The Pokémon Company's surprise New Pokémon Snap announcement ended the 21-year wait for a follow-up to the Nintendo 64 spin-off, but the company hasn't quite made clear what the game's relationship is to the 1999 original. While New Pokémon Snap's title, gameplay, and official descriptions certainly show differences from the original game, are these enough to make it a full reboot or sequel, or is it simply a reboot or reimagining?
The original Pokémon Snap has become somewhat of a cult classic in the Pokémon community. Its simple, on-rails gameplay made it easy to pick up, and its plethora of secrets made hunting down photos of every last Pokémon an engaging task. Many fans also fondly remember the game's photo-printing kiosks, located at Blockbuster video rental stores, which allowed players to make stickers out of their best shots.
Despite being a beloved entry in the franchise - or, at least, an entry few people hate - The Pokémon Company sat on the Pokémon Snap brand through four home console launches. The Nintendo Switch's New Pokémon Snap finally promises a modern take on the series. Whether that means it's a new game entirely, though, is unclear.
A name like New Pokémon Snap doesn't tell fans as much about the game's scope and goals as something like Pokémon Snap 2 or Pokémon Snap Remake, and official language about the game isn't helpful, either. In the Pokémon Presents livestream where The Pokémon Company revealed New Pokémon Snap, CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara said, "Pokémon Snap, which was released on Nintendo 64 [...] is coming to Nintendo Switch in a whole new way." This makes it sound like a remake or even a rerelease, but the reveal trailer makes it clear it's bringing new Pokémon, graphics, and environments to the table. The playable character also looks significantly different from the original's, Todd Snap.
The official New Pokémon Snap Nintendo eShop page specifically states it is a "brand-new game," but in the same sentence, it also says it "brings the gameplay of the 1999 Pokémon Snap game for the Nintendo 64 system to life on the Nintendo Switch." If it were a full-on sequel, it would make more sense for Nintendo to flat-out say, "a sequel to the 1999 original," but the company instead uses vague language.
So, what are fans to think of all this? The clear distinctions from the original in New Pokémon Snap's trailer suggests it's not a straightforward remake, but it could still blend the lines between reboot, reimagining, and sequel. The "New" qualifier draws a parallel to the New Super Mario Bros. series, which took the basic gameplay formula established in Nintendo's original, 8- and 16-bit Super Mario Bros. games and offered only minor enhancements, on top of the "better" graphics. Perhaps New Pokémon Snap will follow this strategy, or it could be a remake in the same way 2019's Resident Evil 2 was, keeping the same general locations and stylistic choices of the original but changing the story and gameplay.
Still, since New Pokémon Snap's protagonist is different and later-generation Pokémon appear, it's possible the game will canonically take place after the original. In that case, maybe The Pokémon Company chose not to go with a numbered sequel because its gameplay will be so similar to the first game that it wasn't safe to market as a full sequel. Ultimately, it's probably best to think of New Pokémon Snap as a reboot, for now - keeping some elements of the original while modernizing it in other ways - but fans won't know the full scope of its changes until Nintendo reveals more.
New Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo Switch has no set release date yet.
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