New Pokemon Snap
Review

New Pokemon Snap (2021) is the latest in the series of Pokemon Snap games. It's a puzzle safari where you are guided through the natural world of Pokemon creatures to take pictures of them in the wild. The aim is to time your photos to capture them in specific and rare scenarios to get a high star rating from the Professor. Finding the right food and time of day to lure them out adds a puzzle element to the photography timing required to get the best photo.

You work with a professor to help uncover the mystery of a glowing Pokemon called the Illumina. Your findings are documented in your Pokedex and as you progress through the game it gets filled with the Pokemon you have discovered, which are categorised into their types.

Along the way, you explore zones like deserts and jungles which are inhabited by different varieties of Pokemon. You photograph them lurking and playing in their natural habitats and interact with them to get them to do a special pose. You use your scanner to find hidden paths and rare Pokemon which are hidden from sight while also finding them in places that are more out of the way.

You can toss food and other items at the creatures to bring them out of bushes. This, along with visiting locations during the day or night determines the Pokemon you find. At the end of the day your photos get a star rating based on the quality, positioning, and how the Pokemon is behaving in the picture. You can edit the pictures that you have taken and add stickers. You can also choose to upload your Pokemon pictures to the online community of other real players who will award medals for your work.

This game takes inspiration from the original Pokemon Snap (1999) game but has many more Pokemon to discover and unknown islands to explore. Unlike other Pokemon games, New Pokemon Snap (2021) gives you the chance to observe the Pokemon and the environment rather than capturing them and levelling them up. In addition, although it is a simple idea of collecting photos, it has puzzle elements that involve trying different techniques to find the right scenarios to find the Pokemon.

Our examiner, Hannah Robertson, first checked New Pokemon Snap 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Ben Kendall and updated 2 years ago.