Activision has spent the better part of the past two decades trying to recapture the magic (and the sales) of the original Pitfall! To say that it’s been mostly unsuccessful would be something of an understatement, with most of the games that have appeared bearing the famous moniker have fallen far, far short of David Crane’s 1982 classic. Probably the only title in recent years to come close was The Mayan Adventure, a game that had players assume the role of Pitfall Harry’s son on a mission to rescue his famous father. Activision apparently saw what it had, and it went on to release versions of its wayward hit on every console under the sun.
Author: Doug Jackson
Frogger
Frogger has been making the rounds for almost two decades, and the little amphibian star has appeared on every console known to man. Majesco inexplicably decided on the classic title as the final official domestic release for the American Genesis, and we have a full review of that port, which no doubt taxes the Genesis hardware more than any game before it! Reeebit… I mean, read it for all the details.
Crossfire
Called Super Airwolf in Japan, Crossfire had almost nothing to do with its namesake, except for the whole military helicopter thing. Origin aside, the game itself is another mediocre vertical shooter that’s more novel for its rarity than for its gameplay.
Mallet Legend’s Whac-A-Critter
Every so often, a really odd game shows up on a console. Not weird as in “it looks/plays weird,” mind you. No, I’m referring to that special game that uses some strange peripheral or requires some unique set up to work. Take Realtec’s Whac-A-Critter, for example. It used a special nine-button controller that’s rarer in the wild than a Tazmanian Tiger, and all to just smack animals on a screen. After paying the equivalent of a organ transplant for a complete copy, I’m sure many buyers eventually got their money’s worth by using the controller against their own heads.
Tecmo World Cup
Like soccer? Sure, most of the world does. Why then, would a company so closely tied to sports such as Tecmo go and release the dud that is Tecmo World Cup? Talk about no frills – this is as bare bones as they get. I guess the company released just how lackluster an effort the game was, since they changed the name in Japan. No need to contaminate foreign consoles, I guess.