New Pokemon Snap gameplay
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#62Photography · 2021 · Nintendo

New Pokemon Snap

You ride through habitats on a fixed track, and your job is not to catch Pokemon but to photograph them doing interesting things, tossing fruit or playing music to trigger new behavior. After each ride you review your best shots and get them rated. It is calm and repeatable, encouraging you to run the same paths again to catch a better picture, though there is no direct player control over movement.

Gameplay video

More New Pokemon Snap gameplay on YouTube →

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Screenshots & review notes

New Pokemon Snap screenshot 1: Overall

Overall

It's a rare sequel that understands exactly what made the original special, expanding the concept without losing the sense of wonder that made hunting for that perfect shot so satisfying.

New Pokemon Snap screenshot 2: Moment to moment

Moment to moment

The on-rails structure keeps things approachable, but learning routes and tossing apples or orbs to trigger new behaviors adds surprising depth to what looks like a simple photo game.

New Pokemon Snap screenshot 3: Art and atmosphere

Art and atmosphere

Lush, detailed habitats and genuinely lifelike Pokemon animations make every course worth replaying just to see what changes on a second or third pass.

New Pokemon Snap screenshot 4: Worth your time?

Worth your time?

A relaxing pick for Pokemon fans and photography enthusiasts alike. There's not much challenge here, so competitive players may find the scoring loop thin after the credits roll.

Frames captured from the gameplay video above; notes are our own take on the game.

What it's like to play

You sit inside a vehicle that drives itself along a fixed path through lush jungles, icy tundras, and glowing caves, leaving you free to look around in every direction and snap photos of Pokemon with a simple button press while the camera does the driving for you. To get a good shot you are not just pointing and clicking, you can toss fluffruit to lure a creature closer, play a short melody to wake a sleeping one up, or use a glowing orb late in a course to cause dramatic reactions, and the game scores every photo afterward based on how well framed, centered, and interesting the pose is. Early courses ease you into this by keeping interactions simple, with a Pokemon or two doing something charming as you glide past, like a Bulbasaur snoozing under a tree or a Pikachu playing with fruit.

The real goal is revisiting the same handful of courses again and again as your research level rises, since each return trip reveals new behaviors you have not seen before, whether that is a shy Pokemon coming out of hiding or two species interacting in a way you have to trigger by using the right item at the right spot. A single course only takes a few minutes to drive through, but chasing every rare behavior across a course can mean returning to it a dozen times over many hours, especially once night versions of courses unlock. When you get a shot you are proud of you can share it online with other players, complete with simple editing tools to add frames and stickers.

Because progress depends on repeating the same fixed routes, the structure can start to feel like a grind if you are chasing every single rare interaction, and a few of the rarest behaviors require oddly specific setups you may need to look up. The pace stays calm and unhurried throughout, never testing reflexes or demanding precision beyond framing a good shot. If you love Pokemon or simply enjoy the quiet satisfaction of photographing wildlife, this is a gorgeous, generous game to spend a long weekend with.