There are certain games that as a child you adored and couldn’t get enough of but that when you look back on them as an adult, and with the hindsight of having played Halo and Metal Gear Solid, seem like utter crap. Pitfall is one such game.
Pitfall was first released on the Atari 2600 in 1982. It was a simple affair in which the player controls a character as he traverses maze-like levels packed with hazard of all kinds. In a way it was the forerunner to adventure games such as Tomb Raider and Uncharted. Just not as good.
However, that simplicity makes it perfect fodder for a remake for mobile devices, and that’s exactly what is happening. Martyn Brown recently told MCV that it was to be be Activision Leeds’ first title.
“In setting up there has been a lot of interest given the publisher we are working with. In the third week of may we revealed we had the studio, and yes it is based in Leeds, and we have hired some key talent in the form of Mark Washbrook and Mark Lloyd.
The first game we are making is in fact Pitfall, which is 30 years old this year. We’ve been working on Pitfall since earlier in the year when we set up and it has been really good to revisit that and bring it to a modern audience.
Being able to call upon a wide portfolio of properties is really good for us and we are looking forward to finally showing it to more people.”
I’m not fundamentally against mobile gaming in the way some gamers are. Perhaps it’s because I’m old enough to remember these games the first time around. Playing Pitfall on a smartphone or tablet will be awesome, and that’s good enough for me.
