New Pokemon Snap director explains why it took 22 years to make a sequel

New Pokemon Snap’s director, Haruki Suzaki, has revealed just why it’s taken Nintendo over two decades to revisit the classic point-and-shoot photography game, despite fans pleading with the company to make a sequel for years.

If you had a Nintendo 64 back in the day, you no doubt played Pokemon Snap. A staple in many gamers’ collections at the time, the Nintendo and HAL Laboratories collaboration whisked players away to a remote island to help Professor Oak with his research by taking photographs.

With the game releasing in 1999, fans have been begging developers to make a sequel for years. Many hoped it would finally appear on the 3DS as the handheld console’s portability made it a perfect match – but it never came. Finally, in 2020, the second installment in the series was announced for the Switch.

Why is New Pokemon Snap releasing now?

On April 14, Haruki Suzaki from Bandai Namco – who developed New Pokemon Snap alongside Nintendo – participated in an interview with UK news outlet, Metro. In it, he opened up about the game and while he didn’t share anything ground-breaking, there were a few interesting tidbits.

When asked why it’s taken almost 22 years for the N64 title to get a sequel, the director revealed that there almost was a new Snap game made multiple times before. “When I started on this project, I had heard there had been a couple of attempts at making a new Pokemon Snap before,” he said.

• Read More: Everything new in New Pokemon Snap

Suzaki then went on to say that with photography evolving so much over the last two decades, it never felt right to release a sequel – until now. “The idea of photography has changed so much in the last 20 years, combined with the new Nintendo Switch hardware, that we thought it was the perfect time to create a new version, and that’s why we started the project,” he finished.

New Pokemon Snap releases on April 30, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. For how to pre-order, including price and free bonuses, check out our buying guide here.

• Read More: Ultimate Pokemon Snap quiz: test your knowledge

To stay in the loop with the game and other Pokemon titles, both current and upcoming, check out our dedicated Twitter account @PokemonSwordNS.

H/T: Metro