Nintendo of America has released a new Twitter emoji, depicting the Pokémon Meganium, ahead of the launch of New Pokémon Snap. The upcoming title is a sequel to the Nintendo 64’s Pokémon Snap, a unique entry in the long-running monster collection franchise where players were tasked with photographing Pokémon from an on-rails hovercraft. The original 1999 game never received a follow-up, making New Pokémon Snap a much-anticipated sequel.
New Pokémon Snap appears to adhere closely to the original title’s concept and gameplay, being an on-rails shooter where players use reflexes and cunning to get the best possible pictures of the franchise’s various creatures. For example, the way that a player’s photos are rated seems to be largely unchanged between the new installment and its 1999 predecessor. A Pokémon’s size and placement in the photo, the direction it is facing and its pose are all major factors in determining how many points a photo receives. However, New Pokémon Snap will improve upon the original game’s camera in a number of ways. Photographs can be individually edited, allowing players to add stickers and filters as well as change brightness, blur and focal point. These editing mechanics weren’t present in the original game, and will serve to make the new title more in-depth and modern.
The official Nintendo of America Twitter account has just unveiled a brand new emoji of Meganium, a Pokémon set to appear in New Pokémon Snap. Fans can use two different hashtags, #PokemonSnap or #NewPokemonSnap, to insert the dinosaur-like creature into their feed. Meganium is a Grass-type Pokémon that was introduced in the franchise’s second generation, being the final evolution of the Grass-type starter Chikorita. Nintendo of America released the emoji in anticipation of the game’s release on April 30.
Franchise fans have long admired Pokémon Snap for allowing for the observation, rather than capture, of wild Pokémon. Rather than assaulting and enslaving various wild creatures, Pokémon Snap allows the player to simply admire them in their natural habitat. The on-rails shooter gameplay is also very different from what is typically found in the Pokémon video games, which helps breathe new life into the series. These unique aspects of the original Pokémon Snap make many fans anticipate the release of its successor.
Nintendo of America seems to be very excited for New Pokémon Snap‘s release, with viral advertisements and Twitter emojis drumming up hype for the title. The original game is considered a Nintendo 64 classic, and the sequel seems to be a worthy successor. With the original game’s concept and gameplay finally arriving on modern hardware, it is no surprise that Nintendo is excited for the title’s release.
New Pokémon Snap will release on April 30 on Nintendo Switch.