Remember when a phone’s only tasks were to make a phone call, send a text and allow for the occasional game of Snake? Its been a while since a phone had only these features, they’re now packed with all sorts of tech to make enrich our lives.

We’re taking a look back at the evolution of Snake, so join us for a bit of reminiscing.

The Snake has appeared in many different forms over the decades, but it’s first appearance took place in the mid 1970s and was called Blockade. It was the creation of Gremlin Industries, who specialised in coin-operated arcade machines. In 1984, they closed their doors, never to open again. But their game still lives on.

By 1997, it had found its way into people’s pockets, onto their Nokia phones and created the craze of mobile gaming among teenagers. The Nokia 6110 was Nokia’s first phone with Snake and they continued to manufacture new models with the game installed throughout the next decade.

Towards the end of the year 2000, Nokia released one of the most successful phones. The Nokia 3310 sold 126 million units. Could the fact it had a Snake hiding in its belly be a part of its success? This low-cost, compact design attracted people from all walks of life and it was here that Snake hit the big-time, in the form of Snake 2.

Snake has made several appearances over the past ten years. Transforming the monochrome look we all loved, bringing it to colour. A big step was allowing multiplayer action via Bluetooth or Infra-Red so you could beat your friends, and one of its most recent incarnation has been in 3D with a distinct techo-electronic feel to it.

Here’s a video of Snake Subsonic.

Nostalgia lovers may wish to retro-fy their current phones with this version of the original. Snake Free, from Ovi Store. But isn’t touch input on a Snake game cheating?

What’s been your favourite Snake game over the years? I’d like to see Snake make a comeback and be pre-installed on all Nokia phones. It should be part of everyone’s youth.

Image credit: Tobyotter