Slightly different from my normal articles, I want to review a recent documentary release titled Man Vs Snake. How is this related to gaming you may ask and my answer is that this documentary is not about a man fighting a snake (as the title does kind of suggest). Man Vs Snake is a documentary following the story of the first ever one billion point score on the arcade game Nibbler. See I told you it was related to video games, we are talking about true hardcore gamers here. Let me begin by explaining Nibbler in the best way I can, because it is not the most well known of the classic arcade games. Basically, you need to guide a snake around a course of obstacles as he eats blocks, but your snake (I take it is named Nibbler) gets bigger as he eats more, making it more difficult to get around. If you’ve ever played the mobile game Snake (which was the reason people purchased Nokia mobile phones back in the day) then basically you’ve played Nibbler. I need to stop saying “back in the day” people are going to start thinking that I’m old.

Right so briefly here is a summary of the plot before we get into this review. The film begins focusing on Tim McVey, the very man that achieved the billion-point score on Nibbler. Then out of nowhere, it’s revealed to Tim that maybe he hasn’t held the record all these years and that in fact, a kid from Italy named Enrico Zanetti had beat his score many years ago. Pushed by the realisation that the one thing Tim thought he had achieved in his life was no longer true he decided that he again would beat this score. Enter Dwayne Richard who also decides he can beat this score and the two plan to go head-to-head at Magfest to see who will become the Nibbler world Champion. To put a little perspective on this, for one to achieve the billion point game of Nibbler it takes 48 hours of gameplay from one coin. I’ve had some pretty late nights of gaming but I can honestly say I’ve never played for 48hrs continuously. Anyway because I’m nice and you’ll probably want to see a trailer then you check it out at the bottom of the review. Do it, do it now!

If you’re a real video game fan then I know you’ve seen King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, the greatest documentary ever made. KoK follows hardcore gamers Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell as they both try and get the highest ever score on Donkey Kong. Now if you’ve not seen King of Kong please go and watch it, seriously stop reading and go watch it. The reason I mention King of Kong is because well, I always mention King of Kong and also it is similar to Man Vs Snake in many ways. We are introduced to a lot of the same people and places such as Billy Mitchell, Walter Day and the Twin Galaxies Arcade. For fans of King of Kong, this film will enter familiar territory, so if you didn’t like KoK then you probably aren’t going to like Man Vs Snake.

Like KoK the filmmakers behind Man Vs Snake knew they had a great story to tell so turned to Kickstarter to fund the project and share the story with others. You’ll see from the Kickstarter page here that 375 backers pledged $61,440 to help bring this project to life. We’re starting to see more and more people turning to crowdfunding not only to get movie projects of the ground but also games. For instance, I recently stumbled upon a team who are trying to get a Jay and Silent Bob video game made using crowd funding page. Figure if you’re interested here is the link . This could be the future of both indie movies and indie video games as we, the viewers and gamers become part of the creation process.

Anyway onto the film and I’ll start by discussing some of the parts that I really liked about Man Vs Snake. With any documentary, it’s the subjects and their story that really make the film what it is. The film tells a great story that is both inspirational and heartwarming. The tale of a man clinging to his past video game success until that is shattered and he must try and reclaim his crown as the King of Nibbler. I won’t ruin the film for anyone wanting to watch but the story unfolds quite well, it has its share of ups, downs and even a little bit of controversy. Along with the story, the way it’s shared with the viewer is nice as the filmmakers incorporate some 2D animation into the film.

This really helps to break up some of the scenes in which characters (or subjects if you’d prefer) are just talking to camera. The animation is really cartoony and helps to keep the documentary light-hearted and fun. The different storytelling tools the filmmakers use all really fit the theme of the documentary. It’s light-hearted, quirky and a little geeky so the execution really suits the story that is being told. I like it when filmmakers take the time to think about their audience and let’s face it viewers wanting to see this film will be a little geeky so why not focus on that. Some of the techniques I’m referring to are the use of 2D animation as well as a really nice timelapse at one point featuring the Nibbler arcade machine.

With the good always come some of the bad points, well I say bad but bad probably is the wrong word to use. I did enjoy the film but I just don’t feel that it will stay with me forever, or that I need to see this again. This could be due to my own problem which was that I couldn’t stop comparing it to King of Kong. Now before watching the film I read a blurb that says this film is better than King of Kong. Well, whoever said that is an idiot and is wrong, wrong and definitely wrong. The filmmakers of Man Vs Snake were clearly fans of KoK and tried hard to make their film just as good but it falls short purely on the story. KoK has a much stronger element of competition, the character just wants it more, making the rivalry more fierce and that makes for a much more compelling story. I don’t want to make this a comparison piece but it was so difficult for me to separate the two films, especially as it featured some of the same characters and I even spotted a KoK poster in Tim Mcvey’s home. That being said I felt that this film didn’t create the same tension and atmosphere, though that could be down to the subjects themselves.

To summarise my thoughts and feelings on the film, it’s definitely a good watch if you’re into your video games or you like quirky documentaries. If you’re new to these types of documentaries then I’d have to suggest watching King of Kong over Man Vs Snake. I know I spent a lot of the review talking about KoK but it is my favourite documentary and I’ve been waiting for a sequel for so long. Unfortunately, this film has taken the brunt of not being KoK 2 and could be worth a second watch if I can focus my mind enough to separate the films.