You know, after reviewing a good handful of the older titles in Rare/Ultimate Play the Game’s catalog, I have come to a bit of a stunning revelation… they weren’t really that good. Not to say that all of them are flat-out terrible, or that there aren’t at least one or two good games from this part of their history, such as with Battletoads and Jetpac, but a lot of them don’t really hold up at all, most of them feeling like they are prioritizing concepts over gameplay, and yes, while these concepts are creative, the gameplay isn’t enough to keep that concept or my interest afloat for too long. It is to be expected that not all of a company’s titles will be winners, but considering this is the same company that brought us titles like Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day later down the line, it was surprising to say the least. But now, I completely expect these titles to be pretty bad, such as with today’s subject, Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll.
There is an interesting idea here, creating an isometric platformer inspired by games like Marble Madness, and considering that Rare helped port that game to the NES, they had plenty of experience making a game like this. Unfortunately though, some ideas like this should stay on the drawing board rather then being fully executed, because I didn’t have a good time with this game at all. It is admirable, what they managed to do here, but it is more frustrating than anything else, pretty repetitive, and it has some pretty irritating gameplay choices that don’t make me wanna replay it ever again.
I’m not even sure if there is a story or not, but it is primarily just a bunch of snake shenanigans, the graphics are good, with the snakes and “enemies” looking good, but the environments are pretty boring to look at, the music is pretty good, but that is to be expected from a Rare game, the control is an abomination, which we will get to later, and the gameplay is simple enough, while adding a little bit of challenge in there to make the player quick to move and react… at a price.
The game is an isometric puzzle platformer, where you take control of either Rattle or Roll, go through a set of simple, yet vast levels, defeat any kind of hostile obstacle that stands in your way, gather items and points along the way, and swallow as many pink or yellow balls as you can to extend your body, ring the bell to open the exit, and get on out of there… yeah, this game is kinda weird. Again though, like I mentioned earlier, it is pretty unique to stand out amongst either titles at the time, and there weren’t too many other isometric games, so does make it more appealing. Not to mention, the fact that the game isn’t too complicated or deep, coupled with how the game isn’t that long at all, makes it somewhat appealing.
That being said, this all comes crashing down with the implementation of the terrain and the controls. First and foremost, since this is an isometric platformer on the NES, you can imagine how confusing and difficult it would be to get used to. Sure, it isn’t that confusing to get used to, but when you pair it with the environments that you move around, alongside the depth perception which makes things much harder then they need to be, it makes playing through this game extremely damn frustrating. Not impossible, but really annoying.
And speaking of which, the terrain you have to platform around is also just as guilty in making the game frustrating as the controls are. I have already mentioned how the depth perception is a large hindrance on the player, but not to mention how it is never to clear not only where you are supposed to jump next to progress, but also HOW you are supposed to jump from one platform to another. This is especially aggravating when later levels implement ice physics and cliffsides, which, again, paired with the ass controls, makes making these jumps towards the goals seem almost impossible, with you needing god-like precision to jump, direct yourself towards the platform, and making sure to not shoot yourself off of the ledge in the process. Thankfully, I was using Rare Replay to play through this, like I have done with most of the old Rare titles I have been covering, but I can’t even imagine what trying to beat this on the actual hardware would be like. Probably wouldn’t even get past Level 2.
With all that being said though, I think we have ourselves another Cobra Triangle situation with this game, in where it is only enjoyable through short bursts and nothing more. If you try playing through it in one sitting, like I did, or you spend too long on it, you are gonna end up hating this game like I did. And again, this type of approach to a game like this would work wonderfully if this was an endless arcade game, but since it is a beatable NES game, that makes it a completely different story. I didn’t even mention the presence of fall damage in the game, or how the final boss is literally just a regular enemy that you have to hit, like, five million times in order to beat, but I think you all get it at this point.
Overall, while being yet another impressive experiment from the minds at Rare, the execution of said experiment leaves a lot to be desired, and is definitely not something I will look back upon fondly. Other people would probably get a lot more enjoyment out of this type of game, but seeing as how I have a pet peeve over terrible control in video games (which I have made VERY clear in previous reviews), this isn’t going to be one I will ever consider playing again………. But hey, it did get a sequel, so I will have to play through it eventually, won’t I? Yeah right, I’d rather have a snake poison me with its venom, so I can end the pain quicker.
Game #274
There is an interesting idea here, creating an isometric platformer inspired by games like Marble Madness, and considering that Rare helped port that game to the NES, they had plenty of experience making a game like this. Unfortunately though, some ideas like this should stay on the drawing board rather then being fully executed, because I didn’t have a good time with this game at all. It is admirable, what they managed to do here, but it is more frustrating than anything else, pretty repetitive, and it has some pretty irritating gameplay choices that don’t make me wanna replay it ever again.
I’m not even sure if there is a story or not, but it is primarily just a bunch of snake shenanigans, the graphics are good, with the snakes and “enemies” looking good, but the environments are pretty boring to look at, the music is pretty good, but that is to be expected from a Rare game, the control is an abomination, which we will get to later, and the gameplay is simple enough, while adding a little bit of challenge in there to make the player quick to move and react… at a price.
The game is an isometric puzzle platformer, where you take control of either Rattle or Roll, go through a set of simple, yet vast levels, defeat any kind of hostile obstacle that stands in your way, gather items and points along the way, and swallow as many pink or yellow balls as you can to extend your body, ring the bell to open the exit, and get on out of there… yeah, this game is kinda weird. Again though, like I mentioned earlier, it is pretty unique to stand out amongst either titles at the time, and there weren’t too many other isometric games, so does make it more appealing. Not to mention, the fact that the game isn’t too complicated or deep, coupled with how the game isn’t that long at all, makes it somewhat appealing.
That being said, this all comes crashing down with the implementation of the terrain and the controls. First and foremost, since this is an isometric platformer on the NES, you can imagine how confusing and difficult it would be to get used to. Sure, it isn’t that confusing to get used to, but when you pair it with the environments that you move around, alongside the depth perception which makes things much harder then they need to be, it makes playing through this game extremely damn frustrating. Not impossible, but really annoying.
And speaking of which, the terrain you have to platform around is also just as guilty in making the game frustrating as the controls are. I have already mentioned how the depth perception is a large hindrance on the player, but not to mention how it is never to clear not only where you are supposed to jump next to progress, but also HOW you are supposed to jump from one platform to another. This is especially aggravating when later levels implement ice physics and cliffsides, which, again, paired with the ass controls, makes making these jumps towards the goals seem almost impossible, with you needing god-like precision to jump, direct yourself towards the platform, and making sure to not shoot yourself off of the ledge in the process. Thankfully, I was using Rare Replay to play through this, like I have done with most of the old Rare titles I have been covering, but I can’t even imagine what trying to beat this on the actual hardware would be like. Probably wouldn’t even get past Level 2.
With all that being said though, I think we have ourselves another Cobra Triangle situation with this game, in where it is only enjoyable through short bursts and nothing more. If you try playing through it in one sitting, like I did, or you spend too long on it, you are gonna end up hating this game like I did. And again, this type of approach to a game like this would work wonderfully if this was an endless arcade game, but since it is a beatable NES game, that makes it a completely different story. I didn’t even mention the presence of fall damage in the game, or how the final boss is literally just a regular enemy that you have to hit, like, five million times in order to beat, but I think you all get it at this point.
Overall, while being yet another impressive experiment from the minds at Rare, the execution of said experiment leaves a lot to be desired, and is definitely not something I will look back upon fondly. Other people would probably get a lot more enjoyment out of this type of game, but seeing as how I have a pet peeve over terrible control in video games (which I have made VERY clear in previous reviews), this isn’t going to be one I will ever consider playing again………. But hey, it did get a sequel, so I will have to play through it eventually, won’t I? Yeah right, I’d rather have a snake poison me with its venom, so I can end the pain quicker.
Game #274