Snapshot (2012)

[h1] Interesting puzzle platformer where you snap pictures and spawn things from them. Store up to three pics. Levels are a bit short though and platforming part could've been much better. Soundtrack is decent. Overall 6/10 [/h1]

While the concept is not bad, and the game is quite charming there are a few factors that make this game hard to recommend. Levels can take some time to explore, and have some tight jumps, which in itself is not bad. However, landing on spikes, or falling out of the map is instant death, and you have to restart the entire level. If the player was mearly reset a back to the last safe state, or if there was some kind of checkpoint mechanism this wouldn't be as annoying. There is no way to view an entire level at once. This means you can't analyze the level and plan out your route without exploring and discovering what the level contains. This compounds the issue of instant deaths restarting the level. There are a few quality of life things missing that make going for completion a pain. There is no in-level star counter, nor a timer, which makes knowing if you are missing any hidden stars, or if you are on a slow pace unknowable until you have finished the level, at which point you must restart from the beginning again. And lastly, there are "broken" achievements. There are a series of achievements for completing the game above a certain completion percentage. However, th…

Mechanically unique with its endlessly amusing design, [i]Snapshot[/i] is a fascinating puzzle-platformer of its time. The central ability to navigating these tricky levels is being able to instantaneously store / place items with a magical camera, whether it's moving a crate for the player to jump on, triggering locked areas and so on. It's no one trick pony though, the level design and complexities nicely amp up throughout the levels, introducing items and challenges with new physics and properties. With that all said, there's a lean towards precision platforming that can lead to the occasional frustration, especially when dealing with physics for the completionists looking to collect each star, find the gallery item, and complete the par time for each level.

The gameplay was original. Fun, not that much, but it may have its audience. For gamers on Linux, beware that it may take a bit of fiddling to get it to run correctly if you have more than one display.

Unique puzzles. Cut and paste mechanic is simple. Controls are inaccurate. Sometimes I jump perfectly on a platform. Next, I'm slipping straight off it. No checkpoints. Dying sends you back to the beginning of the stage. Instant deaths, like spikes and pits. Cannot make a mistake around them. First 5 levels on each chapter can be completed to move on. Score: D. I only recommend Snapshot if you're a puzzle maniac and have absolute patience. If you don't have either, stay away.

An enjoyable puzzle-plaltformer with a fun main gimmick. The special medals for each level give some more replay value to the game. I had a fun time with it and would recommend it.