Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure

"This is a rather nondescript entry into the Pitfall! legacy."

Many moons ago, I was absolutely obsessed with getting Pitfall! for my Atari 2600. I had heard about it through friends and read about it in the game rags of the time, and I knew it was a game I had to have. Other than acquiring my own Donkey Kong arcade machine (a total pipe dream), this was the first game I can remember agonizing in anticipation over. Well, anytime you want something that badly, it’s bound to disappoint you when you actually get your grubby paws on it, and while I thought the game was pretty good, it didn’t live up to my unrealistic expectations. That’s a tough lesson everyone has to learn at some point, and while Pitfall! was my unfortunate teacher then, it didn’t stop me from trying the subsequent games starring Pitfall Harry, including Pitfall! II (which I enjoyed a lot more) and the rather lackluster Super Pitfall on the NES. When the series hit the 16-bit era with Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, though, I was rather disinterested, and the only reason I decided to give it a shot years later was because Majesco rereleased the game as part of their budget line. So with my expectations significantly lowered this time around, I jumped back into Pitfall Harry’s world, and I found a game that pretty much deserves low expectations.

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure is not a bad game, but it feels so derivative of other--and better--games, that I had a hard time getting into things. It fits squarely into the mold of “side-scrolling platform action game with a jungle setting” that’s been done to death on the Super NES. In this game, you control Pitfall Harry Jr., who had been adventuring with his legendary father in Central America until Harry Sr. was kidnapped by the spirit of a warrior named Zakelua. Your job is to rescue your father while collecting as much Mayan loot that’s lying around as possible.

This game does a good job of sticking to its roots. The treasures you find in this game are the same as in the first Pitfall! game: diamond rings, gold and silver bars, and money. The swinging vines and bottomless pits that mysteriously open and close return as well, so there’s plenty going for the game in the nostalgia department. Most of the enemies are all new, of course, and Harry Jr. has some Mayan weapons at his disposal for dealing with them, in addition to his default weapon, a slingshot that can double as a whip. I guess that’s not the sorriest default weapon I’ve seen, but it’s close.

So the gameplay boils down to running around, finding treasure, eliminating baddies, and reaching the exit. That’s not a bad setup, but Pitfall does little in the way of differentiating itself from all the other games with that setup. There are continue points sprinkled throughout levels, keeping you from completely losing your mind, and there are secret areas with extra goodies to help Harry, Jr. along. It would have been nice if there was a password system for saving your progress; instead you have to replay the same early levels every time. There’s no innovation in the level design; I’ve seen it all before. You pull a switch to open a door somewhere else on the level. You ride a runaway mine cart (a la Donkey Kong Country). You collect treasure to earn continues. You look and see what else you’ve got you can play.

To be fair, the game does mix things up once in a while. There are areas where you play a version of Simon to earn extra treasure, and while you’re doing that, the ceiling is gradually trying to crush you, which makes things more interesting. The biggest bonus in the game is that the programmers included a full version of the original Pitfall! hidden in the game. Though the packaging says it’s the original Atari 2600 version, there are noticeable differences. Still, it’s a thoughtful extra, and it adds more value to the cartridge.

The biggest strength in Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure is the game’s terrific 16-bit graphics and animation. The backgrounds are very impressive and detailed, especially when you’re inside the Mayan temples with their elaborate stone carvings. Harry Jr. and the various enemies in the game all use a lot of frames of animation for a SNES title, and they move very fluidly. Perhaps my favorite graphical feature in this game is the Health Bar, which is a picture of Harry Jr. and a crocodile: the more damage Harry takes, the closer the crocodile gets and the wider its mouth gets. It’s a cute touch.

The music and sound doesn’t fare quite as well as the graphics, however. The music is generally bland and typical for this sort of game, and it’s forgettable enough that it passes from one ear out the other. The sound effects are OK for the jungle animals and what not, but I got sick of Harry’s “Whoa!” in a hurry. I tended to play with the sound off, listening to something on my stereo.

This game isn’t overly challenging once you get used to the control and hit detection, problems that I suspect are results of the fancy animation (a usual offender). Harry will occasionally move right through the end of a ledge that looks like stable ground, which will lead to some frustrating deaths. Using the slingshot as a whip is also pretty tricky until you figure out the range and timing of the weapon. These things don’t cripple the game, but I would have liked it if the control were a little bit more intuitive.

All the time I was playing Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, I kept thinking I should be enjoying the game more than I was. I’ve reached the conclusion that if this game didn’t have the word “Pitfall” in the title, I would have never looked at it twice. As it stands, this is a fairly average platformer with above average graphics, sprinkled with some nice touches.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 09/12/00, Updated 09/12/00