"Pokémon Snap" was one of my bigger childhood games. The idea of playing a game revolving around taking pictures of Pokémon was just so endearing to my young self and I had an absolute blast whenever I got the chance to play it. And as I've played through the game again, I found that those childhood memories are still there...even if the game hasn't aged so gracefully.
"Pokémon Snap" is charming right from the jump. Riding along in the ZERO-ONE and taking pictures of Pikachu on a surfboard and Snorlax scratching his stomach just feels endearing for some reason. On top of that, the game is very relaxing and it can be pretty addicting, and there's even some challenge as you move along to later levels. It's a game that keeps you on your toes while still being pretty fun.
That said, the game has its share of drawbacks: the controls are often clunky, the game is extremely short, the visuals haven't aged wonderfully, and the limited selection of Pokémon to take pictures of is a big disappointment.
I wanted to go back to "Pokémon Snap" for the first time in ages and say "wow, this game is amazing!" Unfortunately, the game itself is just okay; a decent time waster that unfortunately had far too much untapped potential. However, even if the game isn't great, I'd love to see where Nintendo goes with the upcoming sequel "New Pokémon Snap," because like I said, there's a lot of untapped potential here that could work on another system. So, while "Pokémon Snap" is merely an "okay" adventure, I would love to see if the sequel could take things up a notch. Until then, "Pokémon Snap" is decent for the $10 it costs on the Virtual Console, but don't set your expectations too high.
Final rating: 5 out of 10 "Hmm..."