Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure

About Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (1994) is Activision's hand-animated revival of Pitfall!, in which Pitfall Harry Jr. searches the Mayan jungle for his kidnapped father.

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure in Depth

After Pitfall II, Pitfall Harry settled down to raise his son, Harry Jr., becoming a legend for his exploits. Inheriting his father's love of exploration, Harry Jr. sets out through the Mayan jungles of Central America to rescue him from the evil Mayan warrior spirit Zakelua. In the style of Disney's Aladdin and The Lion King, it is a side-scrolling action platformer. Early stages are large and linear, full of obstacles, enemies and hazards to be overcome by running, jumping, climbing, swinging, shooting and dodging, while later ones are more maze-like, with different routes to the end, and some end with bosses.

Every stage hides items, ammunition, secrets and letters spelling "Pitfall". Harry Jr. moves in four directions, fights with his whip or with sling stones, boomerangs and explosives, and can charge a sling stone for a powerful shot or crouch to squeeze through tight spaces. Dying returns him to the last checkpoint, and continues or saved games, depending on version, resume progress. Kroyer Films provided hand-drawn animation, and GamePro called the SNES version's animation "some of the best character animations ever seen in an SNES game". The original Pitfall! is included as a bonus, though critics complained about losing control of Harry during certain animations.

Making Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure

Activision first showed it at the Summer CES in 1993 with sprite-based visuals as part of a string of Atari 2600 revivals. Slated for winter 1993, it slipped to 1994, and Kroyer Films was brought in to provide hand-drawn animation and graphics while the lead platform moved from the SNES to the Genesis. The Genesis and SNES versions launched for the 1994 holidays, followed in 1995 by 32X, Jaguar, PC and Sega CD versions by other developers, each with changes. Reviews were mostly positive for its presentation, visuals and sound, though GamePro noted that the split-second loss of control after jumps and turns could cost a life.