Hal Laboratories

Game Description: Kirby, that cute mushy star of other Game Boy, NES, and Super NES games, has arrived on the N64 in this nearly 3D game. For those of you who don't know Kirby, think of him as an adorable action hero with an eating disorder—in battle, he often swallows his enemies whole and then spits out everything except their powers. Absorbing the attack style of a rock enemy, for example, allows Kirby to later apply a rock shield in his defense.

This is the game that managed to outsell all competing PlayStation 2 software for two straight months in Japan? I asked myself this question practically every second I played this game. I must confess that I am not at all a Kirby fan, but that isn't why I was so perplexed as to why this game was made. I do agree with Scott on all of his points, but I have to say something on two aspects to the game.

To resolve this, Nintendo and HAL, a second party of Nintendo, created a game featuring a slow-moving character that was little more than a circle with feet and put him in a sidescroller, similar to Super Mario Bros. The result was Kirby's Dream Land.

Fair criticism usually benefits from having extensive experience in the particular subject leading to a more knowledgeable (and less emotional) perspective. But every now and then, something like Pokémon Snap comes along that so defies normal conventions (of the videogame world) that it leaves critics baffled as to how to justifiably critique it.

Game Description: Have you ever wanted to see Pikachu in its natural habitat? With the groundbreaking game Pokémon Snap, you will capture lots Pokémon found in the wild—not with a Poke Ball but with a camera! Some shots are easy, like snapping Pikachu relaxing on the beach, but others are much more difficult, such as taking the picture of Pikachu riding on the back of a rare, flying Pokémon! In Pokémon Snap, you're on assignment from Professor Oak, the world-famous Pokémon professor. He needs lots of photos taken on Pokémon Island, where you'll cross six fascinating environments in search of all the Pokémon you can find. Pidgey will soar over your shoulder on the Beach. Diglett will pop up in the Tunnel. A group of Charmander will run by in the Volcano. And that's only in the first three environments!

To speak of Pokémon Snap's far-reaching appeal, I must mention that the Bronx Zoo angle came to me and Chi separately. I first thought that a photo-journalistic approach (linking the experience to bird watching) was the most fitting comparison. Like bird watching, photographing the Pokémon in their natural environments was key and getting a nice big shot of a rare Pokémon was like finding gold.

After playing the game a while, it's not hard to see why Nintendo transposed the Pokémon franchise to this format. Traditionally, pinball games contain various puzzles in the form of complex mouse trap-like contraptions scattered across the playing board.