Review: Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (GBA)

Pitfall over the last couple of years has undergone a resurrection of sorts, somewhat akin to Kylie Minogue's recent run of late. Most of us are aware of the name but when asked for more specifics other than jumping or in Ms Minogue's case, song tiles, we scupper like the preverbal ocean liner caught upon the barrier reef.

Like many golden oldies in the musical world, the gaming industry is being forced to look back on its favourite sons in order to produce the hits of today and tomorrow. This explains the existence of Pitfall and its Mayan Adventure but is the series best left undisturbed in the gaming history books or worth another comeback tour? Being honest, when I first discovered that I was reviewing the latest incarnation of Pitfall, visions of myself becoming banned from every mode of public transport into Edinburgh ran rampant in my psyche. You see, precision pixel jumping is not my favourite pastime, far from it in fact.

Memories of Pitfall and its fellow jumping brothers still haunt me even to this day, bouncing around inside my head. Still it pays not to judge a book by its cover, as I soon found out. Old age catches up to us all eventually, and Pitfall Harry has retired to focus on his family. His son (Harry Junior) continues the family exploits around the world in the usual tradition. Even so, dad longed for one last adventure with his son alongside him and together they set out to find the long lost treasures of the Mayans. Whilst exploring the jungle Harry Senior is taken by an unseen force leaving Junior to find the treasure and rescue his father. Luckily, dad prepared a personal log to help his son just in case this situation ever arose. Could is be that the legendary Mayan warrior; Zakelua Lord of Evil is behind his fathers disappearance? You must take the role of the hero, finding your way across treacherous terrain avoiding traps and encountering numerous enemies before you reach the Copan Temple.

The game play involved in Pitfall hasn't changed over the years and I ask myself if this is a good or bad thing? Mario may have evolved but the core principles remain the same, these days its good to know Pitfall still exists and that it has not found the need for big guns or breast implants. Some changes have taken place and these I'm glad to report are for the better. The sole reliance on pixel perfect jumping has gone but the overall skill required by the player has increased as luck is no longer a factor. Instead in its place we have more emphasis on exploration, fighting and timing.

Of course Pitfall without jumps would be Gran Turismo without wheels and they do still exist but in no great numbers. You are also able to engage in a while range of activities including climbing, bungee jumping and sliding which help break up the monotonous jumping. A feature of the game is its excellent level design, almost gone are the leaps of faith, with failure resulting in loss of life and unfortunately, beginning again from the start. In its place are jumps or a series of, which you will not make at the first attempt and rather than lose any progress the design allows you to regain your position within a few manoeuvres.

The GBA certainly packs a nice wee punch when it comes to power and graphically Pitfall is a joy to watch. The lush, detailed backgrounds take advantage of the colour range that the machine can produce and everything moves at a constant rate. Little extra touches such as leaves falling are nice and help enforce the whole adventure element. Special recognition must go to the animation of the main character, which is smooth, fast and realistic. The sound on offer is not going to win any awards but gives a good impression of the sounds of a jungle, remember this is a portable cartridge based machine and with this in mind it's good enough. An important part of any platform game is the control system, badly deployed and it will make the game even harder and the player even more upset. Here the developer has got things finely tuned, not once did I complain about the layout or sensitivity of the method and it let me enjoy the game.

The main story is spread out over 5 levels and once this is completed you will be rewarded with another adventure (5 levels again) as you set out to discover the Tikal Temple. The main problem I have with Pitfall is that the game offers no save element whatsoever; even older systems managed a password feature. On such a game as this, it is unforgivable, you want to progress through the levels on your own time and at your speed but removal of a save feature does not allow for this. I cannot fathom why in this day and age it was not implemented. For the money that you are spending the chances of you seeing a large percentage of your purchase are fairly remote. The other problems are fairly minor in comparison and should be obvious to anyone buying the game. Namely, what you expect is what you get, no innovation, limited scope and no multi-player or link options.

The £34.99 price tag that applies to all titles is preventing many from buying more than one or two games every few months. Overall Pitfall the Mayan Adventure is a mixed bag, for those who know what the game is about, it is sure to delight, even with the problems I highlighted. Yet a good game as it is, I cannot see it attracting any new fans based on this version.

Rating: 6 / 10

Words by Jason Julier