Cute but devilish isometric platform game with a fun co-op mode.

Story

Without a doubt the coolest snakes around are the two called Rattle and Roll. Right now they need your help however, as they seem to have lost their way in the wild and crazy world they live in. Some very dangerous areas await the two and to get out of there they need to eat Nibbley Pibbleys. Why? Because that’ll make them grow bigger and thus activate the scales that opens up the exit!

The Game

Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll is a fast paced action game where you play as a funky snake called Rattle. The game is played from an isometric top down view. As Rattle you can jump, squirm really fast, swim and kill enemies with your tongue attack.
Nibbley Pibbleys are edible beings that are found all around the place. They come in various types; some have legs and run around while others have wings and fly around. Eating them will make you grow, which is the key to open the exit to the next area.

Controls

The controls aren’t exactly straightforward in this one. The directional pad on your controller is mapped to align with the isometric perspective rather than the orientation of your viewpoint. This means that pushing up on the control pad will move diagonally upwards to the right. Needless to say this takes some time to get used to and when you think you’ve got it, it’s sure to betray you. The precision moves that require you to make turns in mid-air are made that much harder only because of this unusual control scheme. Otherwise the snake is quite agile, moves around with an intuitive momentum and can jump quite far.

Content

There are eleven stages to play though (plus some hidden bonus stages), and they are all very busy and filled with action. Once you have eaten enough Nibbley Pibbleys, the tail flashes which means that you must weigh yourself on the special scales that are located somewhere on the stage. If you are heavy enough a bell will ring and the exit to the next level opens up. You are then free to leave the stage or stay around and collect some extra bonuses. The game allows you to explore and roam freely, but there is a time limit that you need to keep an eye on.

You begin the game with just a snake head sliding along the floor. Here and there you will find strange machines called Nibbley Pibbley dispensers, which constantly spit out Nibbley Pibbleys. It’s quite devious though; sometimes it spits out bombs instead, so you need to be careful around the dispensers. As long as you have a tail, you can take a hit without losing a life. Taking a hit will make you lose a segment of your tail. This means that you are very vulnerable at the beginning of each stage, but getting some Nibbley Pibbleys to get you started is usually not a problem.

The various environments are typically abstract and weird, but the stages do have some really interesting features such as waterfalls, bodies of water, ledges, bridges, hills and chasms. You will need to explore each area quite thoroughly and the landscape alone presents a serious challenge – there are many tricky jumps and dangers that await. In these treacherous areas you will be subject to many deadly falls and traps. There are very few actual enemies. Instead, your main focus becomes to avoid the many traps – some that are impossible to foresee. The enemies you do encounter are often easily dispatched by either jumping on them or attacking them with your tongue.

Scattered around the stages you will find lids that you can open up by sliding over them and pressing the B button. This will unveil its contents that are either good or bad – this is where you’ll eventually find bonus stages, warp zones, power-ups and the like, but they can also hold bombs and enemies. They aren’t randomized however, so in theory you could learn where the goodies are hidden – but do keep in mind that there are a lot of lids in this game.

The biggest dangers in Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll are the many pits and chasms that instantly kill you. Rattle and Roll are very vulnerable to falling damage altogether as even a minor fall will instantly kill them. Especially the later stages has much of the focus around tricky pixel precision jumps where one single mistake will end up in the snake falling down, only to lose a life and get teleported back to where it was before it fell.
There is also traps that will make you instantly lose your whole tail, which essentially sets you back to square one – and this can happen multiple times on the same stage!

You are given two lives and two continues to beat the whole game. Extra lives can be found here and there, but there are no passwords or save function that will help you get through the game. There are however hidden warp zones that will allow you to skip certain levels. The sum of it all is that this game is very hard to beat and demands an iron will. This is a sadistic game hiding behind a cute and cheery theme.

There are some special power-ups in the game that will give your snake extra abilities and powers. There’s a tongue extension power-up and a temporary boost to your movement speed among the standard extra time, extra lives and temporary invincibility pick-ups. Even the power-ups can be traps though. Now and then when you thought you’d just found an extra life and approach to pick it up, it may turn into a bomb!

Multiplayer

The multiplayer offered here is a cooperative mode where another player controls Roll, the other snake in the game. With a friend, this game becomes a little easier, as you’ll cover more ground quicker and deliver some more attack power. However, as mentioned the biggest challenges are the many tricky jumps and no amount of co-op is going to help with those, save for perhaps the moral support.

Graphics

The graphics are a nice mix of abstract landscapes and cartoon style sprites. The game is quite detailed too – for example you will see Rattle and Roll spit out the legs of the legged Nibbley Pibbleys after eating them. The designs of the stages are cleverly done, but sometimes it can be hard to tell at what height a specific platform is at – and this is vital information. There also seems to be some graphical glitches in the backgrounds that can confuse you.
The game maintains a steady frame rate despite the constant action that’s going on, and that’s impressing in its own right.

Sound

The music is very catchy and cheery. It has been strongly influenced by American rock ‘n roll, and actually has a tune that vaguely resembles Elvis Presley’s song “Shake, Rattle and Roll” in glorious 8-bit sound. Clever, huh? The music is certainly a great mood lifter, and the sound effects are also good.

Summary

Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll is a fun game for as long as you are making progress. Once you lose all your continues and are forced to start all over from the first stage, it can be daunting to replay the whole way back to where you were. The controls wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for the acrobatic mid-air turns across those chasms you must do to make progress in the later levels. For each level you beat the game becomes harder – and the last few levels are just outrageous. This is a shame, because the overall game concept is amusing and unique.

Developed By: Rare
Published By: Nintendo
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Entertainment System
Genre: Platform
Players: 1-2
Released: 1990