Snake Pass
Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: Sumo Digital
Available on: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One, PC
Price: $19.99 USD
The folks at Sumo Digital have taken a novel approach to the beloved mascot platformer of the N64 era, in by which they’ve gone and removed jumping altogether. In Snake Pass, players control Noodle the snake and slither and weave their way through branches and blocks in order to locate three hidden gems. Every stage presents an increasingly difficult obstacle course to navigate, but underneath the game’s beautifully colorful exterior and charming characters lies a game whose enjoyment will be largely dependent on your ability to adapt and appreciate its frustrating control scheme.
The vibrant aesthetic should come as no surprise, as Sumo Digital is to thank for the adorable platformer Little Big Planet 3, along with one of the best kart racers of all time (in my opinion), Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Snake Pass exudes color, particularly within its environments. Lush jungles pop with green overgrowth while warm colors fill the latter half of the game’s lava stages. Sumo Digital has completely shied away from the muted color palettes found within many AAA game spaces and instead have fully embraced the rich tones found in classic games like Crash Bandicoot and Banjo-Kazooie.
Snake Pass is an absolute joy to look at on the TV, but the resolution takes a noticeable hit while playing undocked on the Nintendo Switch. Visuals appear blurry, which is a non-issue in TV-mode. The framerate doesn’t appear to be as smooth on the go either, making inputs and directional commands feel somewhat unresponsive.
The HD rumble provided by the Joy-Con is also a bit messy here, as the slightest contact in-game would send my controller into a violent quake that not only made playing in handheld mode extremely annoying but distracting for those around me. The HD rumble, for whatever reason, vibrates with such ferocity that it makes an excruciatingly (albeit comedically) loud buzzing sound. I also ran into an issue where the rumbling wouldn’t shut off for minutes at a time. For what it’s worth, I did not encounter this issue while using the Pro Controller; just the Joy-Con and only while in portable mode.
Unfortunately, that’s the least of Snake Pass’s problems. The awkward control scheme works against the game every step of the way.
Since jumping is entirely out of the question, players are tasked with navigating the game’s elaborate obstacle courses by thinking as a snake would. Noodle is moved in a forward motion by holding the ZR button, altering his horizontal direction using the left analog stick. It’s not as simple as using ZR to move forward, either. Rather, you’ll need to zig-zag the analog stick to send Noodle into a serpentine motion in order to build momentum. It’s realistic, sure, but it made the character feel a bit too weighty and sluggish to control. This is exacerbated by the frequent need to adjust the camera using the right analog.
Navigating the game’s landscapes often requires a lot of climbing, which is done using a combination of the above commands in addition to the introduction of the A button. Pressing this raises Noodle’s head and allows you to maneuver it around poles to support your weight and pull yourself along vertical surfaces. You’ll also have to contend with the “grip” command on the ZL button, which squeezes tight in your current position and allows you to swing Noodle’s head around for more precise climbing.
If just reading that was confusing, imagine trying to comprehend it in-game while maneuvering around a 3D space. In a little over 4 hours, my brain has yet to adapt to Snake Pass’s control scheme and I’ve found it to be more frustrating than enjoyable. I can see this being a fun game to break out if you have friends over who want to laugh at each other’s misfortune, but Snake Pass transitions from a relaxing, enjoyable collect-a-thon platformer to a downright infuriating experience that I found myself having to break away from on two separate occasions.
Ultimately, Snake Pass is a novel concept that frequently stumbles and trips over its own questionable controls. While beautiful at times, it sadly feels like an inferior product and an extremely disappointing experience when played portably on the Nintendo Switch. It certainly deserves praise for trying something new, but, unfortunately, the gamble doesn’t pay off this time around.
***
So where’s the final score? There isn’t one. I spent a lot of time conveying my opinion in the above text, and I hope that’s worth more to you than some arbitrary number or a sequence of shaded-in star shapes. Basically, I’m not a fan of scores so I no longer use them. Read the review and judge for yourself if the game is worth your time and money.
Full disclosure: This review was done using a Nintendo Switch copy of Snake Pass provided by the game’s PR company, Plan of Attack. While I’m sometimes given games to review, I pride myself on providing unbiased reviews to fellow consumers, along with constructive feedback to hard working developers and publishers. Whether or not I pay for a game is irrelevant.
Cheap Boss Attack 
A game that has weird controls is never a good thing in my opinion. It have the most beautiful graphics, and best ideals ever, but if it isn’t fun to play no one will care. I also love Sonic & Sega All Star Racing Transformed. I just introduced my kids to it :).
LikeLike
Sometimes weird controls work, sometimes it doesn’t. I really enjoyed Grow Home, but the controls were nowhere near as cumbersome as Snake Pass or Octodad. Even then, Octodad was an easier swallow since it was supposed to be funny in a “look at my tentacles pulling over an entire aisle of cereal!” kind of way. This is just frustrating and pretty to look at (on the TV, anyway).
Transformed is SO good. The track designs are incredible.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A bit disappointing to hear about the Switch portable performance. I’m on the fence about picking it up, but if I do I think I’ll get the PC version since it seems better to play on the big screen anyway.
LikeLike
From what I’ve gathered, the PC version only supports KBM right now. Obviously there’s third-party stuff for controller mapping, but that’s a thing worth mentioning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Too bad it came out disappointing. It looked interesting to me when I saw the trailer awhile ago on Steam. At least it isn’t Action Girlz Racing bad! :) (That’s seriously a WOAT contender.)
LikeLike
Snake Pass has been demoing well at conventions, but I think that may have a lot to do with the game being a learning experience for the first hour before it really starts to test your abilities. It really is a shame. Snake Pass has a great look and a neat premise, it just forgoes the fun factor in its attempt to break the mold.
LikeLike
Ouch. That’s a real bummer to hear about the sloppy controls. Reading your description, I could hear myself explaining it to someone else, with a much louder and annoyed tone in my voice! I’d love to try this game eventually but I’ll hold off in the meantime, mainly because I have other games stealing my attention, but bad controls can immediately make any game not enjoyable. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sadly, I think the controls are part of what makes the game unique. They were purposefully designed to make you think outside the box. It’s just not fun to do, though. Not for me, anyway.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hope it turns around for you – from what I’ve been reading on the game, it’s one you really need to spend the time mastering before it becomes fun. Of course, if I were in your shoes, I’d be frustrated too – games with ultra steep learning curves aren’t my thing.
LikeLike
It’s not so much a learning curve as it is an exercise in frustration. It’s one thing to commit time and let muscle memory do its thing, but another when you’re wrestling the camera and questionable checkpoint system alongside it. It seems to be a love it or hate it game, but the general consensus that I’ve seen on my Twitter feed from others playing is that it stops becoming fun around level 6 and only gets exceedingly more painful from there.
LikeLike
Oh, boy, that’s a shame. I thought this one was going to be great.
LikeLike
It’s pretty and novel, but ultimately suffers from poor controls. I see some folks enjoying it, but I didn’t care for the controls at all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great informative review! I thought about getting this game because I liked how colorful it looked and because I wanted to hear David Wise’s music, which I’ll admit aren’t the best reasons to get a game. But I can never understand how the game controls. You explained it well, but I can’t imagine myself actually getting how to play it. I might still try it out sometime, but I’m not in a hurry, especially after reading this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The music is pretty great, hearkening back to games like Crash Bandicoot or the tropical levels of Donkey Kong Country. It’s colorful and unique, but I just couldn’t get into the control scheme. I went from loving it to hating it by level 6 (of 15).
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sucks. I was hoping they’d be able to make the cut as a platformer, but I suppose it’s really hard to make a platformer where you can’t actually jump. It sounds like they could’ve simplified the controls with this to make it more streamlined.
LikeLiked by 1 person