For better or for worse, I’ve never played a game like Snake Pass.
Sure, at its core it’s a bog-standard old-school 3D collectathon with bright, colorful animals as main characters and an almost nonexistent plot. In that regard it could very well be something that came straight out of the N64 era.
But that’s where the familiarity ends, because you’re controlling a snake. And as many times as I’ve hopped, skipped, and jumped around a 3D platformer’s worlds, I can’t say that I’ve ever slithered, gripped, and coiled around one…until now.
Snake Pass starts off innocently enough. Our protagonist, the titular snake who is adorably named Noodle, is awoken by his bird friend Doodle. Turns out Doodle is in a panic because she’s just discovered that the gates that connect the realms are broken. It seems the gates’ keystones have been scattered around the realms, and it’s up to Noodle and Doodle to find the keystones to restore each gate in order to repair their home. That’s pretty much the extent of Snake Pass‘s story, so don’t come here expecting a deep, thought-provoking narrative.
Despite that, it’s a charming journey nonetheless, if a bit generic. You have your requisite earth, water, fire, and wind realms to explore throughout the game’s 15 levels, each with their own hazards and challenges. The palette is super colorful, and each realm is filled with wisps and coins for you to collect – some of which are quite well-hidden. And it’s all backed by a cheery soundtrack by none other than David Wise of Rare fame.
What sets Snake Pass apart, though, is its control scheme. As I mentioned before, you’re controlling a snake. Noodle can’t jump, but instead, you hold the right trigger to slither forward, gaining speed by moving side to side just like a snake. You can lift his head with a button press, allowing him to stretch for a collectible or platform, or coil himself around a piece of bamboo. The left trigger allows Noodle to grip hard onto whatever he’s currently coiled around, with its grip strength depending on how much of his body is actually touching it. Another face button lets him dive underwater while swimming. Finally, another button press brings Doodle to swoop in and lift Noodle’s tail, which can give him just enough leverage to crawl onto a platform or not fall into a pit.
If it sounds complicated and unwieldy, it’s because it is. Snake Pass lives and dies by its controls, and there’s definitely quite the learning curve. You’ll struggle for a bit until things click – but eventually they do click, and you’ll be coiling around bamboo, flinging yourself from platform to platform, and generally snaking around like…well, a snake. There are still some times where I fought with the controls and Noodle just wouldn’t do what I wanted him to, but generally, once I got the controls under my fingers, it was very satisfying noodling around the realms and collecting the various trinkets.
It’s mostly because of those controls that Snake Pass is quite the challenging game. There are no enemies or bosses – just the environment itself – but the “platforming” and navigation itself provides quite a bit of difficulty. Many of the collectibles are on complex bamboo jungle gyms hanging over spikes or bottomless pits, and nabbing them requires deliberate, precise movement while feathering the grip and slither buttons. Finesse and patience are crucial – no sloppy slithering allowed! You’ll quickly learn to take things slowly and methodically, because one wrong move will send Noodle careening to his death and respawning at the last checkpoint. Checkpoints are fairly frequent, but there are still some challenging stretches where I wished one was closer – and you’ll have to re-collect everything you picked up since the last checkpoint you activated as well.
If there’s a real enemy outside the environment itself, it’s the game’s camera, especially when dealing with moving bamboo or tight areas. It has a tendency to shift to some truly atrocious angles, at the most inopportune times, and having to wrestle with the camera while also finessing the complex control scheme doesn’t make for a fun time. I can’t count how many times I’d try to reach out and coil around a rotating piece of bamboo only for the camera to give me a beautiful view of the nearest rock wall or Noodle’s back, causing me to misjudge the distance and fall to my death. While the camera is generally serviceable as a whole, when it’s bad it’s really bad, and unfortunately those moments tend to be when you’re trying to make precise movements.
But overall, Snake Pass is an enjoyable short romp. It’s a charming collectathon with a unique gameplay twist that you won’t find anywhere else. The controls have a bit of a learning curve, but once it all comes together it’s immensely satisfying. It’s often on sale for a couple bucks on Steam (including right now at the time of writing this review), and it’s definitely worth a look if you want a challenging way to spend a few hours.
