TOKYO - Primal Image takes the Pokemon Snap concept to its next logical step. This PlayStation2 game from Atlus puts you behind the lens of a camera. You pick a model and an outfit, and then you must skip from angle to angle, snapping as many high-scoring shots as possible along the way. At the end of each shoot, your pictures are graded and scored according to angle and pose. The different characters include Anna, Non, Yuki Terai, and Nobu - a male model. In the version shown at the Tokyo Game Show, each model had a few different outfits.

　　The current version is limited only to a few photos per shoot, and it's tough to get into any sort of shooting rhythm without being interrupted, but it looks as though that limitation at this point is merely for demonstration purposes.

　　The game looks pretty good, though it is chock-full of the same jagged, aliased edges that stick out like a sore thumb in games like Ridge Racer V. Beyond that, the backdrops look nice, and the characters are animated quite well.

　　With a longer photo-shoot time and picture limit, Primal Image could be a fun little game. But right now I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Will it come out as a legitimate game or as simple, gimmick-based software with little going for it beyond attractive renderings of the female body? We'll know when the game hits Japanese shelves on April 27.