Believe it or not, each screen was stored entirely in ONE byte: Each bit would determine whether, for example, a screen had a static pit or a open/close pit or if it had logs or 2 trees or 3, etc. Then he used a polynomial counter that could be reversed so that it would reliably spit out the next number or the previous one for moving right one screen or left one screen, etc. Using this process allowed David Crane to store over 200 screens in only 4k of ROM, including all the code, graphics and sound. Very impressive!
@@sinisterlollypop Yep. having severe limitations definitely forces programmers to bring their best game to the table to make anything happen. The 2600 was notoriously difficult to program yet some of the games that were made for it went WAY beyond what even the original hardware designers thought was possible. Did you know, for example, that the 2600 only had 128 bytes of RAM? Yes, that's right: *BYTES!* Amazing that they could do anything at all with it.
40 years ago yesterday I found this under my Christmas tree. I loved this game back in 82’. Brings back a lot of memories of playing this all day after school
When I was a kid it seemed like every screen was reasonably different, enabling a sense of exploration. Looking back at it as a slightly jaded adult, I see it's pretty much the same screen with some things changed each time :). Still a classic game!
It's hard to think now, but this game was a technical marvel when it was released. David Crane (programmer) actually had to develop technology to create an animated running man. Then there was the multi-screen and large (for the time map, that was believed to be impossible with those graphics on the 2600. Even the swigging ropes took some very clever programming to get around the 2600's limitations.
I was in 8th grade when it came out and I loved it, bringing home a new Atari game in the early 80's when you read comics, built Lincoln Logs and played pong all through the 1970's was very exciting
I was browsing Call of Duty Warzone car horns and came across "Pitfall" on that list and ended up here. So thanks! That sound was exactly what i was looking for. :D
Pitfall was the first thing I ever saved up a significant amount of money to buy. I was 7 or 8 years old, and saved up $20 in small bills and coins that I kept in a zip lock sandwich bag. My Mom took me to a store called U.S. Merchandise (which I remember as being some sort of catalogue store), where I was hit with the sad news that the price had gone up. Mom felt bad and covered the rest. Thanks Mom! I loved the game, and got good enough at it that I was able to become a member of Pitfall Harry's Explorers Club. To get into the club, you had to reach a certain score in the game, take a photo of the screen showing the score, and mail it in to Activision. Then, 6 to 8 weeks later, a member patch arrived in the mail. Man I wish I still had that thing!
I loved playing this game. Makes me very sad, I have memories playing with my family on the big floor TV. Before cell phones, we had bikes and Atari and we played football in the yard after school. I want to go back
There was an end, of sort. You were supposed to find all the treasures, I think there were 32 . When you got all the treasure, the game would end and you git a high score.
They had a contest where you send in your picture next to the completed game screen with something like over 90000 points. I did it...never got a response from the friggin Activision. Still waiting...arseholes. Anyway, there was surly an end and I memorized the game to do it.
@@TheDood71 I drew out every screen on a piece of paper with which tunnels to go down to be able to beat the game! That is why this guy didn't beat the time, he never went down.
the game has an end. The objective is for you to collect 32 treasures in 20 minutes. However, to get them all, you don't just go to the right, but you need to go down the stairs and take the path to the left as well.
This was one of my first games ever played as a kid. I never remembered the name until I searched up, “old jungle game” because that’s all I could remember from my memory 😭 good to see and hear it
Christian Frazier see this is awesome i heard the noise and automatically assumed it was the Tarzan yell. That means they did an amazing job and that IMAGINATION IS POWER
Man, I don't think this game ends 😅 It felt like a loop of some sort. I could be wrong of course, but I never could finish it. It was eye candy back in the day. You really felt each screen was a whole new level 😄
I don't remember how many screens there were, but it was a loop, you could go either direction. I drew out every screen on a piece of paper with which tunnels to go down to be able to beat the game! That is why this guy didn't beat the time, he never went down.
the game has an end. The objective is for you to collect 32 treasures in 20 minutes. However, to get them all, you don't just go to the right, but you need to go down the stairs and take the path to the left as well.
I spent most of my playtime with this game just moving through the stationary logs and laughing hysterically because I thought he was farting. ...hey, I was 7.
I used to play this game on mute and listen to Men at Work down under album. It just went with the game really good. Still better than half the broken ass games they make today lol.
The best memories I have of the early 80s are playing this and other Atari games with my father before the divorce. Thanks for sharing. I still play it on occassion.
As the Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 18 January 2022 (the prediction was beginning in 2012), Pitfall! is considered Xbox Game Studios' newest IP alongside with other AB franchises (including Sierra and Vivendi Universal (formerly Universal Interactive) such as King's Quest, Police Quest, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro). Pitfall! was a best-selling Atari 2600 game it sold over 4 million units (does not mention with other platforms like C64) and its challenged.
Oh. Okay. I enjoyed it. 33 years ago, but it didn't seem to have a point like Frogger PAC Man & the other games did. Just hearing the sounds brings me back to my youth.
Everyone always goes the wrong way. You should run right to left. that way the logs will be rolling with you not against you. Doing this, I got all of the treasure in one run with 2 minutes to spare.
All Treasures (and death): 0:52 Gold Bar 3:22 Gold Bar 4:55 Diamond Ring 5:08 Silver Bar 5:31 Silver Bar 5:46 Diamond Ring 6:00 Money Bag 6:38 Money Bag 7:50 Silver Bar 8:08 Diamond Ring 8:37 Diamond Ring 8:52 Gold Bar 9:15 Money Bag 10:25 Money Bag 12:30 Silver Bar 12:50 Silver Bar 13:52 Silver Bar 14:24 Gold Bar 14:34 Silver Bar 15:17 Gold Bar 15:46 Money Bag 16:43 Diamond Ring 17:08 DEATH!!! 17:36 Silver Bar 18:33 Gold Bar 18:42 Money Bag
There is a way to achieve a perfect score in this game under 20 minutes using the "warp zones" when you go down the tunnels and go left and right to reach a certain treasure piece. There's supposed to be a limited number of treasures, but I forget the number of them, plus the score to get the perfect score, without tripping on logs or falling in pits. If you can find it and put it up, it'll be epic! ;)
O Jogo do Pittfall é uma lição de vida, não desmatar arvores, mas correr atrás das conquistas, dos sucessos, sustentos, dos bens, ouro, para, bronze, dinheiros, metais, animais, minerais, pulando jacarés, escorpiões, cobras, serpentes e escorpiões não se afundar em terras movediças, os nossos problemas, agarrar os cipós, oportunidades, passando por,, cima da fogueira o que é fogo, cair no buraco mas se levantar sair dele, não passar paredes intransponíveis pois elas existem, mas ter serenidade, persistência, temos limites, não matando, nem roubando ! Mais um motivo para gostar de Atari!
This was one of the first video games I played as kid. I remember it included to the Atari console amongst many other games and its title was "Tom boy".
i think the first part of the pitfall was going from right to left and when you get to the end it's from left to right with some harder challenges...i also remember going to the halfway stages in the first stage and that one can stand on the crocs head without being gobbled up. hit like if you had done that
Back in 2017 I played this game all the time. My dad has a original Atari 2600, so I got the cartridge stuck it in the system and boom I played this game all the time!
I loved this game. I played it like 2 times aprox, because it was my uncle's. We nephews and nieces used to sit and watch him play in the afternoon and sometimes he'd let us play. I learned the name today 20.09.23 because I was reading about Activision and Xbox news It was great
This was huge for me as a kid! The girl across the street had all sorts of tech! She even had this buck rodgers tape casset! She said it actualy played the game and it wasn't audio! Not sure to be honest! I remember playing this vershion of pitfall with her! It was fun! Just weird when you would drop into the bottom part of the screen! Life is interesting :)
