Snake Pass (PlayStation 4) Review

Despite its almost familiar and beautifully crisp and colourful jungle world, though, this is very much a completely different type of 3D platformer to the ones remembered on the Nintendo 64. Sumo Digital has crafted something entirely its own, and the result is extremely pleasing.

As detailed in Cubed3's review of the Switch version, Snake Pass sees players taking control of titular reptile Noodle, who must wriggle and slither his way through numerous jungle-like stages across four worlds that change in themes, with some introducing lava and others gusty winds that can blow the slippery guy off the stage to the bottomless pit below.

The aim in each stage is to collect three gems to unlock the gate that leads to the next level. Sounds simple enough, right? The reality is far from it. Snake Pass reinvents the platforming genre with the abilities (and lack of them) at Noodle's disposal. With no means to jump, he must worm his way and wrap around objects, poles and platforms to get around, sometimes swimming through waters and pulling switches to access other areas of levels.

By applying methodical use of the control stick and triggers, Noodle can be moved by slithering his body left and right along the floor - just as a snake would in real life - in order to move forward. It forces players to retrain themselves in the approach they take to tackling this adventure, because, despite it looking just like a Yooka-Laylee game world, there is no way to just run, jump and go wherever the eye can see within a matter of seconds. Snake Pass demands Noodle's unique qualities to take centre stage, whereby he must be made to wrap around poles multiple times and tighten his grip on things in order to move up, across and over platforms.

This means a much slower-paced platforming experience than players are used to in the 3D space, and it is here that it might just be too much for some to handle. It's possible to sometimes get away with not wrapping around or using the grip to just about make it across large gaps, but this won't always work. Without taking the time to work with Noodle and take things slow, tackling the game in a puzzle-like manner that requires intricate and delicate use of the control stick and triggers, then failure is always going to be around the corner.

Once that mental barrier - and, indeed, the control scheme learning curve – is overcome, there is a lot of fun to be had with Snake Pass. It might seem like four worlds with a handful of stages in each is pretty small, but the levels are so robust, with challenging platforming sections and collectibles tucked away out of sight - and many that really do need some careful and precise snaking skills to reach – that they ensure there is plenty to be done and explored, with a decent chunk of replayability. There will be a lot of fails in this adventure, but with so much to find, and time trials with online leaderboards on top of that, there is certainly value for money here.

There is no denying that this can be a highly maddening experience in parts, though. Even when you think you have the controls down, a slight mis-slither and Noodle can easily fall to his doom. Thankfully, by returning over checkpoints after collectibles are obtained, they will be saved permanently – and even returning to previous levels means the unclaimed items will be the only ones still around. This might make things seem a tad simpler, but for many, it will just mean less stress and annoyance in having to retrace steps over and over again.

Other downsides? The movement of the camera is incredibly slow, with no option to alter its sensitivity. Although there are also two viewpoints - one close and one panned back - neither is always able to see what's above and around often enough, so some better degree of camera control would have been welcome. Playing on a standard PlayStation 4, Snake Pass does suffer from some frame rate issues here and there, too, with the odd pause occurring in certain situations, like at the start of a stage.

Minor nuisances, though, and so it should be re-emphasised just how gorgeous this is visually. Not just the obvious game world, either - great effort has gone into making Noodle look, feel and move like a snake. The way he so seamlessly wriggles and weaves his body is impeccably smooth. It was crucial for the developers to get this spot on, and they most definitely have.