90’s era platformers were beloved for their innovative gameplay, colorful environments, and adorable characters that players love! Sumo Digital’s Snake Pass recreates the look and feel of popular platformers of the past, but does it succeed in providing the same enjoyable experience?

The traditional idea of a platformer has players traversing the terrain to get to the end point of the level by running, jumping, and crawling past obstacles. What if you weren’t able to use the traditional methods to get through these levels though? Thanks to Sumo Digital’s recently released Snake Pass, you must learn how to surmount obstacles as a normal snake.

Snake Pass follows an adorable snake and hummingbird duo of Noodle and Doodle who have a very 90’s Rare games feel to them. The game tasks players to find three bright colored gems (with orbs and coins as side items to collect) that are spread out throughout the levels to open the portal to the next level. While finding these gems may seem like an easy task, you must remember that you’re a snake! To traverse the terrain, you must think and act like a snake to overcome obstacles. While the trigger will start propelling Noodle forward, you must slither left and right to speed up and move fast. To climb out ladders, you must wrap around the rings of the ladders and move up in an alternating motion. While these steps may sound tedious, after playing a few levels you’ll get the hang out it.

As you progress through the game’s 15 levels, new obstacles will appear to halt Noodle. While the spikes, lava, and falls do add a bit of challenge, numerous times they felt cheap as they barely touch Noodles long tail, and I was sent back to the last checkpoint. With the game’s checkpoints only activating by touching the checkpoint platforms, this can be a pain if you accidently went past one without noticing it. After a few times of getting taken out by the spikes I started to use Doodle to hold up my tail which did help a bit, but numerous times Doodle decided not to come to my aid. (Guess who’s not getting the ally of the year award now!) My biggest complaint with the game deals with the camera controls though. Various areas on the game’s map end up forcing the camera into strange angles where it is incredibly difficult to see where you are going.

[wpdevart_youtube]lqp-826tKqg[/wpdevart_youtube]

Where Snake Pass shines is its presentation of the world, Havor Tor. The game is filled with a bright and vibrant color scheme that will bring in the 90’s Rare games nostalgia! While the game may only run for 15 levels, you may find yourself stopping to stare at the gorgeous world. With the upbeat soundtrack that adds to the N64 platformer vibe, Snake Pass succeeds in creating an incredible overall presentation that will keep you coming back second; or if you’re like me, thirds and fourths!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Snake Pass is an original concept that does a great job at creating an incredibly gorgeous world. Unique gameplay mechanics makes Snake Pass successfully stand out from the traditional ideology of what a platformer should be. If you’re a fan of 90’s platformers, Snake Pass is a must have with a cheerful presentation, and innovative gameplay mechanics. While lack of a prominent story does make you wonder why you’re collecting these gems, the gameplay more than makes up for it.

THE BREAKDOWN

PRO’S

• Innovative gameplay mechanics
• Bright and Vibrant Presentation reminiscent of N64 era platformers
• Levels are massive, offering a lot of exploration

CON’S

• Doodle, and the camera, feel more like enemies than allies
• With only 15 levels, you can finish the game rather quickly
• Lack of proper explanation of the plot makes it feel like there isn’t a story, and that Noodle and Doodle only collecting the gems for no reason

*Complimentary review copy was provided by the developer for review purposes.