sorts of goofy stuff when prompted by a Pesterball barrage. I would put Snap 's graphics up against any other N64 title with confidence. It's a good-looking game.
Despite the deep game play, the game life suffers a bit due to the fact that it's a rail-shooter. The tracks are always the same, and your course is always the same. More tracks than the 7 provided would have added some game play length. Along the way you can do a ton of stuff with, and to, the Pokemon, but after many hours you'll get into a rut of "around the bend throw two foods at Pikachu; take a picture. Throw a Pesterball into the woods; flush out Polliwhirl; take a picture." Thankfully it seems like the kind of game that could be picked up after a few months and played with renewed interest. In any case, I'm certainly not done with it.
Adult Pokemon players rejoice! Vindication has arrived, and its name is Pokemon Snap . The kids will love it too, but they have their 8 bit games already. Give them the controller when you're sick of it and rip it from their hands when you're ready to play again. You're bigger than them; it's what you're supposed to do.
  
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