Arcade / Arcade - Snake · 1982
Serpentine
Published by Brøderbund Software
atarimania.com — atari-400-800-xl-xe-games-serpentine-6595
Information
- Genre
- Arcade - Snake
- Language
- Machine Language
- Controls
- Joystick
- Players
- 1
- Programmer(s)
- Snider, David
- Year
- 1982
- Publisher
- Brøderbund Software
- Country
- USA
- License
- Commercial
- Medium
- Tape, Disk, Cartridge
- Rarity
- 8 (Tape), 7 (Disk), 7 (Cartridge)
- Serial
- ATCART-190
Votes / Statistics
Rating: 8.2/10 · Votes: 38 · Downloads: 3,068 · Hits: 20,159
Additional Comments
Screenshots (3)
Cover Art (4)
Ads (2)
Book / Magazine Reviews (1)
Electronic Fun · May, 1983 · Rating: 4/4
You kill serpents by hitting them head on, providing you are longer than they are. How do you become longer than your opponent? You either eat a frog - which will make you one segment longer - or attack an enemy serpent from the rear, which will make him shorter. Much shorter. When you attack from the rear, size doesn't matter at all. What matters is your ability to avoid the serpent's friends and your skill with the joystick.
When you attack a smaller serpent from the front, your serpent gains the number of segments your opponent had, up to a maximum of seven. To add more interest to the game, you and your enemy serpents lay eggs. Each time you lay an egg, you lose one segment. If they are allowed to hatch, they become little two-segment friendly or unfriendly serpents, depending on who laid the egg. The unfriendlies can eat your eggs, just as you can eat theirs. They can also eat frogs and receive the same benefits from these amphibious snacks as you do.
The game's overall quality is excellent - the graphics are sharp and the sound effects are fun. For example, the serpents sound like freight trains. You're also able to keep current as well as all-time high scores. My only complaint is that you are not given any degree of control over when or how or where you get to lay an egg. It is rather inconvenient to be chasing somebody who is one segment shorter than you are, and then lay an egg and inadvertently become the same length as he is. And guess who wins all ties? But who ever said nature was fair?
Stay as close to the top or bottom of the screen as you can - that's where the frogs come out. Get them before your enemies do and before they eat your eggs.
Comments (5)
the big m — 26 Jul 2025
Serpentine Review and Comparison The Good First time I played Serpentine, I figured out I could only defeat the orange opponents my getting their tails. But I had not read the instructions………….Hey! What’s a Frog doing there?!………….Now I just layed an egg!?…………. Well, catch the frog for an extra link. If you’re longer than your opponents, they can’t get you…………………………A really fun early arcade like game created by David Snider originally for Apple 2 computers. The Bad Now of course the Apple tended to have nice colours but lousy audio what with no actual audio chip in it. So the 800 has a couple of tunes, a frog call and sandpaper like sound for our Serpents. But, it’s only an 8 KB cartridge file. The Bottom Line A terrific, sometimes too challenging game when the Serpents work together and catch you in a corner!……………….As for comparisons: The C64 has a cartridge with double the file size of the Atari and you hear and see a more refined result………………..best to worst……….drum please………..1) C64….2) Atari 800…….3) Apple 2…….What do you think?
Philippe Lafortune — 2 Jun 2019
This is one of the original best arcade style game for the 8bit Atari computers. Definitely one of my all-time favorites. Just like Pac-Man, it is one of those games that is simple to learn but hard to master. A challenging fun game that you will need to outsmart the serpents. They know how to trick you in chosen the wrong path and get crushed by them which almost seems their A.I. is a lot smarter than you initially thought possible; even the frog is smart! It is truly amazing that this game was done using only 8k with all the levels, enemies A.I., and with its fantastic gameplay.
RetroGamersHub.com — 22 Oct 2018
This is a great arcade style game. One of my all-time favorites. Simple to learn & hard to master. A very challenging game if you truly want to outsmart the ennemies. They really try to trick you which almost seems the A.I. is smarter than you would have thought.
tkarner — 21 Jun 2016
I just discovered this game recently. It's nothing Earth-shattering but it is simple, fun and entertaining. Basically, everything an 8-bit game should be.
Matt Huls — 28 May 2013
Best frog sound effect EVER!