Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
Encyclopedia
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll is a platforming
video game developed by Rare. It was published by Nintendo
and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
in North America in July 1990 and in Europe on March 27, 1991. It was ported
to the Mega Drive and released by Sega
in June 1993. The game features two snakes, Rattle and Roll, as they make their way through eleven 3D isometric levels. The object is to navigate the obstacles in each level and eat enough "Nibbley Pibbleys" to ring a weigh-in bell located in the level, which will allow the snakes to exit. The game can be played by a single player
or by two players simultaneously
.
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll was developed by Rare members Tim Stamper
and Mark Betteridge, with music composed by David Wise, which featured music inspired by "Shake, Rattle and Roll
", as well as other 50s-era
oldies
. It was well-received by various video gaming magazines, and praises include well-designed 3D environments and graphics, playability and controls, and challenge. A follow-up for the Game Boy
, titled Sneaky Snakes, was released by Tradewest
in 1991. Snake Rattle 'n' Roll has been named one of the top games released on the NES and one of the top games released by Rare.
Each level contains various obstacles and enemies that the players must deal with. Players lose a segment from their snake if they are hit by an enemy, and they lose a life if their snake runs out of segments. Players can also lose a life if their snakes fall too far, the timer runs out, their snakes touch a sharp object, or if they are squashed by an object from above. Also, if they remain in some bodies of water for too long, a shark will attack. The game ends if players lose all their lives, but they have several continues in which they can restart the game from where they left off. Players can defeat enemies by hitting them with their tongues or by jumping on them. They can collect various items to help them along during gameplay, such as items that extend the length of the snakes' tongues, extra lives and continues, time bonuses, invisibility diamonds, and items that speed up or reverse the direction of the snakes. Located throughout the game are lids (in the shape of manhole covers) in which players can open to uncover Nibbly Pibbleys, items and extra lives, entrances to bonus levels, and sometimes enemies. Also located in the game are hidden warps which allow players to skip several levels and restart at a later point in the game.
and Mark Betteridge. Stamper worked on the game's graphics and concepts, while Betteridge worked on the game program itself. Most of the ideas behind the game came from Betteridge, who had challenged himself to get the smallest file size for a NES game possible. According to Rare member Brendan Gunn, Betteridge found out how to develop cheap backgrounds that took up little space. After thinking about what and how to move objects on such backgrounds, he came up with the idea for a snake. Much of the game derived from another isometric video game Marble Madness
, of which Rare published the NES version in 1989. They would also same type of high speed scrolling that was used in the NES port of Marble Madness, which, according to a Nintendo Power
overview of Rare, "many said couldn't be done on the NES". Rare's future Creative Director
, Gregg Mayles
, started with the company play-testing Snake Rattle 'n' Roll. He recalls being impressed with Betteridge's development of the controls, which he said "felt really responsive".
The game's soundtrack, which features music taken from the 1954 song "Shake, Rattle and Roll
", of which the game is named after, was composed by David Wise. He would also compose music from Wizards & Warriors, Battletoads
, and the Donkey Kong Country
series. According to website GamesRadar
, the game's compositions revolved around 1950s-era "oldies
so old they don’t even get played on the radio anymore". The one of the tunes was a homage to John Williams
' main theme from the 1975 film Jaws; the theme plays when a snake lands in the water and gets chased back to land by a shark.
It was first published by Nintendo
and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
in North America in July 1990 and in Europe on March 27, 1991. Rare would later port
the game to the Sega Mega Drive
, a version which was released only in Europe by Sega
in 1993; this port featured an additional final level on top of the 11 levels on the NES version. In that version, the snakes make it into space, but a meteorite crashes into their spaceship, causing them to crash land on another planetoid, which serves at the 12th level. After completing the that level, the ending shows the snakes on a new spaceship that is going back home. Although this game was never released for the Game Boy
, in one of the levels in the NES version, the landscape spells out "NINTENDO GAMEBOY".
magazine. The preview said that the game "defies description" and that it would appeal to people who have enjoyed games such as Q*bert and Adventures of Lolo. The game would be featured in the magazine's September–October 1990 issue, which featured a walkthrough of the game's first three levels. It was also featured in UK-based magazine Mean Machines
, where it received high praise from editors Matt Regan
and Julian Rignall
. Regan praised the game's 3D environment, fun gameplay, and level of humor, as noted by the odd objects such as toilet seats. Rignall called the game's graphics "stunning, with beautifully drawn scrolling forced perspective 3D backdrops and some great sprites"; he also lauded the game's playability and simple controls, challenging difficulty, and overall fun factor. Overall, they said Snake Rattle 'n' Roll was "one of the most original games seen in years" and was "a firm favourite here in the MEAN MACHINES offices".
The game received further reviews and praise in other video gaming magazines in 1991. German magazine Video Games called Snake Rattle 'n' Roll "a quaint and original game" that includes high-quality graphics. The reviewer praised the animations in the characters, especially after the snakes eat Nibbly Pibbleys, and he enjoyed the two-player simultaneous mode; however, he said that the game lacked in variety, though the gameplay and challenge remained consistent throughout the course of the game. Another German magazine, Power Play, gave a similar review, and it compared the game to the 1988 Rare title R.C. Pro-Am
in gameplay. American video gaming magazine Game Players
awarded Snake Rattle 'n' Roll the "Game Player's NES Excellence Award" for 1990 as one of the best games released for the NES that year.
Nintendo Power reviewed Snake Rattle 'n' Roll as part of an overview of NES games which the magazine felt were overlooked or otherwise did not sell well. Their main criticism was that the main characters were not recognizable to anyone, giving the game a lack of visibility amongst consumers. Otherwise, they praised the game for its precise controls and for its blend of puzzle and action elements.
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll received some retrospective coverage years after its release. IGN
ranked the game at #32 in its "Top 100 NES Games" list, calling it "another of Rare's excellent pre-second-party efforts on the NES" as well as "Marble Madness
turned into a platformer". Executive editor Craig Harris also noted the game's high level of difficulty and its excellent soundtrack. UK-based magazine Retro Gamer
reviewed the game in its August 2006 issue, calling it one of the best isometric games on the NES and "an essential NES game". The two titular characters in the game would be named "Hero of the Month" in the magazine's February 2007 issue. In a 25th anniversary retrospective of Rare in December 2010, the same magazine called the game "an excellent platformer" and was one of the games they wished would be released on Kinect; the magazine received a glimpse of a Marble Madness prototype on Kinect and wanted to see the control scheme in that game implemented in a new version of Snake Rattle 'n' Roll. The game was also ranked #23 on a readers' poll of top 25 games made by Rare. UK-based magazine Retro Gamer
covered Snake Rattle 'n' Roll as part of its retrospective on isometric video games, saying that the game "merged brilliantly the offbeat nature of games such as Head Over Heels with popular movement-based isometric action/puzzle titles like Marble Madness and Spindizzy". It was also covered in the GamesTM
Retro book, where it was lauded as one of the more unheralded games in the NES library. The retrospective highly praised the its visuals and landscapes, as well as having a "quirky humour" and a "unique charm". It concluded by saying that Snake Rattle 'n' Roll stands apart from other NES titles, as also did other Rare titles such as Cobra Triangle
and R.C. Pro-Am
.
Due to Microsoft
's current ownership of Rare, it is unlikely that either game will be released for the Virtual Console
.
titled Sneaky Snakes; the game was published by Tradewest
in June 1991. The game features two Snakes named Genghis and Atilla who must save Sonia Snake from the Nasty Nibbler. The game features identical gameplay to Snake Rattle 'n' Roll but in a 2D side-scrolling platforming mode instead of the 3D isometric mode. Sneaky Snakes was received mediocre ratings from Electronic Gaming Monthly
in its July 1991 issue. Reviewer Steve Harris criticized the game for its awkward controls, lack of originality, and a "zero-grav effect" while jumping. Ed Semrad said that the game got old after the first several levels, and Martin Alessi said that while it is an original idea, likewise repeated the previous reviewers criticism of the game's repetitiveness. Reviewer "Sushi-X" called the game "average" and that "it lacks the rest of the positive traits that truly rates an exceptional game.
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game developed by Rare. It was published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
in North America in July 1990 and in Europe on March 27, 1991. It was ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to the Mega Drive and released by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
in June 1993. The game features two snakes, Rattle and Roll, as they make their way through eleven 3D isometric levels. The object is to navigate the obstacles in each level and eat enough "Nibbley Pibbleys" to ring a weigh-in bell located in the level, which will allow the snakes to exit. The game can be played by a single player
Single player
A Single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. "Single-player game" usually implies a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" usually refers to a game mode for a single player, where...
or by two players simultaneously
Multiplayer game
A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Unlike most other games, computer and video games are often single-player activities that put the player against preprogrammed challenges and/or AI-controlled opponents, which often...
.
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll was developed by Rare members Tim Stamper
Tim and Chris Stamper
Tim and Chris Stamper are the co-founders of Ashby Computers & Graphics and later Rare...
and Mark Betteridge, with music composed by David Wise, which featured music inspired by "Shake, Rattle and Roll
Shake, Rattle and Roll
"Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a prototypical twelve bar blues-form rock and roll song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone under his assumed songwriting name Charles E. Calhoun. It was originally recorded by Big Joe Turner, and most successfully by Bill Haley & His Comets...
", as well as other 50s-era
1950s in music
For music from a year in the 1950s, go to 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59This article includes an overview of the major events and trends in popular music in the 1950s....
oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
. It was well-received by various video gaming magazines, and praises include well-designed 3D environments and graphics, playability and controls, and challenge. A follow-up for the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, titled Sneaky Snakes, was released by Tradewest
Tradewest
Tradewest is a now-defunct American video game company based in Corsicana, Texas that produced numerous games in the 1980s and early 1990s. The company is best known as the publisher of the Battletoads and Double Dragon series in North America and the PAL region.The Tradewest name was revived in...
in 1991. Snake Rattle 'n' Roll has been named one of the top games released on the NES and one of the top games released by Rare.
Gameplay
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll features two snakes – Rattle and Roll – as they make their way through 11 isometric levels. The object in each level is to eat enough "Nibbley Pibbleys" – small round creatures found throughout each level – to gain enough weight to ring a bell on top of a weighing machine located at the end of the level; this causes a door for the next level to open. Players maneuver their snakes throughout the level with the control pad and are able to pick up Nibbley Pibbleys by pressing the B button on the controller. The snakes' lengths increase when they eat; players' snake length grows more quickly when they eat Nibbley Pibbleys of their own color, and they grow the most when they eat yellow ones. Located in each level are dispensers which randomly spew out Nibbley Pibbleys; however, they also spew out bombs which can damage the snakes. When a snake reaches a long enough of a length, the tail begins to flash, which means the snake is heavy enough to exit that level; at which point they must find and jump on the scale in order to ring the bell and open the exit door.Each level contains various obstacles and enemies that the players must deal with. Players lose a segment from their snake if they are hit by an enemy, and they lose a life if their snake runs out of segments. Players can also lose a life if their snakes fall too far, the timer runs out, their snakes touch a sharp object, or if they are squashed by an object from above. Also, if they remain in some bodies of water for too long, a shark will attack. The game ends if players lose all their lives, but they have several continues in which they can restart the game from where they left off. Players can defeat enemies by hitting them with their tongues or by jumping on them. They can collect various items to help them along during gameplay, such as items that extend the length of the snakes' tongues, extra lives and continues, time bonuses, invisibility diamonds, and items that speed up or reverse the direction of the snakes. Located throughout the game are lids (in the shape of manhole covers) in which players can open to uncover Nibbly Pibbleys, items and extra lives, entrances to bonus levels, and sometimes enemies. Also located in the game are hidden warps which allow players to skip several levels and restart at a later point in the game.
Development
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll was developed primarily by Rare employees Tim StamperTim and Chris Stamper
Tim and Chris Stamper are the co-founders of Ashby Computers & Graphics and later Rare...
and Mark Betteridge. Stamper worked on the game's graphics and concepts, while Betteridge worked on the game program itself. Most of the ideas behind the game came from Betteridge, who had challenged himself to get the smallest file size for a NES game possible. According to Rare member Brendan Gunn, Betteridge found out how to develop cheap backgrounds that took up little space. After thinking about what and how to move objects on such backgrounds, he came up with the idea for a snake. Much of the game derived from another isometric video game Marble Madness
Marble Madness
Marble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny, and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide an onscreen marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a...
, of which Rare published the NES version in 1989. They would also same type of high speed scrolling that was used in the NES port of Marble Madness, which, according to a Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
overview of Rare, "many said couldn't be done on the NES". Rare's future Creative Director
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
, Gregg Mayles
Gregg Mayles
Gregory Ashley Mayles , better known as Gregg Mayles, is a British video game designer currently working for video game company Rare as Creative Director...
, started with the company play-testing Snake Rattle 'n' Roll. He recalls being impressed with Betteridge's development of the controls, which he said "felt really responsive".
The game's soundtrack, which features music taken from the 1954 song "Shake, Rattle and Roll
Shake, Rattle and Roll
"Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a prototypical twelve bar blues-form rock and roll song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone under his assumed songwriting name Charles E. Calhoun. It was originally recorded by Big Joe Turner, and most successfully by Bill Haley & His Comets...
", of which the game is named after, was composed by David Wise. He would also compose music from Wizards & Warriors, Battletoads
Battletoads
Battletoads is a platformer video game created by Tim and Chris Stamper and developed by Rare. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions , the game was created to rival the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games....
, and the Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country is a side-scrolling platformer video game developed by Rare, featuring the character Donkey Kong. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Following an intense marketing campaign, the original SNES version sold over 8 million copies worldwide, making...
series. According to website GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
, the game's compositions revolved around 1950s-era "oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
so old they don’t even get played on the radio anymore". The one of the tunes was a homage to John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
' main theme from the 1975 film Jaws; the theme plays when a snake lands in the water and gets chased back to land by a shark.
It was first published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
in North America in July 1990 and in Europe on March 27, 1991. Rare would later port
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
the game to the Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
, a version which was released only in Europe by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
in 1993; this port featured an additional final level on top of the 11 levels on the NES version. In that version, the snakes make it into space, but a meteorite crashes into their spaceship, causing them to crash land on another planetoid, which serves at the 12th level. After completing the that level, the ending shows the snakes on a new spaceship that is going back home. Although this game was never released for the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, in one of the levels in the NES version, the landscape spells out "NINTENDO GAMEBOY".
Reception
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll first received preview coverage in January 1990 in Nintendo PowerNintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
magazine. The preview said that the game "defies description" and that it would appeal to people who have enjoyed games such as Q*bert and Adventures of Lolo. The game would be featured in the magazine's September–October 1990 issue, which featured a walkthrough of the game's first three levels. It was also featured in UK-based magazine Mean Machines
Mean Machines
Mean Machines was a market-leading multi-format gaming magazine released between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. Its style was popular with gamers of the time for its irreverent humor, anarchic editorial tone and style, and its sometimes outrageously outspoken reviews.- Origins :In the late...
, where it received high praise from editors Matt Regan
Matt Regan
Matt Regan was one of the original team that launched UK multiformat videogame magazine Mean Machines. He and Julian Rignall started off as the two main reviewers....
and Julian Rignall
Julian Rignall
Julian "Muppet" Rignall is a longterm publishing veteran with experience launching and managing numerous video game magazines and websites...
. Regan praised the game's 3D environment, fun gameplay, and level of humor, as noted by the odd objects such as toilet seats. Rignall called the game's graphics "stunning, with beautifully drawn scrolling forced perspective 3D backdrops and some great sprites"; he also lauded the game's playability and simple controls, challenging difficulty, and overall fun factor. Overall, they said Snake Rattle 'n' Roll was "one of the most original games seen in years" and was "a firm favourite here in the MEAN MACHINES offices".
The game received further reviews and praise in other video gaming magazines in 1991. German magazine Video Games called Snake Rattle 'n' Roll "a quaint and original game" that includes high-quality graphics. The reviewer praised the animations in the characters, especially after the snakes eat Nibbly Pibbleys, and he enjoyed the two-player simultaneous mode; however, he said that the game lacked in variety, though the gameplay and challenge remained consistent throughout the course of the game. Another German magazine, Power Play, gave a similar review, and it compared the game to the 1988 Rare title R.C. Pro-Am
R.C. Pro-Am
R.C. Pro-Am is a racing video game developed by United Kingdom-based company Rare. It was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Nintendo at North America in February 1988, and then in Europe on April 15 that year. Presented in an overhead isometric perspective, a single player...
in gameplay. American video gaming magazine Game Players
Game Players
Game Players was a monthly video game magazine founded by Robert C. Lock and published by Signal Research, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The original publication was titled Game Players Strategy to Nintendo Games...
awarded Snake Rattle 'n' Roll the "Game Player's NES Excellence Award" for 1990 as one of the best games released for the NES that year.
Nintendo Power reviewed Snake Rattle 'n' Roll as part of an overview of NES games which the magazine felt were overlooked or otherwise did not sell well. Their main criticism was that the main characters were not recognizable to anyone, giving the game a lack of visibility amongst consumers. Otherwise, they praised the game for its precise controls and for its blend of puzzle and action elements.
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll received some retrospective coverage years after its release. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
ranked the game at #32 in its "Top 100 NES Games" list, calling it "another of Rare's excellent pre-second-party efforts on the NES" as well as "Marble Madness
Marble Madness
Marble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny, and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide an onscreen marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a...
turned into a platformer". Executive editor Craig Harris also noted the game's high level of difficulty and its excellent soundtrack. UK-based magazine Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Although launched as a quarterly publication, Retro Gamers soon became a monthly...
reviewed the game in its August 2006 issue, calling it one of the best isometric games on the NES and "an essential NES game". The two titular characters in the game would be named "Hero of the Month" in the magazine's February 2007 issue. In a 25th anniversary retrospective of Rare in December 2010, the same magazine called the game "an excellent platformer" and was one of the games they wished would be released on Kinect; the magazine received a glimpse of a Marble Madness prototype on Kinect and wanted to see the control scheme in that game implemented in a new version of Snake Rattle 'n' Roll. The game was also ranked #23 on a readers' poll of top 25 games made by Rare. UK-based magazine Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Although launched as a quarterly publication, Retro Gamers soon became a monthly...
covered Snake Rattle 'n' Roll as part of its retrospective on isometric video games, saying that the game "merged brilliantly the offbeat nature of games such as Head Over Heels with popular movement-based isometric action/puzzle titles like Marble Madness and Spindizzy". It was also covered in the GamesTM
GamesTM
GamesTM is a UK-based, multi-format video games magazine, covering many video game platforms including PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PC games, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Arcade machines...
Retro book, where it was lauded as one of the more unheralded games in the NES library. The retrospective highly praised the its visuals and landscapes, as well as having a "quirky humour" and a "unique charm". It concluded by saying that Snake Rattle 'n' Roll stands apart from other NES titles, as also did other Rare titles such as Cobra Triangle
Cobra Triangle
Cobra Triangle is a single-player game developed by Rare for the Nintendo Entertainment System following the success of their previous game, R.C. Pro-Am....
and R.C. Pro-Am
R.C. Pro-Am
R.C. Pro-Am is a racing video game developed by United Kingdom-based company Rare. It was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Nintendo at North America in February 1988, and then in Europe on April 15 that year. Presented in an overhead isometric perspective, a single player...
.
Due to Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's current ownership of Rare, it is unlikely that either game will be released for the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
.
Sequel
In the ending of Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, the game hints at a sequel titled Snakes in Space, but the game would never be released. However, Rare developed a follow-up on the Game BoyGame Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
titled Sneaky Snakes; the game was published by Tradewest
Tradewest
Tradewest is a now-defunct American video game company based in Corsicana, Texas that produced numerous games in the 1980s and early 1990s. The company is best known as the publisher of the Battletoads and Double Dragon series in North America and the PAL region.The Tradewest name was revived in...
in June 1991. The game features two Snakes named Genghis and Atilla who must save Sonia Snake from the Nasty Nibbler. The game features identical gameplay to Snake Rattle 'n' Roll but in a 2D side-scrolling platforming mode instead of the 3D isometric mode. Sneaky Snakes was received mediocre ratings from Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
in its July 1991 issue. Reviewer Steve Harris criticized the game for its awkward controls, lack of originality, and a "zero-grav effect" while jumping. Ed Semrad said that the game got old after the first several levels, and Martin Alessi said that while it is an original idea, likewise repeated the previous reviewers criticism of the game's repetitiveness. Reviewer "Sushi-X" called the game "average" and that "it lacks the rest of the positive traits that truly rates an exceptional game.