While Super Pitfall was intended as an extension of the formula developed by David Crane with Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (1984), it is perhaps surprising that their critical reception was the polar opposite. Whereas Pitfall II is seen as a flagship of the Atari 2600 for its ambitious platform and exploration gameplay, Super Pitfall is widely regarded by the general public as one of the worst titles on the NES. This difference in opinion can be explained by the difference in technical limitations, which make certain features of the gameplay far less excusable for an NES title, but also by comparison with other games, which elevated players' expectations.
The player controls Harry, who has gone on an expedition to the Andes Mountains, both to save his lion Quickclaw and his niece Rhonda, but also to find the Raj diamond – leaving aside the cultural contradiction, which only seems to illustrate the orientalism of the Western creators. Unlike Pitfall II, where the final objective is visible from the very first screens, Super Pitfall places the player at the top of a gargantuan level, with no indication. Only by starting to explore can the player begin to get their bearings. This beginning is not unlike Metroid (1986), but a critical difference is that the first chamber of the latter is closed. In practice, there is only one way forward: find the Morph Ball on the left, before progressing eastwards and exploring the rest of Brinstar. Super Pitfall does not respect this progressive widening of the scope of exploration. Instead, it is possible to go to the caves on the right or to dive to the depths, without any hints as to what the objectives are.
The main map of Super Pitfall is divided into four sections, which are particularly artificial. Unfortunately, exploration is not unrestricted, as some roads are blocked by doors that the player can only open if they have the associated keys. Such keys are scattered throughout the caverns, but they are invisible and may only be revealed by jumping erratically near them. This highly random and cryptic approach is not unique to the 1980s exploration video game, but it makes it feel cruel and impossible to progress without a guide. When one is perused, it appears that exploration is simply a matter of meandering through the guts in a very specific order, while revealing all the important items. In reality, Super Pitfall is particularly linear and exploration would be almost boring, if the location of objects were openly communicated by the game.
Indeed, beyond its cryptic nature, Super Pitfall has a rather execrable control system, even for NES standards. Harry feels either too heavy or too floaty; collisions are generally poor and the game handles ladders and crouching very badly. While it is possible to shoot enemies, it does not allow to attack ground-crawling foes, making progression frustratingly slow at times. The redirection of jumps in the air is erratic, so that sequences with vines are always awkward. Other more minor issues punctuate the title and worsen the archaic nature of the exploration.
This is a shame, because the structure of Super Pitfall could have resulted, in theory, in a decent game. Secret passages are never properly communicated - one must either jump on birds that look like the standard enemies or jump to a specific location without any indication - yet it leads to visually different sections. The Dark World where Rhonda is imprisoned has the true trappings of a final level, with much more powerful enemies: the atmosphere is quite different with huts perched on huge trees growing inside a cave. In the middle of this section, a sort of massive temple adorned with improbable skulls serves as a prison for the hero's niece. It's a memorable passage, within a generally bland game, and it's unfortunate that the overwhelming majority of players never reached this mystical place, due to the cryptic nature of the game design.
It's hard to find qualities in Super Pitfall, as the execution is so poor. Even with the best will and arming oneself with paper to draw a map – in the pure tradition of early Western games – the title remains stodgy. It's worth noting that in 2016, for the game's thirtieth anniversary, Nesrocks released an extensive romhack that addressed the game's plethoric flaws. The result is far from an exceptional game, but it is certainly much more accessible to the general public. This is probably what Super Pitfall should have been.
The player controls Harry, who has gone on an expedition to the Andes Mountains, both to save his lion Quickclaw and his niece Rhonda, but also to find the Raj diamond – leaving aside the cultural contradiction, which only seems to illustrate the orientalism of the Western creators. Unlike Pitfall II, where the final objective is visible from the very first screens, Super Pitfall places the player at the top of a gargantuan level, with no indication. Only by starting to explore can the player begin to get their bearings. This beginning is not unlike Metroid (1986), but a critical difference is that the first chamber of the latter is closed. In practice, there is only one way forward: find the Morph Ball on the left, before progressing eastwards and exploring the rest of Brinstar. Super Pitfall does not respect this progressive widening of the scope of exploration. Instead, it is possible to go to the caves on the right or to dive to the depths, without any hints as to what the objectives are.
The main map of Super Pitfall is divided into four sections, which are particularly artificial. Unfortunately, exploration is not unrestricted, as some roads are blocked by doors that the player can only open if they have the associated keys. Such keys are scattered throughout the caverns, but they are invisible and may only be revealed by jumping erratically near them. This highly random and cryptic approach is not unique to the 1980s exploration video game, but it makes it feel cruel and impossible to progress without a guide. When one is perused, it appears that exploration is simply a matter of meandering through the guts in a very specific order, while revealing all the important items. In reality, Super Pitfall is particularly linear and exploration would be almost boring, if the location of objects were openly communicated by the game.
Indeed, beyond its cryptic nature, Super Pitfall has a rather execrable control system, even for NES standards. Harry feels either too heavy or too floaty; collisions are generally poor and the game handles ladders and crouching very badly. While it is possible to shoot enemies, it does not allow to attack ground-crawling foes, making progression frustratingly slow at times. The redirection of jumps in the air is erratic, so that sequences with vines are always awkward. Other more minor issues punctuate the title and worsen the archaic nature of the exploration.
This is a shame, because the structure of Super Pitfall could have resulted, in theory, in a decent game. Secret passages are never properly communicated - one must either jump on birds that look like the standard enemies or jump to a specific location without any indication - yet it leads to visually different sections. The Dark World where Rhonda is imprisoned has the true trappings of a final level, with much more powerful enemies: the atmosphere is quite different with huts perched on huge trees growing inside a cave. In the middle of this section, a sort of massive temple adorned with improbable skulls serves as a prison for the hero's niece. It's a memorable passage, within a generally bland game, and it's unfortunate that the overwhelming majority of players never reached this mystical place, due to the cryptic nature of the game design.
It's hard to find qualities in Super Pitfall, as the execution is so poor. Even with the best will and arming oneself with paper to draw a map – in the pure tradition of early Western games – the title remains stodgy. It's worth noting that in 2016, for the game's thirtieth anniversary, Nesrocks released an extensive romhack that addressed the game's plethoric flaws. The result is far from an exceptional game, but it is certainly much more accessible to the general public. This is probably what Super Pitfall should have been.