Pokemon Snap Cheat Codes & Secrets

Stage Unlock Progression

Pokemon Snap has no traditional code-based stage select. Courses unlock sequentially as you progress and earn points in your Pokemon Report submitted to Professor Oak.

Stage	Unlock Requirement
Beach	Available from the start
Tunnel	Complete the Beach course
Volcano	Complete the Tunnel course
River	Complete the Volcano course
Cave	Complete the River course
Valley	Complete the Cave course
Rainbow Cloud	Reach approximately 200,000 total points in your Pokemon Report

Rainbow Cloud Secret Stage

Rainbow Cloud is the hidden final course containing Mew — the game’s most sought-after secret. It doesn’t unlock through a code but through cumulative photography performance.

After completing all six standard stages, keep submitting high-scoring rolls to Professor Oak. Once your total Pokemon Report score crosses the threshold (generally requiring strong scores on most species), Oak announces that a new course has been discovered and unlocks it automatically.

Fastest route to unlock: Focus on getting large, centered, facing-camera shots. Professor Oak’s scoring rewards size in frame, center placement, and pose quality. Maximizing just three or four Pokemon species can significantly boost your total.

Item Unlock Progression

Items are critical for triggering hidden Pokemon and high-scoring poses. They unlock through gameplay milestones rather than codes.

Item	When Available	Button
Pokemon Food (Apples)	From the start	A button to throw
Pester Ball	Unlocked after Oak’s review following Volcano	A button (select first in item menu)
Poke Flute	Unlocked after Oak’s review following River	Z button to play
Dash Engine	After first mid-game Oak review	R button to activate

Hidden Pokemon Locations

These Pokemon require deliberate triggers — they will not appear through passive photography.

Pokemon	Stage	Trigger
Mew	Rainbow Cloud	Throw Pester Balls at the pink bubble Mew orbits inside; pop it to expose Mew
Porygon	Cave	Hit the glowing floating symbol on the cave wall with a Pester Ball — Porygon materializes
Articuno	Volcano	Knock an Electrode into the lava with a Pester Ball; the explosion sends Articuno flying across the area
Lapras	Beach	Visible surfacing in the water during the mid-section of the Beach course — no trigger needed, just look left toward the sea
Ditto	Valley (and others)	Photograph Ditto disguised as a Bulbasaur at the end of the course; it transforms mid-photo session
Jynx	Cave	Strike the Jynx perched on the ice ledge with a Pester Ball to wake it

Pokemon-Specific Easter Eggs and Secrets

Jigglypuff Concert (Cave)

Multiple sleeping Jigglypuff appear in the Cave. Activate the Poke Flute (Z) near one awake Jigglypuff — it begins singing, which wakes nearby sleeping Jigglypuff. A photo of several Jigglypuff singing together earns an “Exciting” or “Pose” bonus from Oak worth considerably more than a standard shot.

Magikarp Becomes Gyarados (Volcano)

In the Volcano stage, Magikarp leap alongside a waterfall. Throw Pokemon Food repeatedly to lure them into the pool at the top. Enough Magikarp entering the pool triggers a Gyarados emerging — this is the highest-scoring Gyarados opportunity in the game and counts as a unique evolution-event pose.

Gyarados and the Open Mouth Shot (Volcano)

When Gyarados rises from the pool in the Volcano stage, it opens its mouth wide before diving. Throw a Pester Ball directly into its open mouth during this animation. The reaction photo is classified as a rare excited pose by Professor Oak.

Charizard’s Wing Spread (Volcano)

After photographing Charizard on its elevated platform, activate the Poke Flute (Z). Charizard roars and spreads its wings fully — this pose receives a significant bonus that the resting photo does not.

Snorlax on the Beach

Snorlax blocks the path near the end of the Beach stage. Play the Poke Flute — instead of clearing the path, Snorlax rolls over without waking, showing its belly. This alternate-pose photo scores better than the standard view and is easy to miss by assuming the Flute always clears the obstruction.

Vileplume and the Hidden Bulbasaur Group (River)

In the River stage, play the Poke Flute near the Bulbasaur group and a Vileplume emerges from the tall grass. Photograph it quickly — it retreats after a few seconds and doesn’t reappear on that run.

GameShark Codes (N64)

These require a GameShark cartridge (or equivalent cheat device such as a Pro Action Replay). Input codes at the GameShark main menu before booting Pokemon Snap. Codes are for the North American NTSC version — PAL addresses differ.

Code	Effect	Notes
8125B7AC 0063	99 Film (max shots per run)	Resets each run start
8125B7AE 0063	Film count held at 99 permanently	Stacks with above
811FE350 00FF	All stages accessible from stage select	May skip Oak story triggers
8125B77C FFFF	Max total Pokemon Report score	Use before submitting roll
8011B6D8 0001	Pester Balls available from Beach	Bypasses normal item unlock
8011B6DA 0001	Poke Flute available from Beach	Bypasses normal item unlock

Caution with all-stages code: Rainbow Cloud accessed before the narrative unlock can cause Professor Oak’s dialogue to loop incorrectly. If this occurs, the workaround is to submit a roll from any standard stage — this resets the Oak dialogue state.

Photography Score Exploits

The Size-Center-Facing Formula

Professor Oak’s scoring weights three factors heavily: how large the Pokemon is in the frame, how centered it is, and whether it faces the camera. The most reliable score boost on any Pokemon:

1. Wait until the Pokemon is directly ahead of ZERO-ONE
2. Hold R to zoom until the Pokemon fills roughly 60–70% of the frame
3. Take the photo (B button) during a forward-facing or dynamic pose

This alone can double the base score of a standard shot.

Pre-Shot Food Lure

Throw one or two apples (A button) toward a Pokemon before taking the photo. The sound and item cause most Pokemon to turn toward ZERO-ONE and step forward into a centered position. Particularly effective on Pidgey, Doduo, Vileplume, and Eevee.

Multi-Pokemon Bonus

Photos containing multiple specimens of the same species receive a count bonus multiplier. Target locations:

Stage	Species	Best Spot
Beach	Pidgey	Just past Snorlax — two appear together
Valley	Doduo	Wait for the group to run into a tight cluster
Cave	Jigglypuff	After Flute trigger — three or four gather
River	Bulbasaur	Play Flute to pull the full group forward

Beneficial Glitches and Exploits

Album Best-Score Protection

When you submit a roll to Professor Oak, he evaluates and saves only the highest-scoring photo per Pokemon species. If you shoot new photos of a species already in your album and submit them, Oak compares the new score against the saved one. He only replaces the album photo if the new shot scores higher — your current best is never automatically overwritten. This means you can experiment freely with every roll without risk of degrading your album.

Camera Angle Extension (Tunnel)

In the Tunnel stage, the camera normally tracks straight ahead and slightly to each side. At the Diglett pop-up section, hard-panning C-Left or C-Right against the tunnel wall while a Diglett is mid-animation occasionally registers a “buried” or “emerging” angle that standard forward photography cannot replicate. Results are inconsistent but can yield Oak’s “Pose” bonus classification on an otherwise average subject.

Pester Ball Bounce Redirect

Pester Balls travel in an arc and bounce once off surfaces before disappearing. In the Volcano stage, bouncing a Pester Ball off the central rock pillar can redirect it into Pokemon positioned behind cover that cannot be hit with a direct throw. This is the primary technique for reaching Electrode on the ledge needed to trigger the Articuno event.