Pokémon Snap is a one-of-a-kind game in the series: here, you don’t catch Pokémon, you photograph them. Released on Nintendo 64 in March 1999 in Japan and on September 15, 2000 in France, this photo safari developed by HAL Laboratory puts you in the shoes of Todd Snap, a young photographer invited by Professor Oak to Pokémon Island. Aboard the ZERO-ONE, a vehicle that follows a set route, you observe 63 species in their natural habitat and try to land the perfect shot for the Pokémon Report.
What this guide contains
This guide covers the whole game, from the first trip down the Beach to the photo of Mew above the clouds:
- The complete walkthrough, course by course: Beach, Tunnel, Volcano, River, Cave, Valley and the secret Rainbow Cloud course. Each page details the species, the scenes to trigger and the best photos.
- The rules of the game: the order of unlocks, the items (Apple, Pester Ball, Poké Flute, Dash Engine) and Professor Oak’s scoring, criterion by criterion.
- The Pokémon: the list of the 63 species linked to our Pokédex, legendaries and rarities, the evolutions to trigger, disguised and hidden Pokémon and special photos.
- The secrets: the six Pokémon Signs that lead to Mew, post-Mew and Challenge mode, tips and benchmark scores.
- The game in context: our review, the spec sheet and re-releases, the history of the game, from the 64DD project to the print kiosks, and the gallery.
The principle in a nutshell
Each course is played in a single run, with a limited roll of film. At the end, you show Professor Oak one photo per species; he scores it based on the Pokémon’s size, its pose, the framing, the presence of other Pokémon of the same species and a possible special photo bonus. The best photo of each species goes into the Pokémon Report. The more your Report fills out, the more items Oak entrusts to you, and the more hidden behaviors you discover: a surfing Pikachu, Magnemite that merge, a Charmeleon that evolves by falling into lava.
Getting started
At the start, only the Beach is open and you only have the camera. Photograph at least six different species to open the Tunnel, then let your Report score earn you the items one by one. Our page getting started in Pokémon Snap explains the controls and the first reflexes to build; the FAQ answers the most common questions.
Playing it today
After the Nintendo 64 cartridge, the game was re-released on the Virtual Console of the Wii (2007) and Wii U (2016), then in the Nintendo 64 catalog of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription on June 24, 2022. The Wii version let you send your photos to the console’s Wii Message Board. Its sequel, New Pokémon Snap, came out on Nintendo Switch in 2021.
Our older pages on the game are still available, notably the 2016 walkthrough and the 2016 review.
