Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
| Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure | |
|---|---|
Packaging artwork for the Genesis version by Nadia Staroselska | |
| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Director(s) | Bill Kroyer |
| Producer(s) | Denise Roberts McKee John Spinale Nathalie Deschartes |
| Designer(s) | John Spinale |
| Programmer(s) | George Allan |
| Artist(s) | Karen Johnson |
| Writer(s) | Veronica Milito |
| Composer(s) | Soundelux Media Labs |
| Series | Pitfall |
| Platform(s) | Genesis, Super NES, Microsoft Windows, Sega CD, 32X, Atari Jaguar, Game Boy Advance |
| Release | Genesis, Sega CD, SNESWindows
|
| Genre(s) | Action, platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure is a side-scrolling action-platform video game developed by Activision in conjunction with Kroyer Films and originally published in North America and Europe in 1994. The fourth installment in the Pitfall! franchise, players assume the role of Pitfall Harry Jr. as he embarks on a journey through the Mayan jungles of Central America in an attempt to rescue Pitfall Harry, his father and the protagonist of previous entries in the series, from the evil Mayan warrior spirit named Zakelua. Its gameplay mainly consists of action and platforming mixed with stage-based exploration using a main six-button configuration.
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure began its development on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and formed part in a string of planned franchise revivals by Activision along with other games from the Atari 2600 such as Kaboom! and River Raid, featuring sprite-based visuals before Kroyer Films were brought to assist in its creation by providing hand-drawn animations and graphics instead, while the lead platform transitioned from the Super NES to Sega Genesis. The Genesis and Super NES versions were both released during the 1994 holiday shopping season, and ports for the 32X, Atari Jaguar, PC, and Sega CD followed in 1995, with each one being developed by third-party developers and featuring several changes and additions compared to the original version. Years later it was re-released through download services such as Virtual Console and given a portable release on the Game Boy Advance.
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure was met with mostly positive responses from critics who praised the presentation, visuals, and sound design, but criticized the inability to control the character during certain animations.