Pitfall 2 was made for the Atari 2600, which has 128 bits of RAM. The system can only hold two sprites on the screen. Though tricks were used to get around the two sprites issue. So the game is quite a feat.

Pitfall 2 is modern in several ways. The music plays during the game, which was rare for the time. There are also checkpoints. More than a few checkpoints are hidden, so exploration is encouraged. You don’t have lives but you get infinite chances. With the dynamic music, check points and a infinite lives Pitfall 2 is one of the first modern games.

The game play changes quiet a bit. One part you are exploring, another swimming, ducking bats or jumping scorpions and other you are floating up via a red balloon.

The difficulty of the game makes the score meaningful in that you have a hard time getting you score up. Other games of Pitfall 2’s generation make it a goal to earn 1ups. As I mentioned Pitfall 2 gives you infinite chances to win but the game, however, makes an effort to embarrass you! When a creature hits you you floats back to the last red cross you discovered. These crosses are game’s checkpoints. While you float back which the music plays a sadder tune. This can take a minute if you didn’t explore properly and fail to find a closer checkpoint. Not only does the music turn sad but you score is lowering as you return. So, therefore, the longer it takes to go back more time the game has to whittled down your score.

Believe me, this has an affect on you. I’ve been sent back to the same far off checkpoint with a score of zero and felt like a loser. Despite the fact that the game is teasing you, I love Pitfall 2.

I’ve played with zero points. Once there it at least can’t get any lower but I’ve been in hard places were the score remain at zero and gold bars, which raise your score, are hard to find. Eventually, I will give up, promising to fight another day.