What was the first Pokémon game focused on photographing Pokémon?

Pokémon Snap was the first Pokémon game focused on photographing Pokémon. It was released in Japan on March 21, 1999, for the Nintendo 64 and placed players in the role of Todd Snap, a photographer working for Professor Oak.

Instead of capturing Pokémon with Poké Balls, players rode the Zero-One vehicle through Pokémon Island and took pictures. Professor Oak evaluated each photograph based on factors such as the subject’s size, position, and pose. Items including Pokémon food, Pester Balls, and the Poké Flute could influence the creatures’ behavior.

The game is sometimes remembered mainly as a Nintendo 64 photography experiment, but it was also notable for rendering many Pokémon in real-time 3D. Its original release featured 63 of the first generation’s 151 Pokémon. A later sequel, New Pokémon Snap, expanded the concept for Nintendo Switch in 2021.