We all have our own preferences when it comes to Pokémon spin-offs (Pokémon Snap being hands down the best of course), but it’s always interesting to hear which games the series’ own developers like best.
In Game Informer’s latest interview with Game Freak, Junichi Masuda (co-founder, director and producer) and Shigeru Ohmori (Pokémon Sun and Moon director) spoke about which spin-offs they personally prefer. Ohmori naturally chose Pokémon Snap, saying that:
“The most fun part for me – this may have been a Japan-only thing – but you could take your game to a convenience store and print out the photos you took and could use them like stickers and put them on things. I just had a lot of fun being able to take the photos in the game and print them out as things that I could use.”
It is worth mentioning that the ability to print out stickers wasn’t actually a Japan-only feature — in North America, players could go to Blockbuster Video and print out photos there.
Meanwhile, Masuda went for the relatively obscure mobile game, Pokémon Go (which will soon be getting two incredibly popular creatures incidentally).
The developers also spoke about what type of spin-offs they would like to see in the future. For Masuda, it was a proper Rhyhorn Racing game (this was a fun mini-game in Pokémon X and Y), while Ohomri would like to see a 2D side-scrolling action game.
I’m still waiting for a new iteration of Pokémon Snap, but there are plenty of spin-offs that I would love to see Game Freak or another developer try. Of course, photography was added as a feature in the main series with Pokémon Sun and Moon, but that still doesn’t satisfy my need for a proper Pokémon Snap style game!
Why not share your Pokémon spin-off ideas in the comments below?
Source: Game Informer
I too am waiting for a new pokemon snap; the fun of playing it with up to date graphics, and if it were to be released on the 3DS perhaps a possibility of AR functionality would be awesome.
My other thought is Pokemon Stadium for my cell phone. The concept is that I could take 5 of my 3DS or (someday) Switch pokemon on the go with me, and get into proper battles with other trainers.
The idea of a pared down Pokémon battle game on mobile is an interesting one. I do think that Nintendo would need to link it to the eventual Switch game though so that players have to return there for the full experience.