Pitfall II: Lost Caverns

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns is an action/platform game originally developed for the Atari 2600 and later ported to numerous other systems. It is the sequel to Pitfall! and features similar gameplay while adding some new features and changes. Players once again control Pitfall Harry; to win the game, Pitfall Harry needs to locate a diamond ring, rescue his niece Rhonda, and find his cowardly pet mountain lion Quickclaw. In addition, treasures are located throughout which earn points if collected.

The caves in Pitfall II consist of 27 levels each spanning 8 screens wide. Each part of the cave isn’t immediately accessible; there are walls blocking the paths and gaps in the platforms. To complete the goal players will need to find a way through the maze like caves by climbing ladders, jumping over gaps, falling to a lower level, or being carried to a higher level by balloons. Similar to the original game several types of creatures get in the way; these include:

• Bats: Bats fly across the screen from left to right.
• Condors: Like bats, condors fly across the screen however they will reverse direction once the edge of the screen is reached.
• Electric Eels: Electric eels swim in some of the rivers.
• Frogs: Frogs jump back and forth over gaps in the platform; usually there is a ladder and Pitfall Harry will need to carefully time climbing up or down.
• Scorpions: Scorpions walk back and forth on the platforms towards Harry. Harry needs to carefully jump over them to get past.
• Cave Rat: The cave rat is guarding Quickclaw; it will push Pitfall Harry off of the ledge and needs to be approached from behind.

Unlike in the original Pitfall!, Pitfall Harry now has an infinite number of lives. Each time a Pitfall Harry comes into contact with one of the creatures he will be sent back to the previously crossed checkpoint (these will appear as crosses in the platforms). Points are lost each time Harry returns to a checkpoint; the amount varies depending on how far away the checkpoint is.

Pitfall II features several musical themes that play continuously in the background. When the game begins or Harry collects a treasure, a faster paced “heroic” theme is played. This will subside into an atmospheric background theme which plays throughout most of the game. If Harry comes into contact with a dangerous creature, the theme changes to a slower paced, minor key variation while Harry is sent back to the checkpoint. The final theme is “Sobre las Olas” by Juventino Rosas which is played whenever Harry is being carried by a balloon. Most notable is that the multi-channel music was included in the original Atari 2600 version. While most of the systems the game was ported to had hardware easily capable of music, the Atari 2600 was comparatively limited – a special sound chip was added to the game cartridges to accomplish this.