Title: Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure Released: 1995 Genre: Platformer Developer: Activision Publisher: Activision Regions: USA Availability: Uncommon

The 32x failed partly because it didn't have enough of its own exclusive games. Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, like many other 32x ports, is a mildly upgraded version of an older Genesis title. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since Pitfall is a fun, pretty, and polished platform game with a lot of variety. Packed inside this cart you'll find everything we've come to expect from a good platform game, and then some: A large variety of enemies ranging in size from tiny to gigantic, perilous and often difficult-to-execute jumps, swinging vines, mild puzzle elements, and even the seemingly obligatory mine cart level. This “upgrade” features deeper, richer colors, as well as three new 32x-exclusive levels. Everything else from the Genesis version is here: the tight control, the beautiful graphics, the wonderfully smooth character animation, the frustrating difficulty level. You'll even find the original Atari 2600 Pitfall hidden inside the game, in all its 8-bit, time-limited glory. It's very primitive by today's standards, but it's great to see how far games have progressed. Activision knows how to craft a fine video game, but they really didn't do much to improve this particular game or take advantage of the more powerful hardware. Regardless, Pitfall is recommended if you don't have any of the other versions.
 

Pitfall first appeared in way back in 1982 on the Atari 2600 and was one of the first third-party megahits for that console (Pitfall was produced and distributed by Activision, a company founded by ex-Atari programmers who were tired of never getting any of the credit for their efforts.) Gameplay is quite a bit different from what we expect today... there is no real goal, other than to collect as much treasure as possible within the allotted time. Pitfall and its heavily overhauled sequel also appeared on such "classic" consoles as the Intellivision, Colecovision, and the Atari 5200. A wildly inferior version appeared on the original Nintendo Entertainment System, nearly derailing the series for good. Activision brought back their classic platformer years later for the Genesis, SNES, Jaguar, Game Boy Advance, and 32x. Pitfall also made an appearance on the Playstation in polygonal form, but the "essence" of the game was lost in the transition to 3-D and the game was poorly received.