Aaron | 
April 29, 2009 | 
“…need help right away, time is running out!” – Pitfall Harry
Since its Atari 2600 debut, Pitfall has always been about the platforming basics – running, jumping, swinging, sometimes falling in a hole to your death. It’s good to see these staples of the genre return to the series in it’s 16-Bit entry. Activison had thankfully taken the rights to the Pitfall franchise back from Pony (the company responsible for Harry Sr’s previous and downright awful adventure Super Pitfall) in hopes of getting the series back to the level of popularity it experienced on the Atari 2600, no small task.
Speaking of TMA’s graphics, let’s take a brief look at how the Genesis and SNES match up together. In the top picture, the SNES(right) looks to be the more colorful Pitfall but not the better animated one. It is missing quite a few effects found in the Genesis version(Left). Look at the shadows of the trees on the water shown below in the Genesis version, they move outwards on the lake giving the Genesis version a more lively and better looking background. Surprisingly this effect is totally missing from the SNES version. The Genesis has better music then its SNES counterpart as well – just two examples of why I believe Activision chose SEGA’s version of TMA for its first release on the Virtual Console.
Not a bad list of weapons and items, but I honestly expected him to receive a few more (a machete maybe). Fending off snakes, gargoyles, vapor ghosts and other inhabitants of the various South American locations (including bosses) with basically, just a sling can be quite difficult at times. As far as Harry’s moves, he can crawl, climb, “zip” down zip-lines, bungee-jump, pull levers and ride mine cars. Quite the list of abilities for the young adventurer.
TMA sounds great so what’s with the so-so score? First off, the controls. Harry controls well but not like he needs to. Control should be tighter for some of the jumps you’ll be asked to perform. Harry will often leap further then expected – or land on a narrow platform only to accidentally run right off the side. This make some hard jumps even harder and puts a major dent in TMA’s gameplay. 
My biggest complaint about Pitfall: TMA is the design of some of the games ten stages. Some are thought out well and look incredible, particularly the ones outdoors. Other levels don’t look as good, particularly the temple or indoor stages – they seem a little too similar to one another, especially after playing some of the great outdoor levels. It’s also very easy to get lost and not have a clue as to where you should be headed next. Do I go up. do I go down? How come I could walk through that tree but this one is like a wall? Just what is going on here…are some of the questions you’ll be asking yourself while playing through The Mayan Adventure. – Are these negatives enough to make The Mayan Adventure one you shouldn’t bother taking on the VC or Genesis?
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(2 votes, average: 8.50 out of 10)
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This is definately the best Indiana Jones game ever made. Indy would be so proud that Mutt is willing to face the Mayans to rescue him. Hmmm…..sounds like a movie that was made 12 years later.
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