‘New Pokémon Snap’ Reviews Tease a Must-Play for Fans of the ’90s Spinoff
Time to fill your Photodex.
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The New Pokémon Snap reviews are in, teasing a relaxing adventure made to please all the fans of the ‘90s spinoff that asked you to catch ‘em all on camera. The game currently holds an 80 score on Metacritic, from a max of 100, with most of the reviews being positive.
The sequel to Pokémon Snap will be available tomorrow, April 30, more than two decades after the original release on the Nintendo 64. For better or worse, the core formula that made the game a cult classic is back, with a few tweaks to please a generation used to social media. New Pokémon Snap intends to show there’s more to the Pokémon franchise than ring-battles, and the first reviews for the game underline that it delivers exactly what it promises.
As with its predecessor, New Pokémon Snap will feature levels filled with wild Pokémon and put the player inside a vehicle that follows a track at a set speed. During the course, players need to capture the best photos they can of wild Pokémon, using tools such as fruit and musical instruments to force interaction between the creatures. It’s a relaxing experience in which players need to observe nature instead of worrying about winning battles.
The Telegraph gave New Pokémon Snap a perfect score, pointing that “the game plays at just the right speed so that you’re desperate to try again to get the perfect snap, but without it feeling overwhelming and absurdly complex.” EGM’s review, another perfect score, goes further to say that “New Pokémon Snap might be one of the most thoroughly pleasant games that’s come out for the Switch, if not ever.”
EGM’s review also says the new game perfects every aspect of the ‘90s title, even if it reuses the core gameplay: “the environments are visual delights, the Pokémon are lovingly recreated, and the progression and pacing are just right. If the hobby of gaming has started to feel like a second or third job, then New Pokémon Snap might just be the vacation you need.”
The way New Pokémon Snap updates a formula that already worked decades is also a reason for praise in Game Informer’s review, which says that “in the two decades since the first game’s release, the Pokémon world has changed in innumerable ways, but the simple appeal of immersing yourself in this universe and taking pictures has remained unchanged.”
IGN’s review says the game’s not perfect, with excessive tutorials and a photo scoring system that can “drag down momentum.” Even so, the review is overall a positive one, stating that the issues are secondary to “the clever environmental storytelling you’ll experience as you level up courses, the fun of discovering surprising photo ops, and the sheer joy of observing a moving ecosystem of believable, personable, and lovable Pokémon.”
Almost all the main gaming outlets agree that even if it’s not perfect, New Pokémon Snap is a must-have for any Nintendo Switch player. Nintendo Life says the game “brings back almost everything that made the original special and fleshes it out into a much more elaborate game.” Twinfinite says New Pokémon Snap is a “worthy sequel for those who enjoyed the original, and a unique experience for those who are looking for something new to pick up and play in short bursts.” Gamespot concludes that “20 years later, taking photos of Pokemon in the wild remains as fun and exhilarating as it always was, and though it’s been a long time coming, New Pokemon Snap was worth the wait.”
Even the most negative reviews New Pokémon Snap has so far still have a lot of positive things to say about the game. One of the worst-rated reviews, from The Guardian, gives the game a 60 out of 100, stating that New Pokémon Snap “is still enjoyable, because the Pokémon themselves are so interesting to look at; it’s just not wildly exciting.” The Guardian’s description of a “laid-back game and one that offers many hours of gentle photographic research to anyone drawn to Pokémon’s weird world,” though, is more of a warning to those who expect more than a relaxing safari-like adventure.
All in all, New Pokémon Snap sounds perfect for any player willing to explore the fantastic world of Pokémon in a more peaceful way, enjoying the deep-dive on nature the game has to offer. You can pick up the game worldwide on April 30.
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