Snake Pass
The 2D and 3D platformer genre is my personal favourite. Nothing feels quite as satisfying as finally perfecting a leap in Super Meat Boy or collecting every gem in Spyro. However, there have been times where I’ve felt that the genre has run its course. Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Dungeon most recently left me with this disconcerting thought. Although I enjoyed my experience, its gameplay ultimately was simply replicating an experience I’ve previously had with Donkey Kong Country. Thus, a question is born: what can platforming do to rid itself of its seemingly inextricable attachment to nostalgia?
The answer to this question is only a slither away, in the genius that is Snake Pass by Sumo Digital. Snake Pass is a puzzle-platformer completely devoid of platforming’s staple mechanic: jumping. Instead of picking up a controller and instinctually calculating the height and length required for successful traversal, the player will be confronted with alien considerations. How exactly does a limbless creature move upwards?
Sumo Digital, part of the Sumo Group PLC (LON:SUMO) is an award-winning business providing creative and development services to the video games and entertainment industries, from studios in Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham, Pune (India) and Vancouver (Canada).