In the early 80's, Activision, created Pitfall for the Atari 2600. Pitfall was Activision's first big hit, containing addictive gameplay, great graphics for its time and it was better than some of the offerings Atari itself was putting out. What made this game so great at the time was the intricate game play. Never before did you have so much to do in a game. Not only did you have to beat the clock, and avoid traps and animals, but you also had to collect jewels and carefully time your jumps.
The game was based around Pitfall Harry, who explored forbidden jungles for fortune. The game contained well over 200 screens and Harry had to discover 32 treasures in a given amount of time while avoiding open holes, rolling logs, scorpions, fires, snakes, crocs, swamps and quicksand.
I remember playing Pitfall at the arcades and on my Commodore 64 and I loved everything about it. Pitfall Harry kind of reminded me of Indiana Jones. He just seemed so cool, avoiding crocodiles and getting past quicksand. There was even a cartoon series based on the character and I religiously watched the show every Saturday morning. Still, despite the fact that I loved the first game, I never did play the sequel, which I have heard was better than the first, and I never got a chance to play some of the other games that came out later, based on the hit series. There was even a 16-bit remake for the 16-bit systems, over a decade ago. More recently, Playstation came out with a Pitfall 3D game focusing around Harry's son. And now the Game Boy Advance has a title for the legendary Harry, Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure.
The Game Boy Advance's Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure is a perfect conversion of the 16-bit game. The game features ten worlds with many levels within each of these worlds, except this time you play as Pitfall Harry Jr.
Harry Senior has been kidnapped and you must search for him within the unforgiving confines of the jungle. Now, with the ability to run, jump, swing, throw boomerangs and use a slingshot, it's off into the Amazon through Incan ruins and abandoned mineshafts.
I liked this game. It has some really nice graphics and kick ass stunts to pull off. I love the fact that you have to perfectly time your jumps from one vine to the next and how you have to think on your feet or get knocked to the floor by monkeys or other nasty critters. Unfortunately, I didn't like the fact that the game, at times, was a little too complex to play due to the way the graphics were situated. For instance due to the trees, you sometimes could not see things right in front of you. There were also some tasks that were too tedious and hard, especially for an opening level. Some of the early bosses are just too hard to beat and it at times it was difficult to swing and jump to certain areas, without having to run all the way back around and start all over again.
I'm not saying Pitfall is not a fun game to play, because as I played it, I was shouting, "Yeah!" as I made it to another section and really got excited as I played on. However, complications due to missed jumps and poor timing (How could I jump to a vine when I barely see it?) led me to repeat those same exciting aspects of the game until they made me shut the game out of boredom. That's not good if you want to have someone keep playing. Also, most games based on past hits, include that past hit within the game, but not here. How hard would it have been to include the original game?
My honest opinion is this is not the Game Boy Advance game to buy. Even though I am happy to see Pitfall back, I'd rather just play the original. If you like the series of games, I do encourage you to rent it or borrow it from a friend, but if you are thinking of buying this game remember I gave you full advance warning of the hazards that await you.
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