Pitfall 2

[rockman_x_2002]

Geez this is the most frustrating game I ever played  I am right under the dog/cat/monkey thing I am supposed to rescue and those damn cave buzzards or whatnot keep smackin me down!  I was hoping to finish it tonite but maybe not

 

I always did hate those things. That last leg of the adventure always was what kept me from getting a perfect score in the game. I've made a perfect score only twice because of those stupid condors.

[A.J. Franzman]

Anyone find the so-called "writing materials" that were mentioned in the manual?

That's a joke, I say a JOKE, son!

 

Really, all that line was, was David Crane asking kids to send him letters about how much they liked the game. "Writing materials in the jungle" was just a figure of speech to fit in with the game's theme. You could interpret it as a metaphor, meaning instead "if you can drag your addicted butt away from this game long enough to fetch a crayon and a used Kleenex, scribble something and send it to me", or something like that...

[DeV0]

Pitfall 2 is one of the finest for the 2600, Ive been trying to get an XEGS version for a wile now as well. Apparently the other versions have an extra level?

[Room 34]

Pitfall 2 is one of the finest for the 2600, Ive been trying to  get an XEGS version for a wile now as well. Apparently the other versions have an extra level?

I don't know about the XEGS version, but the 5200 version does. I need to find myself a copy of that!

[Mental Vortex]

Started playing it again this weekend, and wanted to throw the controller at the TV a few times! Maybe I'll actually get to the end this time...

 

Didn't know about the extra level on the 5200 version. Did the C64 have it also?

[Inky]

I remember getting a perfect score on it once, back in the day. Have never duplicated that feat in 20 years.

[MikeMika]

The 5200 and 8bit Atari HC versions had the extra level. When you complete the game, a blue door rises from the left side of the screen and Harry runs into it. The catch now is the score you accumulated starts to countdown and when it reaches zero, the game end (IIRC). You have to jump over crazy over-sized ants, find a magic flute, some rope, and give it to some old guy. I just played through both stages recently, and it is ROUGH.

 

The C64 version does not have the extra level. I heard the story at one point where the developers opted for more detailed graphics for the C64, and the Atari 8bit used the space for another level.

 

What a great game.

[Pitfall Harry]

...The catch now is the score you accumulated starts to countdown and when it reaches zero, the game end (IIRC)...

 

I suppose the countdown affect you mentioned is true, IF you haven't played the Adventurer's Level very much. I manage to add to my level one score, and I'm sure you could too with practice.

 

If you do struggle in level two, the game doesn't end when your score drops to zero. You can adventure onward for as long as you like, until you either finish the game or shut off the power.

 

Here's a score maximizer tip for players who struggle to stay above zero: Get the Rope first. Avoid as many treasures as you possibly can until you have the rope in hand. If you die a million times before you get the rope (as most players will the first few times they play level 2), you're score ain't never gonna get lower than zero. The remaining treasures will be plentiful (if you remembered to avoid them before you got the rope) and getting them is a cakewalk in comparison to the rope. Once you've achieved rudimentary survival skills, you should be able to complete the game with a score that is well above zero. It's all a matter of timing, and avoiding as many of those "rabid bats" as you possibly can.

 

What a great game.

 

You got that right!

 

-Ben

[moycon]

Whoah! THE PITFALL HARRY!??

 

He must have just got back from Peru.

[+FujiSkunk]

The 5200 and 8bit Atari HC versions had the extra level. When you complete the game, a blue door rises from the left side of the screen and Harry runs into it. The catch now is the score you accumulated starts to countdown and when it reaches zero, the game end (IIRC). You have to jump over crazy over-sized ants, find a magic flute, some rope, and give it to some old guy. I just played through both stages recently, and it is ROUGH.

 

The C64 version does not have the extra level. I heard the story at one point where the developers opted for more detailed graphics for the C64, and the Atari 8bit used the space for another level.

 

I read an interview with somebody from Activision (Crane?) that talked about this. Basically, they hired different programmers to handle the Atari 8-bit and C-64 versions. The Atari 8-bit guy(s) decided to take the Atari 2600 code and use it to create the 8-bit port. Meanwhile, the C-64 programmer(s) decided to code the whole thing from scratch. Activision condoned both practices, because they were curious how these different methods would compare to one another.

 

To make a long story short, the Atari 8-bit port required less debugging, having been translated from an existing code base, so there was time to create the new level. The C-64 port required the usual debugging process, and while the project beat the deadline, there wasn't any extra time to go about adding new features.

[ComputerCollector]

the game was a great challenge. I beat it about 5 years ago. It took like 2 or 3 hours, I think. (I never played it again)

I bought my copy new in the box from some company and opened it and played it.

[moycon]

Ive beat it a few times the normal way (never a perfect game though) and countless time the easy way.

 

The easy way is when you fry the game and drop down a lvl at the start. You can quickly grab the Quickclaw and the rat in like the first 15 seconds, then all that's left is the diamond and your niece. EASY!

[Albert]

I've never played the 8-bit/5200 version of the game. I immensely enjoyed the 2600 version when it came out, and when the 8-bit version was released, I probably didn't know it contained a completely new level or I would have bought it in a heartbeat. Someday I need to go through and play this on an 8-bit.

 

..Al

[+Cafeman]

I'm always in a mood to play a version of Pitfall. I had a copy of Pitfall 2 on diskette for the A8. Later got it for the 5200 (play it with digital sticks though w/Masterplay interface of course).

 

I like both of the original 8bit games equally for what they are.

 

Pitfall really grabbed my attention as I tried to map out the levels. Never got the perfect score but it was so cool learning my way and getting higher and higher scores. It's quiet simplicity (yet "don't blink!" challenge) is still fun to me, I play it now on Activision Classics every once in a while.

 

Pitfall 2's music .. drives me K-RAZY! And, if I thought that those condors were tough to get past on the first level, the hidden level's nutso bats are IMPOSSIBLE. I used to explore that hidden level a lot but never really mastered it. Still, you can't complain at the size of the game and variety of things to do, given that it started on the 2600 in the early 80's.

 

Oh, and I beg to differ on the Mayan Adventure. I adored this game, played it on the Genesis and Sega CD quite a bit! The animation is very smooth and often funny, and the gameplay is really a fun homage to the original, complete with scorpions, vines, and crocs but in "glorious 16-bit" ! The waterfall stage was really breathtaking when I first saw it (on Genesis). I think I played it on Jaguar or some other system, it just wasn't the same.

 

Finding the P-I-T-F-A-L-L letters was a fun way to add some challenge, too. I really found nothing wrong with the game on the SEGA systems.

 

Pitfall 3D, now IMHO that was a sucky me-too game. Ugh, a travesty. Sure, take Pitfall and make an early PSX-era 3D game. It was NOT Pitfall, don't waste your time unless its just for novelty's sake that you wish to try it.

 

Finally thought , I also enjoyed (to my surprise to be honest) the newer Pitfall game with the goofy looking lecherous Pitfall Harry. The animation in this newer game (I play the Cube version) is also really eye-catching and I loved the ways that the crocs and rolling logs and vine swinging were incorporated, as well as the Metroidish ball rolling move. I've played lots worse, folks. This one was well worth the bargain $20 price I paid.

[Danno]

I am uber-anxiously awaiting the arrival of my newly snagged copy of Pitfall II that I won on ebay.

 

Actually, I got Pitfall II, H.E.R.O., The Activision Decathlon, River Raid, and Sky Jinks.

 

But mostly for Pitfall II & H.E.R.O.. Those were without a doubt my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE 2600 games back in the day.

 

Never got to play the 5200 version either, and was kinda bummed it never made it to a 7800 version.

 

So who wants to take wagers on whether Decathlon runs on my 7800?

 

I've heard that there are frequent problems running Decathlon on 7800's anyone else seem to experience this? For the record - Space Shuttle runs on my 7800 no problem, although it's a later model....

[sidcrowe]

I just checked the ROMS...there's no Pitfall 2, but I got Pitfall 1 from here months ago...I also found a new one called Pizza Chef while I was there. Why no Pitfall 1 or 2?

[eplicon]

I always thought the Adventurer's Edition portion of the game was super tough, but made the 8-bit version of the game stand out over the others.

 

I did win it two or three times back in the day, but on the first go-around, it took me like five hours. For me, the difficulty was remembering where everything was and also having super fast reflexes with the joystick. Especially doing the fast hopping across the what-do-call-it...platform things before the condor came in. I think I hated that more than those swooping killer bats.

 

[Albert]

I always thought the Adventurer's Edition portion of the game was super tough, but made the 8-bit version of the game stand out over the others.

 

I did win it two or three times back in the day, but on the first go-around, it took me like five hours.  For me, the difficulty was remembering where everything was and also having super fast reflexes with the joystick.  Especially doing the fast hopping across the what-do-call-it...platform things before the condor came in.  I think I hated that more than those swooping killer bats.

 

Ack! Spoilers! The game is now ruined for me!!!

 

..Al

[ulij20]

This was definitely one of the coolest games on the Atari 2600. As I recall, rescuing the rat was optional, but it was silly not to, since you didn't really have to go out of your way to get him; he was just one screen over from Quickclaw, wasn't he?

 

Yeah, the condors and bats that you had to dodge as you made your way to Quickclaw were a pain. Those always prevented me from getting a perfect score.

 

I especially liked the way Pitfall Harry jumped up and down in victory as soon as he grabbed the last item. I never got to the end of the original Pitfall (though I came very close back in the summer of 1987) What happens when you grab the last piece of treasure?

[Mindfield]

I don't know how anyone couldn't like it. Frankly, I preferred Pitfall II to the original. The original was fun, but I found it a little bland. Pitfall II had a much better sense of adventure to it, and seemed like a much bigger "world" (thanks to being able to do more than just travel horizontally - and yes, I realize it's because Pitfall is in the jungle and II is in the "lost caverns"). Plus of course, the music rocked.

 

It was even better on the 8-bit Atari with its whole extra level and all. :-)

[Lord Thag]

Pitfall II was a great game for sure, but I do think it suffered a bit by having the 'unlimited continues' feature. I beat it a week after I bought it, so there was not a huge incentive to play through it again. Last time I popped it in, I beat it on one life. Pitfall I, while less complicated, still kicks my butt. Still, it's an awesome game. One of the best on the system.

[AtariGator]

I got this game brand new when it was released. I had no idea what I was instore for when I opened it up. It's not like games had previews back then. I was in heaven. I remember I bought and played 2600 games through the crash.

[Mindfield]

Pitfall II was a great game for sure, but I do think it suffered a bit by having the 'unlimited continues' feature. I beat it a week after I bought it, so there was not a huge incentive to play through it again. Last time I popped it in, I beat it on one life. Pitfall I, while less complicated, still kicks my butt. Still, it's an awesome game. One of the best on the system.

 

Sure, you could go on forever, but your score suffered as a result; you lost points at a rapid rate, with the amount depending on your distance from the last checkpoint. Probably not as urgent an incentive as losing your last life and having to start all over from the beginning again -- but also not as frustrating as it would be if they used the life system in this fashion. Lord knows I hated starting over after losing my last life, especially if it's the sort of game where you have a long way to go to get back to the point you last died at.

[Albert]

Pitfall II was a great game for sure, but I do think it suffered a bit by having the 'unlimited continues' feature. I beat it a week after I bought it, so there was not a huge incentive to play through it again. Last time I popped it in, I beat it on one life. Pitfall I, while less complicated, still kicks my butt. Still, it's an awesome game. One of the best on the system.

 

I do agree that Pitfall II is easier than the original game thanks to the unlimited continues. But this also helped me to press on and complete the game, which I probably did very quickly (probably the same day). But I kept playing, trying to get a perfect score. Not sure if I ever succeeded in that, I distinctly remember hitting those damn vultures near the end.

 

..Al

[bcprs1]

Pitfall II is definitely one of my favorite games although I have beat it literally hundreds of times. I just appreciate what an amazing job Dave Crane did on that game. Just the fact that he was able to get the game to scroll as smooth as he did is incredible. I found a great Windows version of the game that I will post as soon as I find it again. It plays exactly like the 2600. The programmer also added his own version of the game that you can only unlock after beating the regular version.