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Growing up in the nineties was a different time, a much simpler time. Digital Photography was becoming more accessible and Pokémon and taken the world by storm. I vividly remember getting some kind of camera for Christmas, and just taking pictures of all my Pokémon stuff, so when Pokémon Snap came out in 2000 my tiny little head almost exploded. Now it's 2021 and New Pokémon Snap is coming!
Lights
Not only was it perfect for its time, but it was also very unique. The main series of Pokémon titles focused almost entirely on battling and collecting. Pokémon stadium came along and added mini-games, but at heart was another battling title with added thrills.
What really caught me, and apparently a huge chunk of my generation, was how we hadn't had anything akin to Pokémon Snap. We weren't capturing and battling them, it gave us the chance to just live in their world, experience the Pokémon in their habitats.
You could interact with them, catching Lapras imitating the Loch Ness Monster, throwing apples to knock Magikarp up the waterfall and have it explode from the water as it's much more powerful and majestic Gyarados.
Nothing out then, or arguably out now, has rivalled it in terms of exploration for Pokémon, it's not something you can do as well in any other titles. Pokémon Legends: Arceus looks to hit on that with an open world Pokémon title in 2022, but we have New Pokémon Snap releasing 30th April 2021, so let's focus on that...
We know the appeal of a title like this, but how can they improve or capture a whole different generation the same way they did over 20 years ago.
Camera
We saw from Sword and Shield, as well as the official New Pokémon Snap trailer, that systems have come a long way, meaning there is a much bigger world to explore this time around. Simply having all these new Pokémon and a wider world to explore is a huge point in favour of New Pokémon Snap.
I think they also need to focus on interactions. Having these secret ways certain Pokémon could evolve or would react to certain things was interesting to find out and it gave the game huge replayability.
Replay value is important, but having a title full of content is equally so. The one thing I would say about the original Pokémon snap is that it was very short and felt more like a mini-game. Replays and finding hidden clues etc did extend its life, but I think now we have hundreds more Pokémon the game will be in a lot better position; I'm hoping we have a chance to explore all the settings from the games, but I am excited to find out how they're going to tackle the different regions.
You also have to remember we're now on the Nintendo Switch, a far more powerful system, and one that offers a unique opportunity with its Joycons. Similar to what they achieved with 1-2 Switch; I think there may be something they could implement. For example, a Noctowl lands on your arm, you can use the motion controls to try and keep it still or even pet different Pokémon to calm them.
