Late last summer, Pokemon fans were treated to the surprise announcement of a sequel to the 1999 Nintendo 64 title Pokemon Snap in New Pokemon Snap. Needless to say, both longtime and new Pokemon fans alike were ecstatic at the prospect of revisiting one of the series' most beloved spinoffs. So far, the game has shown off a plethora of monsters both new and old, with sprawling areas for players to capture images of wild Pokemon in.
With the game now only a few weeks out from release, excitement is ramping up as New Pokemon Snap seems to be Nintendo's big April title for the Switch. So far, the sequel already contains many more Pokemon than the original Nintendo 64 title, including new twists like the Illumina Phenomenon, which makes some monsters and environments glow. Now, one fan-favorite Legendary Pokemon has been confirmed for the game in a new commercial.
The new Japanese TV commercial for New Pokemon Snap was posted by the official Japanese Pokemon Twitter account. The tweet contains 2 short, new commercials which feature a variety of monsters already confirmed for the game like Bellossom and Machamp, but fans were excited to see the brief appearance of the Legendary Psychic and Flying-type Pokemon Lugia, as it is seen swimming along the bottom of the ocean.
Originally being created for the second Pokemon animated movie, Lugia made its debut on the big-screen in Pokemon The Movie 2000, which debuted months before the release of Pokemon Gold and Silver on the Game Boy Color in Japan. With the second generation of Pokemon games, Lugia along with Ho-Oh introduced the trend of "box Legendaries" for mainline Pokemon games, which continues even to this day with Zacian and Zamazenta appearing on the boxes for Pokemon Sword and Shield. Today, Lugia remains incredibly popular among fans, even being one of the first Legendary Pokemon to be added to the hit mobile game Pokemon GO.
The official Japanese Pokemon YouTube channel also released a preview spot for New Pokemon Snap, which confirmed the appearances of many other Pokemon like Lycanroc, Lanturn, Arbok, Espeon, Cacnea, and more. Yesterday, fans on the internet had fun with some new clips of the upcoming game which showed Magikarp supposedly being eaten by Pidgeot and Frillish.
Upon its initial reveal, New Pokemon Snap was immediately praised by many Pokemon fans for looking more polished than Pokemon Sword and Shield, many argued, with some hoping that it could spell good news for the next generation of Pokemon games. But for now, fans will have to sit tight for just a little bit longer before they're able to venture to the Lental Region to snap some Pokemon pics.
New Pokemon Snap releases for Nintendo Switch on April 30th, 2021.