As either a male or female photographer, the player is asked to catalogue different areas and the wildlife inhabiting them, as well as carrying out photographic excursions for various other groups. All this revolves around Base Camp, the hub of everything in Hakuna Matata. Everything is set here, from accommodation to communication with the outside world in the form of a laptop called, rather amusingly, Jambo Navi. Assignments are emailed daily to Jambo, and the player then decides which to take on, and sets off to try and accomplish these goals.

While this all sounds little more than a real-world re-imagining of Pokemon Snap, Hakuna Matata offers a lot more than trying to photograph Koffing working his way through 10 Bensons.

A tour guide is provided to ease the player into their new surroundings, and being driven around in a jeep provides a nice, relaxing introduction. Although the player is allowed to drive eventually, the exploration options are limited to a small area; you find yourself bumping into invisible walls and being told in no uncertain terms that you don`t have access to a specific area.

The initial camera and lens provided is of a fairly basic standard, and this is reflected in the quality of pictures taken. It doesn`t allow any kind of significant zoom or manual shutter-speed options, and little compared to a more professional camera body and lens. More suitable equipment becomes available later on, providing encouragement to progress.

Each picture taken is graded on a scale involving Angle, Target, Distance and Technique. Each of these scales ranges from bad to marvellous and then final grade is then awarded, with anything from an E to an A handed out. There is a real sense of reward in capturing that perfect moment and then submitting it for use. Of course, all this adventuring costs money, and depending on the job and the quality of the picture, cash is awarded to purchase digital storage, or a tent for night-time camping excursions, although these only happen later on in the game.

While out exploring, pressing Triangle brings up the field menu. This allows the player to flick through the various shots taken on the field trip today, or facilitate the cancellation of the safari for the day without the need to drive all the way back to base camp, which is a blessing.

While trying to photograph some of the more dangerous creatures, they will become agitated if the player gets too close. At this point, the camera zooms in to said animal, and once it pans back out, a red danger ring around the outskirts of the screen appears until the player retreats a safe distance, where things returns to normal and the player can start again. If the retreat is too slow or ignored, the animal in question will charge the player and all pictures taken will be lost, meaning there are consequences for ignoring the warnings.

While staking out a particular animal, and depending on the terrain, the player can instigate a crouch by pressing down on the d-pad. This allows them to hide behind a bush or maybe a tree without startling their target. Once in position, pressing left or right on the d-pad will allow the player to lean out which can be useful in keeping tabs on the desired target. This proves useful as not every assignment is straight forward. Later on, the ability to clamber up trees or even hide within the bodies of some varieties, provide different methods of capturing that elusive shot. It’s a lot of fun being stuck up a tree and photographing Giraffes as they eat from a branch on high.

All shots captured and submitted to the different parties are eventually added to the player`s field guide. This becomes an exhaustive data base of pictures and mini-videoclips of the different wildlife documented so far.

An undoubted highlight is Big Game mode. These events usually involve an animal higher up the evolutionary food chain, and the player must acquire the perfect shot of their quarry in action. The flurry of activity at the point of initiation through to completion raises the adrenaline and it happens so quickly you could be forgiven for being completely caught up in the moment. Once finished, all shots are displayed and the game picks its favourite. Seeing a cheetah at full speed chasing and catching its prey as you try to get as many shots as possible is excellent, and a really visceral moment.

Graphically, Hakuna Matata holds its own, but isn`t on a par with the target renders shown when it was first announced. Sometimes the little flourishes make the difference, such as watching a herd of Impala`s from a distance, tails swishing or tending to an itch on their backs. The player-character's animation can be slightly clunky, especially when they run from side to side, but it`s nothing that will ruin the experience.

Considering there is the now-ubiquitous hard drive install, data-transfer speeds can be painful, with loading screens being a frequent sight, while saving progress can take anything up to 2½ minutes. Granted, the save file is nearly 400MB in size, but it does niggle, as the player wonders when they will get back to the game proper.

Online is limited to sharing pictures taken in the game, but thankfully this isn`t as dull as it sounds. At the time of writing this review, there seems to be a fair amount of ongoing competitions involving real prizes. Exploring the online galleries shows some wonderful examples of the different moods and animals to see within Hakuna Matata, all arranged into different groups. If inspiration or motivation is required for those who are struggling with a particular assignment, they will come away with fresh impetus.

What does feel like a missed opportunity is that there is no online co-operative mode. A shared group experience would have been interesting and almost unique in an online universe of constant death-dealing, elevating the game to a completely different level. Hopefully something along these lines will be included for any forthcoming sequel.

Hakuna Matata is a unique title and as such will no doubt attract a cult following. There is a lot to offer those who can find the required time and patience required to gain the best from it.