Play Super Pitfall Online

Summary

Super Pitfall drops you back into the jungle‑swinging world of Pitfall Harry, but this time he’s armed with a pistol and forced to navigate roughly 270 tightly packed screens of non‑linear, side‑scrolling action. The Andes‑set caverns are littered with invisible power‑ups that only appear when you jump at just the right moment, and you’ll need playing‑card‑shaped keys to pry open rock doors while hunting for the Raj diamond, a photograph of the Underground Kingdom, and the items that will free a stone‑turned niece and a trapped lion. Lives are scarce – you start with three and only earn more by hitting 50,000 and then 80,000 points, which you rack up by shooting enemies, collecting gold bars and snagging spare pistols that grant temporary invulnerability.

Although the title screen credits Pony Inc., the NES version was actually programmed by Micronics, a studio better known for arcade ports, making Super Pitfall Activision’s first third‑party NES release. An odd footnote is that Activision had planned to rebrand Sunsoft’s Atlantis no Nazo as a sequel, but that never materialized.

The game debuted on Japan’s Famicom on September 5, 1986 and reached U.S. shelves in November 1987. A 2016 fan remake by Nesrocks refreshed the visuals and reshaped the levels, but retro critics still note the original’s clunky controls, low‑resolution graphics and design that never quite matched the charm of the Atari Pitfall classics.

Storyline

In Super Pitfall, Pitfall Harry is armed with a gun and ventures into a massive underground complex in the Andes Mountains. His goal is to retrieve the Raj diamond and rescue his niece Rhonda and his feline companion Quickclaw the Lion, who are trapped deep within the caverns.

As the adventure unfolds, Harry discovers that Rhonda has been turned to stone and Quickclaw is imprisoned, each requiring specific items to free them. To find his way back home, he must also locate a photograph of the Underground Kingdom, which serves as a clue to the entrance’s location.