It's Tron-ish (the post says Tron, where did you read snake?) :P
https://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/227/22747.htm...
> TRON's trail is static, Snakes body is dynamic.
And that difference only exists to support the single player vs multiplayer dynamic. If Snake left a Tron tail then it would be a very short, unfun experience. If Tron didn't leave a permanent trail then matches would last too long.
Maybe the single player vs multiplayer difference only exists to support the different tail mechanics.