A bizarre-sounding game for the vaporous 64DD system, Pokémon Snap sends you hunting for Pokémon, armed with nothing more than a camera. You skulk about the Pokémon's habitat and try to take pictures of them in the wild, which you then store in your photo album.
  
 Pokémon Snap (also known as Pocket Monsters' Snap), one of several Pokémon games in development at Nintendo in Japan, is perhaps the strangest 64DD title so far. You will find yourself wandering through the wild polygon jungles of the Pokémon Lands, armed only with your quick reflexes, a bunch of apples, and a camera.
 
In addition to the odd concept of the game, you'll have to consider the goal of the game: Snap pretty pictures. Much like in the hang-glider in Pilotwings 64, you hold a camera with limited exposures and can take pictures of your environment.
With the analog stick, you point your character into any direction you like and even use a zoom lens to get a closer look at things. Like in a real-life photo safari, the object is to get the best possible pictures of the native wildlife -- in this case: Pokémons. But simply turning around and making pictures of them sitting on their butts isn't enough to score points. You need to use food to lure the shy monsters out of their hiding places, play the flute to make them dance, or throw rocks at bushes to startle flying monsters and get good pictures of them in the air. All pictures can be saved directly to the 64DD disk and kept in albums for later use (whatever that may be).
 
Yes, it sounds incredibly odd. But considering the success of Pocket Monster dolls, figurines, socks, medals, stickers, and posters in Japan, Japanese gamers are going to go nuts over any chance to meet face to face with the popular gang. And quite frankly, we're dying to give this strange gem of a game a try -- if only for novelty reasons (and to pay back Pikachu for all the suffering he has caused with a big fat rock).
  
As with most N64 titles, the graphics are fully polygonal and 3D. Creatures are rendered in detailed 3D and animated fluidly thanks to real monster motion capturing. Of course, Pokémon Snap will be compatible with other 64DD or Game Boy titles and work with the upcoming Pokémon Stadium.