Episode 576: Pitfall! [The Later Years]

Jeremy: Hello! Hope you Americans survived your holiday weekend, and that the rest of you survived America's exported "holiday" Black Friday. Sorry about that, by the way.

This morning's episode brings us the second part of a podcast you may or may not have heard depending on your subscription status here at the Retronauts zaibatsu. Part one of this conversation between myself, Stuart, and Kevin went up a week and a half ago as episode 574, a Friday patron-exclusive bonus episode. This timing was just a function of how my recordings shook out rather than a cunning attempt at tricking everyone into upping their subscription; I fear I'm not that clever or ruthless. 

Anyway, this episode stands pretty well on its own, since it covers the Pitfall! games that didn't have any direct involvement by creator David Crane, which feel like distinct entities unto themselves.  We begin with the game whose creation was furthest from Crane with Super Pitfall, the one entry in the series to have originated in Japan. As we discuss, Super Pitfall feels like it began as a redux of Pitfall II but took a wrong left turn somewhere and ended up not so much in the wrong town as the wrong plane of existence altogether.

By comparison, the subsequent games in the Pitfall! saga—The Mayan Adventure, Beyond the Jungle, and The Lost Expedition—feel practically like gentle love letters to Crane's original vision. Or, in the case of Beyond the Jungle, endlessly wisecracking audiobook love letters.

So, please enjoy, and... well, if you missed the first part (a discussion of Pitfall!, Pitfall II, and A Boy and His Blob) and do want to check it out, you can find that bad boy right here. But no one's twisting your arm! We're cool like that.

Edits this episode by Greg Leahy. Real artwork coming soon.

• 02:53 - Super Pitfall: Stage BGM 1
• 15:04 - Super Pitfall: Balloon
• 25:33 - Atlantis no Nazo: Zone Theme 2
• 37:16 - Super Pitfall 30th Anniversary Edition: Stage BGM 1 (Pitfall II Theme) | Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (MD): Tazamul Mines
• 53:36 - Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (PC): Balankanche Mine
• 1:06:32 - Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle (PSX): The Lower City
• 1:14:17 - Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (PS2): Pitfall Harry Theme
• 1:21:55 - Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (GBA): Boss
• Closing - Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (PC): Tazamul Mines