The rumours are true: the bestselling phone of the early 00s, the Nokia 3310, is making a comeback, complete with the game Snake.

The announcement was made ahead of this year's Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona, and comes almost 17 years after the mobile phone made its debut in 2000.

As Nokia no longer makes phones itself, the revamped version will be sold under licence by the Finnish start-up HMD Global.

"For the Nokia 3310 we just couldn't resist," said Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer of HMD Global. "We wanted to reward loyal Nokia phone fans and make a statement that rich heritage, innovation and modern design can go hand-in-hand."

"Fundamentally, it is about making sure that right across our portfolio we are delivering this pure Nokia experience."

The new colourful 3310 is classed as a "feature phone" as opposed to a smartphone. Its S30+ operating system allows for web browsing, but a much smaller range of apps compared to an Android or iOS system.

While the original version featured a monochrome screen, the new phone will have a colour screen as well as a two-megapixel camera.

The game that is often credited with the phone's success, Snake, has also been updated and comes preinstalled on the phone.

However, its new features won't strain the phone's battery life; the new 3310 boasts 22 hours' worth of talk-time and month-long standby.

Described by the company as a "modern classic", the 3310 became a much-loved mobile thanks to its long battery life, resilient casing and collection of features including the game Snake.

At the point of its retirement in 2005, it was – according to Nokia – the world's bestselling phone, having sold 126 million units.

Alongside its 3310 announcement, HMD Global also confirmed it would be releasing the Nokia 6 Android smartphone worldwide, following its debut in China in January. It will also release smaller, lower-range Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 models.

Sarvikas described the company's new releases as a "democratisation of technology".

"We believe that everyone deserves access to the premium quality and attention to detail that is usually reserved only for flagship devices," he said.

"With our new range of Nokia smartphones, we aim to democratise technology and bring this experience to everyone."

Nokia appears to be the latest company to be embracing the back-to-basic trend when it comes to mobile phones.

Last year, Serbian studio Alter Ego Architects designed a concept for a 3D-printed phone with an interface that only features numbers and symbols, and has no apps to prevent users acting like "mindless zombies".

In a similar move, British designer Jasper Morrison launched a basic phone with just calling and texting functions for Punkt as a "liberating" alternative to smartphones during the London Design Festival 2015.