If you were looking for the book of the same name based on this game, seePokémon Snap (book).

Snap redirects here. For other uses, seeSnap (disambiguation).

Pokémon Snap ポケモンスナップ
Boxart of Pokémon Snap
Basic info
Platform:	Nintendo 64 Wii (Virtual Console) Wii U (Virtual Console) Nintendo Switch (Nintendo Classics)
Category:	First person rail shooter
Players:	1
Connectivity:	None
Developer:	HAL Laboratory
Publisher:	Nintendo
Part of:	Generation Ispin off
Ratings
CERO:	A
ESRB:	E
ACB:	G
OFLC:	N/A
PEGI:	3
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	N/A
Release dates
Japan:	March 21, 1999(N64)[1] December 4, 2007(Wii VC)[2] April 6, 2016(Wii U VC) June 24, 2022(Nintendo Classics)[3]
North America:	July 26, 1999(N64)[4][5] December 10, 2007(Wii VC)[6] January 5, 2017(Wii U VC)[7] June 24, 2022(Nintendo Classics)[8]
Australia:	September 1999(N64)[9][10][11] December 11, 2007(Wii VC)[12] August 19, 2016(Wii U VC)[13] June 24, 2022(Nintendo Classics)[14]
Europe:	September 15, 2000(N64)[15] December 11, 2007(Wii VC)[16] August 18, 2016(Wii U VC)[17] June 24, 2022(Nintendo Classics)[18]
South Korea:	June 24, 2022(Nintendo Classics)
Hong Kong:	June 24, 2022(Nintendo Classics)
Taiwan:	September 9, 2025(Nintendo Classics)
Websites
Japanese:	Official site
English:	Official site
Japanese boxart Boxart of Pocket Monsters Snap. Reverse of Pocket Monsters Snap.

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Pokémon Snap

Pokémon Snap (Japanese:ポケモンスナップPokémon Snap) is aspin-offPokémon game for theNintendo 64. It was released in Japan on March 21, 1999, in North America on July 26, 1999, in Australia in September 1999, and in Europe on September 15, 2000.

It was released onVirtual Console forWii in Japan on December 4, 2007, in North America on December 10, 2007, in Australia on December 11, 2007, and in Europe on December 11, 2007; it was released onVirtual Console forWii U in Japan on April 6, 2016, in Europe on August 18, 2016, in Australia on August 19, 2016, and in North America on January 5, 2017; it was released on Nintendo 64 -Nintendo Classics application forNintendo Switch worldwide on June 24, 2022. The Wii Virtual Console was made unavailable on January 30, 2019, and the Wii U Virtual Console was made unavailable on March 27, 2023.

In Pokémon Snap, the famous Pokémon ResearcherProfessor Oak is studying Pokémon onPokémon Island, and invitesTodd Snap, a talented youngphotographer, to assist in his research. The only current inhabitants of Pokémon Island are wild Pokémon, making it the perfect place to study Pokémon in their natural habitat. Whereas a Trainer may not be able to resist catching the wild Pokémon of the island, Todd's photography skills may equally aid in the Professor's research to complete hisPokémon Report.

Rather than catching and training Pokémon, the goal is to explore Pokémon Island and photograph its inhabitant Pokémon. Travel is restricted to tracks designed for theZERO-ONE, and Todd's equipment includes hiscamera, apple-shapedPokémon food,Pester Balls to knock out or stun Pokémon, and aPoké Flute to wake sleeping Pokémon. Some of these items Todd gains further into his journey, as well as earning theDash Engine to increase the speed of the ZERO-ONE.

This game was alsoadapted into a novel for thePathways to Adventure series in 1999. A sequel,New Pokémon Snap, was released for theNintendo Switch on April 30, 2021.

Blurb

Professor Oak needs your help!

Professor Oak has asked you to capture the Wild Pokémon of Pokémon Island on film! Tour the Island in your ZERO-ONE vehicle and snap pictures of Pokémon in their natural habitat. Wild Pokémon are often camera-shy, so you'll have to use special items to bring them out in the open. Only the best shots will do for Professor's Pokémon Report so sharpen your photography skills and get ready to SNAP!

• The first-ever N64 game to feature the world-famous Pokémon - fully rendered in 3-D!
• Explore the many environments of Pokémon Island, like the sunny beach, the mysterious caves, and even a red-hot volcano!
• Many different types of Pokémon inhabit the island. See how many you can catch on film!
• Print your photos as stickers at Pokémon Snap Stations! Visit www.Pokémon.com or call 1-800-859-4521 for all the details and to find the nearest Snap Station nearest you!

Characters

• Professor Oak
• Todd Snap

Locations

• Pokémon Island
  • Beach
  • Tunnel
  • Volcano
  • River
  • Cave
  • Valley
  • Rainbow Cloud
• Professor Oak's Laboratory

Pokémon

63 species of Pokémon appear in this game:

Pokémon Signs

Six Pokémon appear in the form of aPokémon sign.

• Kingler
• Pinsir
• Koffing
• Cubone
• Mewtwo
• Dugtrio

Sticker Stations

For a period of time after Snap's launch,Pokémon Snap Sticker Stations were available atBlockbuster in the United States, andLawson in Japan^[19]. These stations which would print out stickers of pictures which were taken in the game for 3 Dollars/300 Yen^[20], by loading credits on one of five cards that featuredBulbasaur,Charmander,Squirtle,Pikachu, orJigglypuff.

There was also a mode inPokémon Stadium which would take and save pictures of Pokémon and print them out at the Stations. Special overlays were made to promotePokémon Stadium, so there exists two variations of the station.

Internally, these sticker stations are just a Nintendo 64 with a printer that connects to P4 port, a special version of the cartridge for the printing tasks, and a special cartridge adaptor to switch betweenPokémon Snap Station andPokémon Snap orPokémon Stadium.^[21][22]

Wii Virtual Console release

Pokémon Snap was re-released for theWii's Virtual Console with a few small changes. This version can upload pictures from the game to theWii's Message Board, where they can be transferred to people on the Wii's Address Book.

In this release,Jynx were recolored purple from the black color they were in the original game, to reflect the changes in its design and to avoid controversy that Jynx's original design caused.

To celebrate this re-release, the Japanese Yahoo! Kids Pokémon page streamed all of the episodes in which Todd Snap appeared from December 14, 2007 to January 14, 2008.^[23]

Development

In 1994, Nintendo put an ad in Famitsu Magazine, seeking to hire new talent for a team that would be given creative freedom when making games. The team, later known as Jack and Beans, would start working in 1995 on three separate projects, one of which was a camera-based game called "Jack and the Beanstalk". The team's inspiration for a camera game came from theNintendo 64DD's ability to read and write data from disks, which had the potential to then move the photos to another medium to print them.^[24]

By summer 1997, Jack and Beans' three projects were merged into one. Jack and the Beanstalk's characters and setting were then replaced with a Pokémon setting, to give players a clearer motivation and goal for taking pictures.^[25]

Pokémon Snap would be announced for the Nintendo 64DD atSpace World '97 in November 1997, with a release planned to coincide with the movieMewtwo Strikes Back the next year - but this announcement was made without informing the development team beforehand. However, the game would not meet this deadline, and in 1998 would change format to a Nintendo 64 cartridge for three reasons: Nintendo could not find a suitable time to release Snap for the 64DD; Snap would not be compatible withPokémon Gold and Silver Versions, so it had to be released before them; and Snap being on the 64DD would make it the odd one out among existing Pokémon releases on the Nintendo 64.

The development team aimed to have several Pokémon appear on screen at once - but to achieve this, they would have to use low-poly models - this meant that they could not use the same Pokémon models and animations asPokémon Stadium, which was being developed at around the same time. The team's animations would not use thePokémon animated series as reference material - instead, team memberBenimaru Itoh would act as a reference model, posing and acting as various different Pokémon, and other team members would serve as models when Itoh was unavailable.

Voice acting forProfessor Oak andTodd Snap was added to the game last-minute, with the lines obtained during a recording session forPokémon the Series.

The idea of printing pictures was tested through various methods, one of which was suggested bySatoru Iwata using a combination of a Nintendo 64Transfer Pak, aGame Boy, aGame Boy Camera, and aGame Boy Printer, but the resulting photos would only be grayscale and much lower resolution. HAL Laboratory's hardware technician Masayoshi Tanimura then printed the photos as stickers with a video printer, and these stickers were well-received by Nintendo's business partners. The concept of players printing out photos from Snap would later be realized with thePokémon Snap Sticker Stations.^[26]

Staff

Main article:Staff of Pokémon Snap

Gallery

Virtual Console icons

• 
  Wii U Virtual Console icon (English)
• 
  Wii U Virtual Console icon (Japanese)

Reception

The game received good reviews in the media, scoring a 7.8 on IGN, an 8.0 on GameSpot, and a 77 on Metacritic. The game has a strong fan following, even a number of years later, giving it a status similar to that of acult classic.

Trivia

• This is the only game to showSlowpoke'sEvolution happening true to the Pokédex. Using Pokémon food, Slowpoke can be lured to theRiver where it will dip its tail in the water. WhenShellder chomps down on Slowpoke's tail, Slowpoke will evolve intoSlowbro.
• Although the game featuresvoice acting from theanimated series, certain Pokémon that were given new voices for the dub still have their original Japanese voice acting in the game. These includeMetapod,Diglett,Dugtrio,Magnemite,Magneton,Geodude,Graveler,Psyduck, andPorygon.
• This was the first Pokémon game released for theVirtual Console service, the only Pokémon game from theNintendo 64 to be released for theWii U's Virtual Console service and the first Pokémon game released for theNintendo Classics service.
• Ekans was intended to be included in the game, but was ultimately cut.^[27]
• A song calledFantasic Horror was cut from the game. The song was meant for aGhost-type level, but possibly because there were only three Ghost-type Pokémon inGeneration I, said level was cut. Additionally, there was a boss song exclusive to the level that also did not end up in the final game.^[27]
• Although the game was not released in mainland China, software copyright filings by iQue in December 2003 translated the game's title asPokémon - Photo Studio (Chinese:神奇宝贝-写真馆Shénqí Bǎobèi - Xiězhēnguǎn).

In other languages

References

Related articles

This game-related article is part ofProject Games, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on thePokémon games.

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• Games
• Pokémon Snap
• Nintendo 64 games
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