Customer Reviews

Pitfall!

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Highly addictive gameplay. Very challenging and always fun. The first true platform game for a console that paved the way for all that was to come, but this is still the best platformer ever.

Back in the day, most of what you were seeing on the Atari 2600 were either arcade ports or one-screened games. They're mostly pretty fun to play, but when this game came into the scene, it blew them away quickly.

Pitfall did not just stay in one screen. It was one of the first side-scrollers, although one screen moves to the next rather than move with character.

The gameplay was really fun and addicting. At the time, the game felt like an adventure. You must find the treasures while avoiding hazards like alligators, snakes, fires, and scorpions. The alligators, however, also help you across lakes, since they let you jump on their heads.

There is a lot to explore in Pitfall. There are so many screens in this game that I can't count the limits exploring within the game.

The graphics are really good for the Atari. They are colorful and they give Pitfall Harry an iconic outfit.

The sounds are pure Atari 2600 sound effects. There is no music, but it didn't matter, because it's Atari. And who can remember that sound when Harry swings on a vine? Sounded pretty heavenly at the time.

Overall, if you are an Atari junkie, you can't be complete without this game.

Back in the early 1980s, the Atari 2600 was the top selling home video game system on the market. But one of its weaknesses was graphics. The 2600 often did not have the greatest graphics for its games. But then along came companies such as Activision and Imagic, made up at least in part of former Atari employees, and suddenly the Atari 2600 had some great games with great graphics.

One such game was Pitfall! by Activision, which came out in 1982.

What was the goal of Pitfall!? The player controls an onscreen character known as Pitfall Harry through a jungle while search for 32 treasures. Along the way, Harry has to swing on vines over the heads of crocodiles, jump over scorpions, avoid falling into bog pits and avoid all kinds of other nastiness. And toughest of all, Harry only has 20 minutes to find all 32 treasures.

Believe me, that was no easy task.

One of the great things about Pitfall! was that it was the first really popular Atari 2600 game to have solid graphics for the time period. Sure, that little image of Pitfall Harry on the screen was still a little blocky, but that was better than most former Atari 2600 images of characters which were often just big dots. There wasn't a ton of sound to Pitfall!, but that was uncommon for the time, though there was some and it wasn't too bad. The game play was easy enough.

But I have an admission to make. I never finished a game of Pitfall! all the way to the end. Why? To be honest, I found the game to be a bit tedious. By no means was it the worst Atari 2600 game I played back in the day, but it seemed all Pitfall Harry did was run and jump and swing. Plus, in my opinion, it didn't help that the game had a definite ending. Back then, games generally went on as long as the player could save enough onscreen characters. Plus, being only a 20-minute game, it wasn't as if Pitfall! was going to keep my interest all day long.

But really, I did enjoy Pitfall!, it just wasn't my favorite game.

Here's a bit of trivia for you: Do you know what comedic movie star got his start doing a television commercial for Pitfall! in the early 1980s? Okay, I'll tell you, but SPOILER: It was a young Jack Black.

In this game u go through a jungle and try to avoid the animals and logs and other objects that come at u. Each stage is on the tv sceen and each time that u complete a stage a new one comes on the tv. U swim, swing on vines, jump, climb up latters, and many more things. It is more fun than most 2600 games. The graphics and color is amazingly good for the 2600 and the sound and music is catchy. It is an awsome game.