Pitfall II: Lost Caverns

Arcade version of Pitfall II

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns is an action game released in arcades and for the Sega SG-1000 in 1985. Based on the original Pitfall II: Lost Caverns for the Atari 2600, Sega's version updates the graphics and sound and makes some modifications to the gameplay to be more suitable for an arcade environment. The game is now broken up into four distinct levels: a jungle, ice caverns, rail carts, and a temple. The jungle and ice caverns are based on the layout from the original game (although it's not exactly the same) while the rail carts and temple are completely new. Also new is a time limit; players begin with just 3 minutes to complete their quest, however each time a treasure is acquired time is extended.

Gameplay remains overall the same; as Pitfall Harry, players can run, jump, and climb to make their way through the dangerous terrain and caverns. Many dangerous creatures are found including giant bats, frogs, eels, rats, scorpions, and a number of new creatures not found in the original. Another new addition is a final boss that will need to be defeated at the end of the game as well. Unlike in the original game where contact with creatures would send Harry back to the last crossed checkpoint with a loss of points, in this version a life is lost in a more typical arcade fashion; if Harry loses all of his lives, the game is over.

The Sega SG-1000 version is based on the arcade version and includes the same gameplay, however the game map varies and is smaller (likely due to system limitations).