What is your favorite "Pitfall" game?

[Rhindle The Red]

Okay, here's the second of the polls based around game series.

 

This time, one that holds a special place in the hearts of Atari gamers: "Pitfall".

[+FujiSkunk]

I'll have to say the original Pitfall. The others may have more bells and whistles, but it's the original that showed us the 2600 wasn't just for playing Pong anymore, and it's still one of the first games anyone thinks of when you mention Atari.

[Crazy Climber]

I've only played the 2600 ones but I picked the original mainly because of nostalgia. That was and still is one of my favorite games of all time. Pitfall 2 is also an excellent game and would win my second place vote...I guess it would get second by default anyways though - LOL

[skylarking]

OK, who the hell voted for Super Pitfall?

[bcprs1]

Pitfall II is by far the best... or maybe I'm hypnotized by the music.

[BONK]

Pitfall 2 on the 5200, i liked the 2600 one but the 5200 one had that awasome 2nd maze to it... I gotta give activision credit for adding something to it and not just another port, with better graphics like other games.

[Lemmi]

OK, who the hell voted for Super Pitfall?

 

 

haha probably rjchamp3

[ATARIeric]

The original pitfall for me.

[Rogmeister]

I also voted for the original 2600 game. I liked Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (which I have for the Jaguar) but how could I not vote for the original?

[+Propane13]

Why does everyone hate Super Pitfall?

Granted, Pitfall 2 was my vote (awesome), but Super Pitfall was HARD.

I've met few people who knew how to beat it.

It took a lot of time to be able to finish it. Did anyone here mange to?

 

-John

[Lord Helmet]

I enjoy Nukey Shay's Bottomless Pitfall, but since it's not on the list, I voted for the original

[+Random Terrain]

If the later versions also had zero replay value then I guess I would be forced to choose the lesser evil and vote for the original since beginners could walk left and skip a screen they died on instead of replaying it until they went insane. It would have to be hacked or reprogrammed with a large dose of Controlled Randomness for it to be a favorite game.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

It would have to be hacked or reprogrammed with a large dose of Controlled Randomness for it to be a favorite game.

I remember you having said this once before (or twice or... )

Edited January 22, 2007 by Thomas Jentzsch

[+Nathan Strum]

I like Pitfall II better, but I went with the original Pitfall for sentimental reasons.

[TrekkiELO]

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (2600, 5200 & C64)

[+Random Terrain]

It would have to be hacked or reprogrammed with a large dose of Controlled Randomness for it to be a favorite game.

I remember you having said this once before (or twice or... )

I'm being secretly paid by Warren Robinett and Howard Scott Warshaw to push replayability propaganda to set the stage for their eventual takeover of the world.

Edited January 22, 2007 by Random Terrain

[AussieAtari]

The original is the best for me, it was the first game I ever played that held my attention for hours and had just the right mix of skill and playability.

[Flojomojo]

If the later versions also had zero replay value then I guess I would be forced to choose the lesser evil and vote for the original since beginners could walk left and skip a screen they died on instead of replaying it until they went insane. It would have to be hacked or reprogrammed with a large dose of Controlled Randomness for it to be a favorite game.

That would be cool ... a new game each time you play, like NetHack (or Rogue, Diablo, etc etc). It wouldn't make it any harder, but it would make things a bit more interesting if you had memorized the original.

[vdub_bobby]

Pitfall II, on the A800. Love the game, love the music, love the insanely hard 2nd level. Plus the A800 has nice digital joysticks.

[rjchamp3]

OK, who the hell voted for Super Pitfall?

 

 

haha probably rjchamp3

 

No 2600

[ZIMM]

Pitfall 2 for me. I played Pitfall first, which I like very much, but Pitfall 2 is a far better game. Since we're all going to vote for 1 or 2, how about which Pitfall do you dislike the most?

[Lauren Tyler]

OK, who the hell voted for Super Pitfall?

Not me, that's for sure.

 

Pitfall II is by far the best... or maybe I'm hypnotized by the music.

The music is nice, and it also showed that the Atari 2600 could handle non-linear adventuring quite well. Hence the reason I voted for it.

[StormSurge]

I have to go with the original as well.

[Cybergoth]

Thanks for the second to last option

[+Random Terrain]

Since we're all going to vote for 1 or 2, how about which Pitfall do you dislike the most?

OK, you asked for it. I dislike Pitfall II the most:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...t&p=1210126

. . . I think games like Adventure and E.T. are much better than that so-called adventure game Pitfall II: Lost Caverns where things are always in the same place and you jump over mindless enemies that just bounce up and down or move back and forth and usually don't even know you're there. Pitfall II: Lost Caverns did have some cool things in it such as being able to swim, but for the most part, it was just another lame exercise in perfect timing with nothing else to offer except the frustration of going back many screens to do it all over again. At least the original Pitfall let you skip or retry the screen you were on (your choice depending on whether you went left or right). The idiotically frustrating idea of making you go back multiple screens was not an advance, it was a giant step backwards and that model is still used today by misguided game designers.

 

I'm not the only one who believes that the most popular Activision games which lacked replayability and smart enemies were a major influence on those dark years dominated by Nintendo. It's too bad that more game designers back then weren't inspired by Adventure to make all kinds of replayable games with smarter enemies that weren't dependent on static starting positions and predetermined movements. If various types of games that were based on the Adventure template could have been created, maybe gamers would have demanded more instead of being lulled into accepting that vast wasteland of games for so long. We'd come across an occasional oasis over the years, but even now we are still just barely crawling out, reaching for the edges of the promised land.