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 MEAN MACHINES 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 Nibbly 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 1987 Rare game 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 found 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 were 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