There's a lot to like about Pitfall, but most of its appeal has less to do with its design and more to do with the fact that its aesthetics look more modern than most 2600 games. The animations are smooth, the sprites are clear, the setting is iconic.
I try to rate games (and movies, shameless letterboxd plug) contextually, so I can't be too mad at Pitfall's very era-appropriate design. However, I would say that Adventure proved 3 years before this that adventure games could have more interesting objectives. But Adventure also looks like barf compared to Pitfall, so it was all trade-offs I guess. If anyone has any solid 2600 games that really pushed boundaries, let me know.
To sum up my experience with Pitfall: after fiddling around, dying, and resetting for 10 minutes, I finally found my first piece of treasure, and then was immediately swallowed up by a surprise pit and lost my last life. C'est la vie!
I try to rate games (and movies, shameless letterboxd plug) contextually, so I can't be too mad at Pitfall's very era-appropriate design. However, I would say that Adventure proved 3 years before this that adventure games could have more interesting objectives. But Adventure also looks like barf compared to Pitfall, so it was all trade-offs I guess. If anyone has any solid 2600 games that really pushed boundaries, let me know.
To sum up my experience with Pitfall: after fiddling around, dying, and resetting for 10 minutes, I finally found my first piece of treasure, and then was immediately swallowed up by a surprise pit and lost my last life. C'est la vie!