Game #1053: Pitfall - The Mayan Adventure

  Puts the Pit in Pitiful.

 I went from the NES to Nintendo 64, so the SNES generation was one I skipped... and one that pains me to, since ever since I discovered its games through emulation I consider it one of my favorite videogame generations. Which is why GBA ports of SNES games are something special to me, so I was looking forwards to Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure. I shouldn't have.

 So... yeah, another game with maze-like level design, however, in this game it's not like you're searching for stuff, most of the time, and checkpoints direct you towards the right path. If anything, the big issue with the level design is how zoomed-in the screen is, it's hard to get a good understanding of your surroundings and the level layout. It also makes it a chore to see some incoming enemies. Speaking of enemies, they tend to be tiny and dull in color, so the tiny snakes and mice just blend into the background. They also move super fast and you have little time to react once the make it into the screen. Not aiding matters is how fast your character moves, in fact, it feels like a Sonic game, except that you don't have an ever-helpful spinsdash and EVERYTHING around you is out to kill you, from enemies to the many, many hazards.

 Movement is very slippery, but there aren't many bottomless pits to contend with, so it's not too bad. To defend yourself you can use a very weak whip or shoot stones. I felt like enemies respawned, but I'm not too sure, sure felt that way though. The bosses are incredibly annoying, early in the game you have to face a tiger or leopard, which is annoying enough since you have to pretty much predict its coming so that you can time your jumps, but then you have to face two of them at the same time which wasn't much fun.

 The absolute best part about the game is that there's no savefile... and no password system either, so you have to beat it in one sitting. Lame. Thankfully there's a level select code. This GBA port has a feature unique to it: No music. If there's one thing left to mention is that I found the game's ending to be hilarious. Oh! And while the game looks very washed out, in order to make it easier to see on the GBA, the spritework is pretty impressive.

 I'm willing to bet that the original versions of this game haven't aged very well, however, they are better alternatives to this port for use. The screen probably shows more of your surroundings, they have music and the colors are better. Not a good showing for Majesco.

 3.0