Pokémon Snap

Pokémon Snap is a photography game released in 1999, developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It launched in Japan in March 1999, followed by North America in July 1999 and PAL regions in September 2000. As a spin-off in the Pokémon series, it was among the first console-based Pokémon games and marked the first time many Pokémon appeared in real-time 3D. The game later came to the Wii Virtual Console in December 2007, the Wii U Virtual Console in 2016, and the Nintendo Classics service in June 2022.

Originally planned for the Nintendo 64DD, development shifted to the Nintendo 64 due to the 64DD's delays. The gameplay is first-person, with protagonist Todd Snap moving automatically along a rail. Players take pictures of Pokémon using an in-game camera, and can use items like apples and pester balls to improve shots. After each round, Professor Oak judges the photos based on quality. In North America and Japan, the cartridge could be taken to Blockbuster or Lawson stores to print photos as stickers; the Virtual Console version let players send pictures to the Wii Message Board and share them with friends.

Nintendo heavily promoted the release, featuring it in over 86,000 hotels and running a contest with a trip to Australia as the prize. By the end of 1999, Pokémon Snap had sold 1.5 million copies and was a strong rental title that year. Critics mostly praised it, calling it "addictive" (IGN, Boys' Life) and "innovative" (Electric Playground). It has been compared to other photography games like Afrika, Dead Rising, and Beyond Good & Evil, and is considered a notable example of the photography video game genre. A sequel, New Pokémon Snap, developed by Bandai Namco Studios, launched for the Nintendo Switch on April 30, 2021.

Gameplay Pokémon Snap combines photography with rail shooter elements. The Zero-One vehicle follows a fixed path through each level, viewed from a first-person perspective. Players can take up to 60 photos per visit. After a course, they select their best photo of each Pokémon for Professor Oak to rate and add to the Pokémon Report. Scoring considers the Pokémon's size, pose, and whether it stays in frame, with bonus points for special poses (like a surfing Pikachu) or multiple Pokémon in one shot. Good scores and a wide variety of photos are needed to progress.