New Pokémon Snap announced, dreams come true

It happened. It finally happened. During last night’s Pokémon Direct, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have revealed that they are doing a New Pokémon Snap for Nintendo Switch, more than twenty years after the original Pokémon Snap was released on the Nintendo 64, which is critically acclaimed and known by many as “the greatest video game of all time”.

Check out the trailer.

“The New Pokémon Snap game for the Nintendo Switch system is based on its namesake, which was first released for the Nintendo 64 console in 1999. This game will take Trainers on an adventure to unknown islands overflowing with natural sights such as jungles and beaches, where they can research various Pokémon in their natural habitats. They will take photos to make their very own in-game Pokémon Photodex, all while discovering new, never-before-seen Pokémon expressions and behaviors.” reads the description from The Pokémon Company

Pokémon Snap for Nintendo 64 was a very unique spin-off for the popular franchise; for those who haven’t played it, it was an on-rails adventure where you would interact with the environment by throwing apples and other items, in order to try and find secrets and make Pokémon do super cool poses, which you would then snap with your camera. Those photos would then be graded on a scale, and if you were a lucky kid, your parents would take you to Toys ‘R’ Us to print out the photos you’d taken in sticker form for you to keep. It was, quite simply, the best.

We’ve been waiting for a new Pokémon Snap game for as long as I can remember, often bringing it up in conversation on our weekly radio show, Checkpoint on JOY 94.9. Nintendo have finally listened to what fans really want… which is to take photos of adorable Pokémon and share them with their friends.

If that wasn’t enough news, the Pokémon Direct also revealed Pokemon Cafe Mix, a free-to-start puzzle game coming on June 24, along with Pokemon Smile, a free app to help with brushing your teeth, and the fact that Mega Evolutions are coming to Pokémon Go. There will also be another announcement of a new “major Pokémon project” that’s in development, which we can expect to hear more about next week.

While no release date has been revealed for New Pokémon Snap yet, we’re hoping it comes out in 2020, as it will surely be game of the year and be more successful than the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X combined. No pressure.