text: snake rattle ' n ' roll snake rattle ' n ' roll is a platforming video game developed by rare . it was published by nintendo and released for the nintendo entertainment system in north america in july 1990 and in europe on march 27 , 1991 . it was ported to the mega drive and released by sega in june 1993 . the game features two snakes , rattle and roll , as they make their way through eleven 3d isometric levels . the object is to navigate the obstacles in each level and eat enough " nibbley pibbleys " to ring a weigh - in bell located in the level , which will allow the snakes to exit . the game can be played by a single player or by two players simultaneously . snake rattle ' n ' roll was developed by rare members tim stamper and mark betteridge , with music composed by david wise , which featured music inspired by " shake , rattle and roll " , as well as other 1950s - era oldies . it was well received by various video gaming magazines , and praises include well - designed 3d environments and graphics , playability and controls , and challenge . a follow - up for the game boy , titled sneaky snakes , was released by tradewest in 1991 . snake rattle ' n ' roll has been named one of the top games released on the nes and one of the top games released by rare . gameplay snake rattle ' n ' roll features two snakes – rattle and roll – as they make their way through 11 isometric levels . the object in each level is to eat enough " nibbley pibbleys " – small round creatures found throughout each level – to gain enough weight to ring a bell on top of a weighing machine located at the end of the level ; this causes a door for the next level to open . players maneuver their snakes throughout the level with the control pad and are able to pick up nibbley pibbleys by pressing the b button on the controller . the snakes ' lengths increase when they eat ; players ' snake length grows more quickly when they eat nibbley pibbleys of their own color , and they grow the most when they eat yellow ones . located in each level are dispensers which randomly spew out nibbley pibbleys ; however , they also spew out bombs which can damage the snakes . when a snake reaches a long enough length , the tail begins to flash , which means the snake is heavy enough to exit that level . at that point , they must find and jump on the scale in order to ring the bell and open the exit door . each level contains various obstacles and enemies that the players must deal with . players lose a segment from their snake if they are hit by an enemy , and they lose a life if their snake runs out of segments . players can also lose a life if their snakes fall too far , the timer runs out , their snakes touch a sharp object , or if they are squashed by an object from above . also , if they remain in some bodies of water for too long , a shark will attack . the game ends if players lose all their lives , but they have several continues in which they can restart the game from where they left off . players can defeat enemies by hitting them with their tongues or by jumping on them . they can collect various items to help them along during gameplay , such as items that extend the length of the snakes ' tongues , extra lives and continues , time bonuses , invisibility diamonds , and items that speed up or reverse the direction of the snakes . located throughout the game are lids ( in the shape of manhole covers ) in which players can open to uncover pibbleys , items and extra lives , entrances to bonus levels , and sometimes enemies . also located in the game are hidden warps which allow players to skip several levels and restart at a later point in the game . development snake rattle ' n ' roll was developed primarily by rare employees tim stamper and mark betteridge . stamper worked on the game 's graphics and concepts , while betteridge worked on the game program itself . most of the ideas behind the game came from betteridge , who had challenged himself to get the smallest file size for a nes game possible . according to rare member brendan gunn , betteridge found out how to develop cheap backgrounds that took up little space . after thinking about what and how to move objects on such backgrounds , he came up with the idea for a snake . much of the game derived from another isometric video game marble madness , of which rare published the nes version in 1989 . they would also use the same type of high speed scrolling that was used in the nes port of marble madness , which , according to a nintendo power overview of rare , " many said couldn 't be done on the nes " . rare 's future creative director , gregg mayles , started with the company play - testing snake rattle ' n ' roll . he recalls being impressed with betteridge 's development of the controls , which he said " felt really responsive " . the game 's soundtrack , which features music taken from the 1954 song " shake , rattle and roll " , of which the game is named after , was composed by david wise . he would also compose music from wizards & warriors , battletoads , and the donkey kong country series . according to website gamesradar , the game 's compositions revolved around 1950s - era " oldies so old they don ’ t even get played on the radio anymore " . one of the tunes was a homage to john williams ' main theme from the 1975 film jaws ; the theme plays when a snake lands in the water and gets chased back to land by a shark . it was first published by nintendo and released for the nintendo entertainment system in north america in july 1990 and in europe on march 27 , 1991 . rare would later port the game to the sega mega drive , a version which was released only in europe by sega in 1993 ; this port featured an additional final level on top of the 11 levels on the nes version . in that version , the snakes make it into space , but a meteorite crashes into their spaceship , causing them to crash land on another planetoid , which serves at the 12th level . after completing the level , the ending shows the snakes on a new spaceship that is going back home . although this game was never released for the game boy , in level 7 of the nes version , the landscape spells out " " . reception snake rattle ' n ' roll first received preview coverage in january 1990 in nintendo power magazine . the preview said that the game " defies description " and that it would appeal to people who have enjoyed games such as q * bert and adventures of lolo . the game would be featured in the magazine 's september – october 1990 issue , which featured a walkthrough of the game 's first three levels . it was also featured in uk - based magazine mean machines , where it received high praise from editors matt regan and julian rignall . regan praised the game 's 3d environment , fun gameplay , and level of humor , as noted by the odd objects such as toilet seats . rignall called the game 's graphics " stunning , with beautifully drawn scrolling forced perspective 3d backdrops and some great sprites " ; he also lauded the game 's playability and simple controls , challenging difficulty , and overall fun factor . overall , they said snake rattle ' n ' roll was " one of the most original games seen in years " and was " a firm favourite here in the offices " . the game received further reviews and praise in other video gaming magazines in 1991 . german magazine video games called snake rattle ' n ' roll " a quaint and original game " that includes high - quality graphics . the reviewer praised the animations in the characters , especially after the snakes eat pibbleys , and he enjoyed the two - player simultaneous mode ; however , he said that the game lacked in variety , though the gameplay and challenge remained consistent throughout the course of the game . another german magazine , power play , gave a similar review , and it compared the game to the 1988 rare title r.c. pro - am in gameplay . american video gaming magazine game players awarded snake rattle ' n ' roll the " game player 's nes excellence award " for 1990 as one of the best games released for the nes that year . nintendo power reviewed snake rattle ' n ' roll as part of an overview of nes games which the magazine felt were overlooked or otherwise did not sell well . their main criticism was that the main characters were not recognizable to anyone , giving the game a lack of visibility amongst consumers . otherwise , they praised the game for its precise controls and for its blend of puzzle and action elements . snake rattle ' n ' roll received some retrospective coverage years after its release . ign ranked the game at # 32 in its " top 100 nes games " list , calling it " another of rare 's excellent pre - second - party efforts on the nes " as well as " marble madness turned into a platformer " . executive editor craig harris also noted the game 's high level of difficulty and its excellent soundtrack . uk - based magazine retro gamer reviewed the game in its august 2006 issue , calling it one of the best isometric games on the nes and " an essential nes game " . the two title characters of the game would be named " hero of the month " in the magazine 's february 2007 issue . in a 25th anniversary retrospective of rare in december 2010 , the same magazine called the game " an excellent platformer " and was one of the games they wished would be released on kinect ; the magazine received a glimpse of a marble madness prototype on kinect and wanted to see the control scheme in that game implemented in a new version of snake rattle ' n ' roll . the game was also ranked # 23 on a readers ' poll of top 25 games made by rare . uk - based magazine retro gamer covered snake rattle ' n ' roll as part of its retrospective on isometric video games , saying that the game " merged brilliantly the offbeat nature of games such as head over heels with popular movement - based isometric action / puzzle titles like marble madness and spindizzy " . it was also covered in the gamestm ' retro book , where it was lauded as one of the more unheralded games in the nes library . the retrospective highly praised the its visuals and landscapes , as well as having a " quirky humour " and a " unique charm " . it concluded by saying that snake rattle ' n ' roll stands apart from other nes titles , as also did other rare titles such as cobra triangle and r.c. pro - am . due to microsoft 's current ownership of rare , it is unlikely that either game will be released for the virtual console . snake rattle ' n ' roll , along with rare 's other nes titles , appear in the xbox one compilation , rare replay . sequel in the ending of snake rattle ' n ' roll , the game hints at a sequel titled snakes in space , but the game would never be released . however , rare developed a follow - up on the game boy titled sneaky snakes ; the game was published by tradewest in june 1991 . the game features two snakes named genghis and atilla who must save sonia snake from the nasty nibbler . the game features identical gameplay to snake rattle ' n ' roll but in a 2d side - scrolling platforming mode instead of the 3d isometric mode . sneaky snakes was received mediocre ratings from electronic gaming monthly in its july 1991 issue . reviewer steve harris criticized the game for its awkward controls , lack of originality , and a " zero - effect " while jumping . ed semrad said that the game got old after the first several levels , and martin alessi said that while it is an original idea , likewise repeated the previous reviewers criticism of the game 's repetitiveness . reviewer " sushi - x " called the game " average " and said , “ it lacks the rest of the positive traits that truly rates an exceptional game . ”