Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (MD, 1994)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-7 Control-6 Challenge-7.5? Story-5
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-6 Originality-5.5?
Overall Score-6
+
Very good animation and overall spritework
Weapon inventory (start with all three different weapons but not much ammo)
Can slide down hanging ropes
Smart bombs (pretty weak vs bosses however)
Time freeze and chili pepper (faster running and longer jumps) power ups. The latter is rare though and should've been an inventory item instead
Several checkpoints per level
Move while attacking (except when climbing for some reason)
Various hidden items
Some interesting level gimmicks (the bungee jump things)
Good drum samples (so-so FM instrumentation and sfx though)
Some mini-games that can be accessed within levels (simon says - decent, Pitfall 1 - loops until time runs out instead of being a mini-game you can finish, minecart segment - good idea but gets frustrating)
Pretty good enemy variety for the first half of the game
One pretty good boss (jaguar king) and one decent (first jaguar boss)
Funny ending
+/-
Mostly maze-like levels
Charge attacks but can't move while charging (Mystic Defender, Mega Man 4)
Various instant death pits
No time limits
Can't move while crouching (can crawl however - press jump+down)
Zero coyote time/somewhat unforgiving hit detection near platform edges
Can't stand still and aim while shooting (no aim lock)
Four-way shooting (horizontal and diagonally upwards but not straight upwards or diagonally downwards unless climbing a rope)
Can't extend your lifebar like in Pitfall 1 - various items are just for points
The hidden letters spelling PITFALL only slightly changes the ending (not really worth it)
Kinda weird trajectory on the boomerangs (can at least pick them up again after throwing unless you threw them too high up of course)
-
Some control/interface issues (pressing attack right after letting go of the d-pad means it doesn't register (same if you turned around while moving or if getting up from crouching or if touching a ceiling with your head), attacking right as you let go of the d-pad makes you take another extra step+you can't stop this by pressing in the opposite direction, get knocked over if you run into a wall/glide into one via a zipline - breaks flow, no 6 button support - start to switch weapons means you can't pause, pretty unforgiving hit detection on items (can use the whip to reach further though) and certain hazards like the tranforming pits, the camera puts you near the back edge of the screen while moving and takes a bit of time to adjust when turning around, so-so hit detection when grabbing ropes from the left, if you try to grab a vine from too high up then it won't work and you fall down, overly slow crawling, short movement delay for an animation every time you grab a rope, can't throw a boomerang while crouched - can use the slingshot, can't shoot diagonally upwards while jumping or climbing, if you stand right next to a minecart with your back against it then it's non solid when moving towards it, can't jump cancel out of a pushing animation, can't attack while crawling - leads to some unavoidable damage, can't grab items as they fall out of hanging pouches - leads to retracing your steps)
Trial & error (fast moving enemies and hazards moving in from off screen, sometimes hard to tell what is part of the playing field or the background/foreground (solid or non solid), some cheap enemy/hazard placements right after jumps, some leaps of faith - can look up/down but not while climbing, spiky walls in level 1 don't actually damage you, your bullets bouncing off of the web obstacles (which were spring platforms previously) makes it seem like you can't break them when you can with other weapons, sometimes confusing 2.5D pathing in the levels - for example in the mines you can't jump up onto a track at one point but then suddenly it is solid right above a rope, some shots from off screen+can't shoot off screen enemies, hidden springs and exit in the nighttime level, minecart segment (some delay after jumping+long delay after taking a hit from an enemy (can't defend yourself)+no checkpoints means it's also a difficulty spike), )
Some tedious aspects (can't jump down through platforms you can jump up through - no puzzle reason?+can't climb down onto vines that you used to climb onto a platform from below, some enemies blend into the background, some of the vertical platforming, can only hold 9 lives - additional ones could've healed you instead, overly slow single spike traps, the hawk enemies, overly spongy rock golem boss)
Too many small enemies that are hard to hit while moving around (they also respawn!) - breaks flow
Gets repetitive after half the game (repeated backgrounds and enemies)
Somewhat muddy color use overall
No new items to find after level 1
No HP refill after most bosses (partial one after the jaguar king)
Kinda scratchy voices
A few dead ends and detour for point items
Second boss is just a variation on the first
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-6 Originality-5.5?
Overall Score-6
+
Very good animation and overall spritework
Weapon inventory (start with all three different weapons but not much ammo)
Can slide down hanging ropes
Smart bombs (pretty weak vs bosses however)
Time freeze and chili pepper (faster running and longer jumps) power ups. The latter is rare though and should've been an inventory item instead
Several checkpoints per level
Move while attacking (except when climbing for some reason)
Various hidden items
Some interesting level gimmicks (the bungee jump things)
Good drum samples (so-so FM instrumentation and sfx though)
Some mini-games that can be accessed within levels (simon says - decent, Pitfall 1 - loops until time runs out instead of being a mini-game you can finish, minecart segment - good idea but gets frustrating)
Pretty good enemy variety for the first half of the game
One pretty good boss (jaguar king) and one decent (first jaguar boss)
Funny ending
+/-
Mostly maze-like levels
Charge attacks but can't move while charging (Mystic Defender, Mega Man 4)
Various instant death pits
No time limits
Can't move while crouching (can crawl however - press jump+down)
Zero coyote time/somewhat unforgiving hit detection near platform edges
Can't stand still and aim while shooting (no aim lock)
Four-way shooting (horizontal and diagonally upwards but not straight upwards or diagonally downwards unless climbing a rope)
Can't extend your lifebar like in Pitfall 1 - various items are just for points
The hidden letters spelling PITFALL only slightly changes the ending (not really worth it)
Kinda weird trajectory on the boomerangs (can at least pick them up again after throwing unless you threw them too high up of course)
-
Some control/interface issues (pressing attack right after letting go of the d-pad means it doesn't register (same if you turned around while moving or if getting up from crouching or if touching a ceiling with your head), attacking right as you let go of the d-pad makes you take another extra step+you can't stop this by pressing in the opposite direction, get knocked over if you run into a wall/glide into one via a zipline - breaks flow, no 6 button support - start to switch weapons means you can't pause, pretty unforgiving hit detection on items (can use the whip to reach further though) and certain hazards like the tranforming pits, the camera puts you near the back edge of the screen while moving and takes a bit of time to adjust when turning around, so-so hit detection when grabbing ropes from the left, if you try to grab a vine from too high up then it won't work and you fall down, overly slow crawling, short movement delay for an animation every time you grab a rope, can't throw a boomerang while crouched - can use the slingshot, can't shoot diagonally upwards while jumping or climbing, if you stand right next to a minecart with your back against it then it's non solid when moving towards it, can't jump cancel out of a pushing animation, can't attack while crawling - leads to some unavoidable damage, can't grab items as they fall out of hanging pouches - leads to retracing your steps)
Trial & error (fast moving enemies and hazards moving in from off screen, sometimes hard to tell what is part of the playing field or the background/foreground (solid or non solid), some cheap enemy/hazard placements right after jumps, some leaps of faith - can look up/down but not while climbing, spiky walls in level 1 don't actually damage you, your bullets bouncing off of the web obstacles (which were spring platforms previously) makes it seem like you can't break them when you can with other weapons, sometimes confusing 2.5D pathing in the levels - for example in the mines you can't jump up onto a track at one point but then suddenly it is solid right above a rope, some shots from off screen+can't shoot off screen enemies, hidden springs and exit in the nighttime level, minecart segment (some delay after jumping+long delay after taking a hit from an enemy (can't defend yourself)+no checkpoints means it's also a difficulty spike), )
Some tedious aspects (can't jump down through platforms you can jump up through - no puzzle reason?+can't climb down onto vines that you used to climb onto a platform from below, some enemies blend into the background, some of the vertical platforming, can only hold 9 lives - additional ones could've healed you instead, overly slow single spike traps, the hawk enemies, overly spongy rock golem boss)
Too many small enemies that are hard to hit while moving around (they also respawn!) - breaks flow
Gets repetitive after half the game (repeated backgrounds and enemies)
Somewhat muddy color use overall
No new items to find after level 1
No HP refill after most bosses (partial one after the jaguar king)
Kinda scratchy voices
A few dead ends and detour for point items
Second boss is just a variation on the first