Welcome back to the next installment of my Rare Replay review. Today, we look at Cobra Triangle, a game about boats, and very importantly examine Snake Rattle N Roll, a most daring release. Finally, we conclude with Solar Jetman. Did holoz0r like them? Read on to find out!
Cobra Triangle
I'm on a boat. Everyone is on a boat. The boat is also a helicopter between levels. There's racing, there's dodging obstacles, and there is also sea and river creatures to slay. Cobra Triangle is a nautical stunt simulator. As part of the stunts you must pull of, you ned to have your wits about you as you can't just brute force through the action.
You need to dodge, weave shoot your way through the scenarios that you're faced with. Its a fun game that plays as a reminder that it wasn't all about the best gear, but about how far you got through the game before you ran out of retries.
It is a rewarding game when you figure out exactly what it is that you need to do to succeed given a certain situation. Also, there are sea dragons on the title screen. That makes for a cool story by default.
Snake Rattle N Roll
I don't know why Rare enjoyed torturing people so much with isometric platformers in the 'good old days' of gaming, and it is very apparent that this title does not belong in the 'Rare Replay' collection. I think it is there so I can write this very special review.
The original source code should be eaten by a Snake. The premise of the game is that you're a ... snake, and you need to eat things to grow long. Once you're done with the foreplay of eating things, and you are become plump, juicy and long (I'm trying to avoid double entendre here!) you can slither through a trap door to the next level, but not before ringing her, I mean its
bell.
There's plenty of water to avoid in the early levels, and there are also horrific disembodied feet to avoid (or fetishise) and it becomes apparent that Snake Rattle N Roll is quite possibly the first NSFW game that Rare developed during their history.
It has no worth as a game, but is worthy of further analysis, and it is clear that the schadenfreude derived from the developers from watching people struggle to play this title makes them clear sexual deviants.
Solar Jetman
This is a move pack to the type of game that Rare started with, Jetpac, Lunar Jetman, and is also a move back to frustrating game play. The introduction of the title, is well presented, and the demo mode which shows game play in flight turns out to be nothing like the actual game.
There's the same recursive game play from the prior titles in this vein of frustration, with increasing difficulty combined with poor controls leading to significant frustration and a largely un-enjoyable game. Again, not a title that is really worth a great deal of time, unless you enjoy feeling constant anxiety at the lack of control.
That's it for this time, come back for more, when I look at Digger T Rock, Battletoads, and RC Pro AM II - should be an interesting week of gaming ahead!