Snake (video game)

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Snake on a TRS-80
Snake on a TRS-80
Snake on a computer with Color Graphics Adapter
Snake on a computer with Color Graphics Adapter

Snake is a video game that came out in the late 1970s and has maintained popularity since then, becoming somewhat of a classic. The player controls a long, thin creature, resembling a snake, which roams around on a bordered plane, picking up food (or some other item), trying to avoid hitting its own tail or the "walls" that surround the playing area. Each time the snake eats a piece of food, its tail grows longer, making the game increasingly difficult. The user controls the direction of the snake's head (up, down, left, or right), and the snake's body follows. The player cannot stop the snake from moving while the game is in progress.

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[edit] History

The Snake variety of games originated with the arcade game Hustle, released by Gremlin in 1977. [1] The first known microcomputer version of Snake, titled 'Worm', was programmed in 1978 by P. Trefonas (USA) on the TRS-80 computer, and published by CLOAD magazine the same year. This was followed shortly afterwards with versions from the same author for the PET and Apple II computers. A microcomputer port of Hustle was first written by P. Trefonas in 1979 and published by CLOAD magazine [2]. This was later released by Milton Bradley for the TI-99/4A in 1980. [3]

Some better-known versions include the Neopets example, which is known as "Meerca Chase". Its revised version is known as "Meerca Chase II". A popular variant called Nibbles was also included with MS-DOS for a period of time.

An analog joystick-controlled variant of Snake, called Anaconda, was included as a hidden minigame in TimeSplitters 2.

The version included on the Nokia N70 and other later model Nokia phones is a 3D version, with level goals.

[edit] Snake on the BBC Micro

Snake by Computer Concepts on the BBC Micro
Snake by Computer Concepts on the BBC Micro

There were several versions of Snake on the BBC Micro. Snake by John Cox from Computer Concepts was different in that the snake was controlled using the left and right arrow keys relative to the direction it was heading in. The snake increases in speed as it gets longer, and there are no 'lives', making achieving a high score or reaching higher levels relatively difficult as one mistake means starting from the beginning.

[edit] Snake on Nokia phones

Nokia is well known for putting Snake on most of their phones. Versions include:

  • Snake - The original, for monochrome phones. Graphics consisted of black squares, and it had 4 directions. An example of a phone with it installed is the Nokia 5110.
  • Snake II - Included on monochrome phones. Snake improved to a snake pattern, introduction of bonus bugs etc... An example of a phone with it installed is the Nokia 3310.
  • Snake Xenzia - Included on present-day monochrome phones (and some cheaper colour phones, such as the Nokia 1600). An example of a phone with it installed is the Nokia 1112
  • Snake EX - Included on colour phones. Graphics improved to SNES quality. It supports multiplayer through Bluetooth and Infra-Red. An example of a phone with it installed is the Nokia 6260.
  • Snake EX2 - This is included in several Series40 handsets by Nokia.
  • Snakes - A 3D version. This game was designed for the N-Gage, developed by IOMO(published by Nokia). It featured multiplayer through Bluetooth. Graphics improved to basic PlayStation quality. Introduction of hex levels, etc. Later Nokia started giving this game pre-installed(without multiplayer feature) in its Nseries phones like N70, N73, N80, etc.
  • Snake III - A 3D version, different from Snakes in the fact that Snake III takes a more living snake approach, rather than the alternate universe feel of Snake. An example of a phone with it installed is the Nokia 3250. It is also avaible on the Nokia 5310 and Nokia 5610. It also supports multiplayer modes via Bluetooth
  • Snakes Subsonic - Sequel to Snakes, released on May 22, 2008 for the second generation N-Gage platform.

[edit] Variants by platform

[edit] References

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[edit] External links