Out of all the Pokémon games on the Nintendo 64, Pokémon Snap, a Pokémon safari photography game, was a popular anomaly. At its release, most Pokémon games were typical RPG fighting games, or stuff with action. Now, the classic 1999 title is re-emerging — in a way — as the “Poké Finder,” a new feature in Pokémon Sun and Moon coming this November on the Nintendo 3DS. The Poké Finder along with other new features appear in the game’s latest trailer.
In Pokémon Snap, players controlled an ace photographer (modeled after Todd, a character from the anime) assigned by Professor Oak to traverse lands populated by wild Pokémon and take pictures. Sort of a safari rail shooter, players took up to 60 photos (this was before SD cards) of Pokémon in their natural habitats before returning to Oak, who would grade the player’s best photos. Released in 1999, Pokémon Snap earned rave reviews, sold like hot cakes, and remains a cult classic.
With the Poké Finder, players in Sun and Moon can take pictures of wild Pokémon they encounter. Because it’s 2016, they can then share their best work online to collect likes (in the game, “Thumbs Up”) and comments from other players. In 2016, when everyone has a 12-megapixel camera in their pocket, a feature like “Poké Finder” is almost totally expected, but still welcome.
The Poké Finder isn’t the only new feature coming to Sun and Moon. True to their titles, the games sport a major time difference; Sun matches the player’s internal clock on their 3DS, while Moon occurs 12 hours ahead, meaning players who play Moon in the daytime will have their in-game time occur at night.
See the Poké Finder and other new stuff like Ultra Beasts and the Aether Foundation in the trailer below.
Nintendo and the Pokémon Company International are set to release Pokémon Sun and Moon on November 18.
