Snake vs Snake

Genre: Arcade / Party Game

Players: 1-6 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Snake vs Snake is an Arcade-style Party Game released on Nintendo Switch in 2018, ported to PC in 2019, and ported to PlayStation 4 in 2022. This game takes the classic game of Snake and adds a focus on competitive multiplayer play.

The idea of a multiplayer Snake game actually predates the original release of Snake, going all the way back to the 1976 arcade release of the game Blockade, which is widely credited for inspiring Snake. Snake vs Snake includes both standard single-player Snake variants as well as multiplayer variants, with the goal throughout being to survive as long as possible as a snake eating apples within an enclosed area, with each apple lengthening your snake’s tail, and with collision with a wall or tail (yours or your opponents’) leading to your snake’s death.

Well… at least broadly speaking that’s true. Snake vs Snake is a bit odd in that it gives players a brief moment to correct themselves when they collide, assuming they have another direction they can safely turn. This bit of leeway may be to make up for an issue with the game that seems to delay the player’s input, making the controls feel stiff and clunky.

Despite this issue, Snake vs Snake is still enjoyable, and that’s partly due to even a sub-par version of Snake being enjoyable, but it’s also due to the multiplayer modes on offer here. This game lets players compete in battles with up to six players in a variety of game modes, with some including power-ups, some having your snake’s tail never ending, and one mode letting you adjust settings. And even with the core game being a bit lacking, the different multiplayer modes help to make up for this.

I will note one other issue before moving on. The AI bots you can optionally add to fill out a room are a strange mix of far too smart and very, very stupid. On the one hand, they are absurdly accurate with the “shot” power-up that lets players target opponents’ heads from afar. On the other hand, they often seem to completely fail to notice apples, and in the competitive mode where your tail is endless they’re hopelessly pathetic, wasting their limited uses of brief invincibility right away despite not needing to.

The presentation is a bit uneven too. This game’s 2D visuals are plain and bland, and completely lacking any sort of personality. However, the game has a techno-style soundtrack that, while it works well for the game, doesn’t match the visuals at all.

Overall, despite its flaws, I enjoyed Snake vs Snake. There are issues with the controls and AI opponents, yet at its core this still remains a solid Party game, and its low $5 price tag and its support for 6 players and simple gameplay makes this a good game to bring out at parties.

tl;dr – Snake vs Snake is an Arcade-style Party game that takes the classic gameplay of Snake and places a focus on multiplayer play. It absolutely has its flaws, and it’s not doing anything that truly revolutionizes the old-as-dirt gameplay, but its varied game modes and support for up to six players makes it a nice addition to your Party game rotation.

Grade: B-

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