| Title | : | Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure |
| Platforms | : | Super NES |
| Publisher | : | Activision |
| Game Rating | : | n/a |
| Review by | : | Ken Gagne |
Almost all the action games you play today are progenies of Activision's classic Pitfall game for the Atari 2600, which sold over seven million copies. They can only hope the Super NES reincarnation, Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, sells a tenth of that.
Pitfall Harry's on a safari to the Incan temples with his son, Harry Jr. The former succeeds in being conveniently kidnapped, and it falls on little Harry's shoulders to rescue Dad. Not much of a storyline, but who needs one?
Guide Harry through ten thrilling levels as he jumps, climbs, bounces, splashes, and crawls his way past an assortment of (un)earthly opponents. Extra lives are provided in a necessary abundance, if you know where to look.
The cart boasts over 2000 frames of animation, and it shows! Harry can execute an assortment of moves in detailed cells, which are both realistic and comical. The other graphics are just as specific, becoming deadly beautiful sprites. Music well carries the theme of the game in varied beats.
The best part is that this is truly an exploration game. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of corners to peek in, and incentive enough to do so. Reaching the end just isn't enough!
The Mayan Adventure lives up to its successful ancestor, which is included in this cart for old-time gamers. Enjoy!
Hints: At the title screen, press X, Select, A, Select, Y, A, X, Select for a stage select.
At the title screen, press A, X, A, Y, A, X, Select, Select, Start for a skip to level six.
At the title screen, Press Select, A, A, A, A, A, A, Select, Start to play classic Pitfall.
At the Continue screen on the first level, press B three times for infinite continues.
This article is copyright (c) 1995, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.
Original publication: Boston Herald, 27-Feb-95