#1: Pokemon Snap

This is the first of any sort of attempt at blog entry, and hopefully I'll be able to continue doing this at least once a week. Even if no one reads this but me, it'll be a great opportunity for me to log games I've played all the way through, almost as a journal or diary, which most blogs are anyways. These are not reviews or walkthroughs, just thoughts and impact. Potential spoilers though.

---------- Pokemon Snap ----------

Though I've fallen behind in recent years (which is actually pretty common for original Pokemon players), I still fondly look to the franchise as a constant source of joy and occasional frustration. Having not actually owned an N64 during its era, though. I missed out on several Pokemon console classics. No "Pokemon Stadium", 1 OR 2, and no "Hey You, Pikachu", which I've come to understand is the greatest Pokemon game ever released. This also means no Pokemon Snap, however I have very recently rectified this by finding and purchasing a used copy of the game.

The game was right up my alley and immediately brought me back to my childhood, mainly that of the character designs and 63 of the original 150 to take pictures of and throw fruit at. Oak's art, which is essentially him standing there and slightly moving his mouth, feels JUST like the cartoon, even with the same voice, though most of the dialogue is done through text. You play as Todd, who the internet says was in the anime, but I guess I just don't remember him. I remember Tracey though. You could play as Tracey. I guessed that would be called Pokemon Art Studio, or Pokemon Doodle or something.

Something I love a great deal of in games is secrets, and there are an abundance in here. Even though they are needed if you wish to complete the Pokemon Report, but some of the tasks are fairly ridiculous. Gyarados was definitely the hardest. I know the mythology behind the waterfall and such, but since you need to run Magikarp ashore at the very beginning of the level for him to even appear there later, I found myself stuck for some time.

In order to complete this game to what I assume to be its fullest extent, which I have been striving to do with all games I own for some time now, you need to beat the best score for each individual course, consisting of Beach, Cave, Valley, River, Tunnel, Volcano, and Rainbow Cloud. These scores are much more difficult than the first appear, but after a few tries and learning the strange things that Oak REALLY likes (Electrode blowing up can just look like a white screen sometimes, but he doesn't care), you can persevere. Definitely the hardest is Mew, the final Pokemon on the final stage. The high score to beat is 420,000, and everything depends on how many pictures you can get of Mew and how close. That' because there isn't a "number of Pokemon seen" multiplier for this stage, as Mew is the only one. Took me several tries, but ultimately, it wasn't to bad. You just gotta know when to restart, and the angle you need to toss things to beam Mew in the head.

This is a great game. Very relaxing and something that I have since beating just sat down to play with friends. It's enjoyable to see the different things you can do with the Pokemon and to see if you can improve upon your best score of any given Pokemon in Oak's report. Overall just a fun time and I'm glad I own it.