DESCRIPTION

While not quite as innovative or addictively simple as its predecessor, Pitfall II: Lost Caverns expands on the Pitfall! concept to create a robust and complicated adventure that stands as one of the Atari VCS' most accomplished games. The sharp, colorful visuals improve on the original while still retaining their familiar look, and the music is widely considered the best on the console thanks to a custom sound chip.

You control Pitfall Harry as he makes his way through an underground Peruvian cave in search of the valuable Raj diamond, as well as his lost niece and cat. Once all three have been found, the game is over. The gameplay is fundamentally the same as Pitfall!, but with a few new twists. The environments are no longer limited to a horizontal plane, so navigating through the complex maze of corridors becomes a matter of puzzle solving and timing. Harry has also gained the abilities to swim and float across chasms using a balloon. The scorpions make a return appearance, but there are many new creatures for Harry to avoid, such as frogs, bats, electric eels, and condors.

Unlike Pitfall!, there's no time limit and you have unlimited lives. If you touch an enemy, you are transported back to the last checkpoint, losing points along the way. The ultimate goal is to earn the highest possible score of 199,000, achieved by completing the adventure, catching the "primitive cave rat," and locating the 28 bars of gold scattered throughout the cave, all without being hit or falling down a hole. ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide