Video Game / Snake Pass

Sssomething slithery this way comes...

Snake Pass is a Puzzle Platformer created by Sumo Digital for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.

In a land known as the Harmony Foothills lives a coral snake named Noodle and his hummingbird friend Doodle. The peacefulness of the land becomes threatened by a mysterious intruder who is stealing the keystones that activate special gates that allow transportation through Harmony Foothills. When this happens, Noodle and Doodle set off to the top of Haven Tor find out who is destroying the gates, find the keystones, and restore peace to the foothills.

In the game, you play as Noodle as you slither around various floating islands in search of the keystones and other pickups such as blue orbs called wisps and gold coins. The key mechanic is that the game is a Platform Game but without jumping as a primary mechanic; most of the challenge is navigating around various 3D spaces using Noodle's serpentine body to climb walls, grip around pegs over Bottomless Pits, slither around vertical poles, and various other snakey things.

The game was released on all platforms on March 28, 2017 and features a soundtrack by David Wise, composer of songs for games such as Donkey Kong Country.

Snake Pass provides examples of:

• Air-Aided Acrobatics: If there is an updraft between the gaps in Bloh-Wee's realm, Doodle can pick up Noodle and carry him across.
• All There in the Manual: Some of the loading screen tips provide background information on Noodle and Doodle.
• Background Music Override: Activating Snake Vision will override the usually cheery level themes with an ominous heartbeat and low, droning until you disable it.
• Benevolent Architecture: It's unlikely Noodle would've gotten very far without all those bamboo bars to climb up.
• Cool Gate:
  • The 3 keystones inserted into their respective pillars near the gate by Doodle will activate it. The gate unleashes a blue Pillar of Light once it opens. Noodle can even levitate in it for a moment before being teleported to his next destination.
  • All 4 tokens gifted by the guardians combine themselves together and creates a gate leading to Cratchet's home. Unlike the typical Pillar of Light gates you use to complete the levels, the gate is a spherical portal that leads to a realm in nighttime.
• Cool Key: The keystones are used to power gates that act as the main way of transportation for the inhabitants of Haven Tor. The three different keystones always come as a green cube, a pink irregular sphere and a yellow double pyramid.
• Cosmetic Award: Gathering all the collectables in the game, unlocks 8-bit skins for both Noodle and Doodle. Noodle becomes an expressionless rectangular snake and Doodle slowly flaps its wings as if it came from a retro game.
• Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Metaphorically speaking, in this case. There are no lives in the game; if you die or fall out of the level, you are simply sent back to the last checkpoint you passed without the items you collected since crossing it.
• Exposition Fairy: Doodle the hummingbird serves as this.
• Floating Continent: Many of the levels take place on these.
• Floating Platforms: Pulling a lever in Roasted Ruins will activate a levitating platform that leads to a keystone and a coin.
• Free-Sample Plot Coupon: The very first keystone you collect in Paradise Path is sitting directly next to the gate with zero obstructions. In later levels, all three Keystones will be scattered across the stage in increasingly perilous locations.
• Gotta Catch Them All: You have three different items to collect, the keystones, wisps and Gatekeeper coins. Only the keystones are essential for completing the level and making progress in the game, The blue bubbles called wisps are the most commonly seen collectibles, and there are 20 of them scattered around each level. The Gatekeeper coins are much harder to find, and are often hidden in places that are quite challenging to get to.
• Green Hill Zone: The first world, Bol-Dor's Realm, is a lush green jungle.
• Gusty Glade: As a world based on the element air, strong winds that blow inside Bloh-Wee's realm are strong enough to put Noodle's movement to a complete halt and push him off the level. They can also make Noodle light enough for Doodle to carry him across large gaps when they are blowing upwards.
• Heroic Mime: Noodle is never seen talking in the game.
• 100% Completion: Collecting the three keystones is all you need to beat the level, but they also contain 20 Orbs and 5 Gatekeeper Coins for completionists. Getting 100% requires getting them all.
• Jungle Japes: The whole game has a bright, tropical vibe to it, so pretty much all the levels are something mixed with Jungle Japes.
• Lethal Lava Land: Cyn-Der's Realm is this.
• Mineral MacGuffin: The keystones that control the gates, which our heroes have to hunt down and put back.
• No Antagonist: The only things that will be challenging you in the game are the obstacles and the environment. Even the main culprit didn't mean to ruin everyone's life. The reason it ruined the gates, because it was lost and wanted to find a way back home.
• No-Damage Run: The Quetzalcoatl trophy can be earned if the player completes every level in the game without a single death.
• One-Hit-Point Wonder: One good touch of spikes will do Noodle in; Zigzagged with the hot coals, as Noodle can survive being in contact with those briefly before going down. He will open his mouth in pain in this state with the screen turning red each time he gets roasted.
• Punny Name: All of the names of the guardians are based on words that represent their respective elements.
  • Bol-Dor for boulder.
  • Sog-Gee for soggy.
  • Syn-Derr for cinder.
  • Bloh-Wee for blowy.
• Puzzle Platformer: The basic gist of the game: Get the keystones (and other collectibles) in large open worlds and reach the exit. Also, you're a snake and you move just like one.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Played with. The game keeps teasing you about the big bad with its bloodshot eyes. After Cratchet gets a fright from Doodle, his eyes turn back to normal.
• Red Filter of Doom: If Noodle touches hot coals, the edges of the screen will gradually start turning red as he remains in contact until he perishes or gets to safety.
• Shout-Out:
  • The music in Sog-Ee's Realm contains a few subtle nods to one of composer David Wise's most beloved tracks, Aquatic Ambiance from Donkey Kong Country.
  • The achievement for dying in all three ways is called "Snake? Snake? SNAAAAKE!".
  • The achievement for dying ten times in a single level is called "Punished Snake".
• Shown Their Work: Noodle's body works very similarly to a real snake's; he needs lots of contact points with the ground to move quickly or get good grips, and his "motion" button works by affecting his digital muscles. This is because the lead designer, Seb Liese, is a former biology teacher and snake-lover.
• Snakes Are Sinister: Inverted with the main character Noodle, an adorable, cartoony snake.
• Somewhere, a Herpetologist Is Crying: Noodle is a vegetarian coral snake without fangs, with a highly expressive face and the ability to blink. This is in contrast to real coral snakes, who are highly venomous carnivores. These changes were in part due to initial reactions of playtesters, who found Noodle's original, more realistic appearances to be frightening.
• Sssssnaketalk: The game congratulates you in this manner when you have successfully collected all the wisps or coins.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills: Noodle can stay underwater as long as he likes. In fact, he's an excellent swimmer, something he has in common with real-life snakes.
• Under the Sea: Well, more like Under the River, as Sog-Ee's realm is full of water.
• Unexpectedly Realistic Gameplay: As opposed to other snake-like video game characters (like the one from Donkey Kong Country), playing as Noodle actually requires you to platform in ways that an actual snake has to.
• Vegetarian Carnivore: According to the loading screen tips, Noodle is a vegetarian.
• Voice Grunting: Though he has no lines, Noodle will grunt, strain, whistle, sigh, and occasionally scream in certain situations such as stretching out over an obstacle or falling to his doom.
• White-and-Grey Morality: Noodle is a friendly vegetarian snake who is running (or rather slithering) his way out of a looming threat, and as mentioned before in No Antagonist the central culprit isn't trying to hurt anyone; it's just lost and confuse on its way back home.
• X-Ray Vision: Snake Vision changes the screen into a dark misty view, and key items such as wisps, keystones and gold coins glow in contrast to the environment, making it easier for our snake hero to pinpoint their location. The glowing object can be seen through walls while at this state, and Noodle can only use Snake Vision when he isn't moving.