Pitfall II: Lost Caverns

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns is a platform video game originally released for the Atari 2600 by Activision in 1984.[1] It is the sequel to 1982's Pitfall!. Both games were designed and programmed by David Crane and star jungle explorer Pitfall Harry. Pitfall II's major additions are a much larger world with vertical scrolling, rivers to swim in, and balloons that can be grabbed to float between locations.

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
Atari 2600 cover art
Developer(s)Activision
Publisher(s)Activision
Sega (arcade)
Designer(s)David Crane[1]
Programmer(s)Atari 2600
David Crane
Atari 8-bit
Mike Lorenzen[1]
Platform(s)Atari 2600, Apple II, Arcade, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, MSX, IBM PCjr, SG-1000, Color Computer, ZX Spectrum
Release1984
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Published after the North American video game crash of 1983 when interest in the 2600 was waning, Pitfall II was one of the last major releases for the console and one of the most technically impressive. The cartridge contains a custom "Display Processor Chip," designed by Crane, for improved visuals and four channel music instead of the two the system is normally capable of.[2]

Pitfall II was ported to the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Tandy Color Computer, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, MSX, Commodore 64, and the IBM PCjr (as a cartridge). The game's plot was loosely remade into Super Pitfall for the Famicom/NES. In 1985, Sega released an arcade version of Pitfall II with a different visual style.[3] It was ported to the SG-1000 console in Japan.

Gameplay

In Pitfall!, Pitfall Harry avoids crocodiles, scorpions, cobras, and quicksand across a series of horizontal screens. Lost Caverns dramatically expands the scope of the environment, as Harry descends into a deep, vertically-scrolling underground. Unlike the first game, Harry has unlimited time and lives, making it impossible to die or lose. When Harry touches a dangerous creature, he loses points as he moves back to the last continue point (marked with a red cross) he touched along his journey.[4]

Atari 2600 gameplay

Pitfall II has 27 horizontal levels stacked atop the other. These levels span eight screens in width, but are not openly accessible all the way across. Some portions are blocked by cave walls that force Harry to travel through other areas in order to progress. Quicksand and tar pits are replaced by rivers and chasms. Balloons let Harry ascend to new areas.[4]

Two characters debut in Lost Caverns: Quickclaw, Harry's cowardly pet mountain lion, and Rhonda, his adventure-seeking niece. Both characters were created for the Saturday Supercade cartoon based on Pitfall! a year before this game was released. Upon collecting Rhonda, Quickclaw, and a diamond ring, the game ends.[4] Optional items can be collected for points. The maximum possible score is 199,000.

Musical cues act as subtle rewards and punishments for performance. The main theme plays for a short while before reaching a loop of acoustic music. When Harry collects a treasure, the main theme begins again. When Harry returns to a continue point, a slower, minor key version of the theme plays. If Harry ascends using the Balloon, Sobre las Olas ("Over the Waves") is played.

Adventurer's Edition

The Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computer versions, called the Adventurer's Edition on their title screens, contain additional content. Programmer Mike Lorenzen reused David Crane's code from the 2600 version and added an entirely new level to the game, which would be playable after the initial game was finished.[5] Marketing would not allow the two versions to be different, and demanded that the additional game be stripped from the Atari version. Instead it was left in as an easter egg.

Reception

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns was named No. 1 in the "best 25 Atari 2600 games of all time" in issue 46 of Retro Gamer magazine.[6] Gamasutra included it as an open world game in their Game Design Essentials series.[7]

References
  1. Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  2. "Description of the Pitfall II cartridge". Biglist.com. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
  3. "Arcade Action". Computer & Video Games (46): 108. August 1985. ISSN 0261-3697.
  5. "Reminiscing with David Crane". Archived from the original on 2007-12-24. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  6. "RetroGamer magazine archive". Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  7. https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1902/game_design_essentials_20_open_.php?print=1
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