New Pokemon Snap has made quite a strong impression on Pokemon fans, hitting impressive sales milestones, revitalizing the Pokemon Snap series, and leaving some players wishing for DLC. As of today, New Pokemon Snap has also inspired a song parody.
Comedy musician Il Neige – French for "it's snowing" – has posted many original and parody songs to his YouTube account, most of them about various Nintendo properties. He's written, performed, and recorded many songs inspired by Pokemon over the years, but his most recent song stands out from the crowd for one simple reason: Nickelback. That's right, "LOOK AT THIS POKéSNAP | Parody of "Photograph" by Nickelback | Pokémon Snap Music Video" isn't just a spoof of New Pokemon Snap's flaws, references, and Easter eggs; it's also a spoof of one of Canadian rock band Nickelback most memetic videos, right down to the intro shot of Il Neige holding up a framed photo of Bulbasaur.
The song begins with a brief introduction of the game's premise--taking cute, funny, or difficult to make out pictures of wild Pokemon--and then slides smoothly into a summary of the game's story and commentary on how it plays. Il Neige sings emotionally about throwing apples at Bulbasaur, being given a tank by Professor Mirror, and setting out into the different environments of the Lental region against a mixture of live-action footage and gameplay recordings. He also discusses how difficult it can be to get the best photos in New Pokemon Snap, how odd the Pokesnap rankings can be, and how dangerous it would be to try and photograph wild Pokemon in real life.
Il Neige also draws attention to original Pokemon Snap protagonist Todd Snap's impressive glow-up, the downright bizarre faces some Pokemon such as Slaking make at the player, and some of the surprisingly powerful moments New Pokemon Snap contains. One verse chronicles the magical moment he made friends with a Delibird, while another has him paralyzed in fear of an angry Tyrantrum. He continuously mocks the idea of throwing Fluffruit at Pokemon to get their attention but admits that the way they react is incredibly cute. Interestingly, he doesn't mention New Pokemon Snap's unnecessarily long and frustrating tutorial.
About two minutes into the video, Il Neige's attempt to get a picture of Magicarp and Pigeot together leads to Pigeot carrying Magicarp off in its talons, presumably to eat. He reacts with horror and grief. The song parody concludes by declaring that the player's activities in New Pokemon Snap are wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem, ticking off the Pokemon that make the Lental region their home, and potentially even result in Pokemon fatalities. This may be true, but it certainly hasn't kept New Pokemon Snap from reaching impressive sales figures and outselling the original Pokemon Snap twice over.
New Pokemon Snap is available now on Switch.