Pitfall: Mayan Adventure

STORY / GAMEPLAY
Pitfall: Mayan Adventure is a re-release of the original 1982 classic Atari 2600 platform game; the Pitfall. Pitfall Harry Junior (the hero) is lost into a thick jungle where some Mayan ruins are located. He and his father, Pitfall Harry, are on an expedition, searching for Mayan artifacts. And suddenly, Pitfall Harry disappears! Harry Junior is now all alone and he must find his lost father, encountering wild, dangerous animals (like snakes, monkeys etc) and trying to avoid numerous hidden traps (like quicksands, spikes and more). Harry Junior starts his quest having a whip as his main weapon plus some throwing "apples" that he finds on the way. As he travels through the hostile areas, he may also discover and collect more powerful weapons, as well as some coins for credit points and some hearts to fill his lost energy. The young man can climb or swing by jumping onto a variety of natural ropes to avoid deadly traps and large, redneck enemies. At this point it must be noted that Pitfall is a pretty tough game and needs some practice and lots of patience!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
This Atari Jaguar game is a 2D action platform and the visuals look absolutely great offering detailed settings and backgrounds, though the colors (especially during the early stages) are a bit dark. The scrolling is smooth and suits well the story's fast-paced action, with no slowdowns at all. Apart from its great visuals, Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure offers a pretty cool, "jungle-ish" soundtrack and an array of sampled effects that sound as if they were taken from an actual cartoon movie! Overall, this game is among the best Atari Jaguar games out there (which is quite rare, considering the fact that most Jaguar games are mediocre) so, every Atari Jaguar owner should give it a try!