Pitfall Perfect Score

A gaming session of Atari 2600 Pitfall, reaching the maximum perfect score of 114,000 in just under 20 minutes! It can be done! (Video plays back at 2x so that it'll fit in one KZbin upload.)

[@CodeMystics]

Gonna pin this earlier reply on the glitch at 3:11 since it keeps being asked: This was an early experiment with our control logging code used for debugging our emulators. (It was a human player, but the actual video here was made from playing back the control recording to make a second identical runthrough.) There was some glitch in the log that had to be repaired, but the human player did legitimately clear that screen.

[@andylarson8704]

This is not valid, Unless you put it on retroarch leaderboards and master all the achievements there 🤣🤣🤣

[@paxhumana2015]

@@andylarson8704 , your stupid comment is not valid. I also lack seeing a video that you have done playing the game, as well as doing what is in this video yourself, so kindly go copulate yourself with your stupid comment. Thank you.

[@fuzzywzhe]

@@andylarson8704 I would bet a lot of people have the the same identical run speed on this game, because you're held up and forced to wait in so many situations.

[@johnnyxsi]

Never realized how difficult that game was. Thanks for solving a 29 year old mystery for me :)

[@TheJillianRussell]

For the many, many, MANY years I've owned this game, I've never finished it or seen it finished until now. I didn't think it was possible!

[@sandal_thong8631]

Yeah, you gotta map it out , find a path to do in the time, and be able to jump the scorpions.

[@stephendye2778]

cool how the timer ended with 007...

[@drrobert7543]

Well played! I had always assumed it would require much more use of the underground routes but here it's done very judiciously. Some close shaves with the opening pits, and tight squeezes with the rolling logs and timing dropping off the vine. Now you can take a photograph of your TV screen and send it away to Activision for your free Pitfall Harry Jungle Club patch!

[@rafaelogenio819]

Its a TAS. Nobody but the computer played it.

[@paxhumana2015]

@@rafaelogenio819 , I doubt that you could play as well as the game, thus your comment. Also, if the game was not meant to be solved that way, why would the person that made the game made it so that you could get all of the treasure in the game?

[@sandal_thong8631]

Pitfall was my only Activision game, and you don't need to beat it to get a score high enough for the patch. I thought I sent a picture in and got a patch, but I don't have it, so may misremember.

[@sandal_thong8631]

The TV advertisement for Pitfall! stars a young Jack Black.

[@CodeMystics]

The tunnels warp you. One screen underground covers the distance of 3 screens above ground. The reason to use the tunnels is to save time and cover a lot of empty screens. So if the next treasure were 10 screens over, and the tunnel was 4 screens long (which is 12 above ground), you take the tunnel and backtrack two screens, getting you there in 6 screens instead of 10.

[@1969EType]

Sigh... Information...I could've used...37 years ago... Jeez, no wonder I couldn't beat this game... [Googles Pitfall! map and gets mind blown]

[@PatrickvonMassow]

​@@1969EType Indeed not something you'd easily find out yourself. However, I think it was explained in the game's manual.

[@georgeross4384]

In 1982 we didn't have as good of a map of the jungle lol. I never knew when to go underground and when I did I always ran into the wall wasting time. I can remember scoring in the 90,000's but always running out of time and never sure how many treasuresrs were left.

[@ThrillingWonderLLC]

Whoa, that's impressive. I considered it a personal victory, back in the day, when I managed to survive for the whole 20 minutes. But to pick up all the objects and not lose any points to collisions... wow!

[@rafaelogenio819]

Its a TAS. Nobody but the computer played it.

[@paxhumana2015]

@@rafaelogenio819 , I doubt that you could play as well as the game, thus your comment. Also, if the game was not meant to be solved that way, why would the person that made the game made it so that you could get all of the treasure in the game? Now kindly go copulate yourself with your stupid comment. Thank you.

[@tonymaurice4157]

@rafaelogenio819 So this isn't a real person playing it?

[@UltraJay]

​​@@rafaelogenio819it's not saying TAS anywhere in this video

[@Beany695]

wow. You are to be commended on your work. I never was able to do that. Your time and energy did not go unnoticed. I hope you received whatever they promised to send you for beating the game. WELL DONE!

[@YargRetroGaming]

I thought i was close generally scoring around 80k back in the day... :) You didn't fall down a hole once, didn't hit any rolling logs... heck you didn't even stop for a significant time... and yet you only had 7 seconds left.... Tells me a perfect score is not a feat many people can do. It also tells me to not even bother trying myself 30 years later.... ;)

[@sandal_thong8631]

I skipped some parts so didn't check which path he used of the 2 I found you can use to make it in time.

[@privatepenguin3137]

This is great...thanks for posting! I played this for days on Intellivision when I was about 13. I actually DID map out the perfect strategy to do it...but if you mistime a jump a few times, it costs valuable seconds. I knew exactly how to execute it, but I think the best I did was about 99,000 points, but then just ran out of time.

[@sandal_thong8631]

You should be able to make it if the map's right. I think there's two possibilities. The trick is not to die 3 times (usually by scorpions).

[@fuzzywzhe]

It didn't even occur to me this was winnable when I was a kid. I thought it was like River Raid, and just went on forever.

[@Weshopwizard]

Still my favorite game of all time.

[@sailorvenus6366]

Good work! I didn't even know you could complete the game...I just thought I had 20 mins and that's it lol

[@actionsauce5]

This is the work of a HIGH EXALTED GRAND MASTER

[@martysmith6863]

so was there ever an ending to this game? is that what you just accomplished? I always thought it was until the time ran out. Never in my life could I last that long, not to mention on one man!!!! You should be crowned God of pitfall

[@krehztim]

Nope - no ending. You've got 20 minutes to find all the treasures, and they add up to 114,000 points. Time runs out, and the game's over. You just have to take the right scorpion paths to cut down on the screens.

[@rootykazooty351]

Yeh, the "good" ending is when you get all treasures and the clock freezes. I wasn't too bothered with my highest score, i just wanted as much time left on the clock as possible.

[@CodeMystics]

@joeyjermiah This was an early experiment with our control logging code used for debugging our emulators. (It was a human player, but the actual video here was made from playing back the control recording to make a second identical runthrough.) I remember there was some glitch in the log that had to be repaired. That might be it.

[@robertnesy7850]

one of the best game play for atari 2600 along with space invaders, defender, berzerk and missle command.

[@sandal_thong8631]

It was the most popular game of Christmas 1982.

[@adventurebloc]

Positively epic! Every second is precious.

[@CentraljocK]

I feel like 0.5 is the correct speed for this. Great vid! my fav game when i was 8!

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

Unless the player knows which tunnels to use its impossible to collect all 32 treasures in order to beat this game. Classic 👍

[@sandal_thong8631]

True. I had to map it out left and right until they connected and then find a path that would work in time.

[@CodeMystics]

@lXpOl As a kid, it was a lot of experimentation, but these days you can Google "Pitfall map". :)

[@marcelobrunorodrigues7630]

Great! That's the highest score that one colleague commented in my senior high school time.

[@gkavner]

Just makes me realise I would have to be extremely lucky to finish Pitfall I in the 20 mins. I've come close but always ran out of time. Interesting to see the 'reward' for completion (ie. nothing.)

[@marcellachine5718]

Isn't that the standard reward for most video games of that era? IE. Nothing . Or begin again at a more difficult level.

[@sandal_thong8631]

After all the work to win it (mapping it out and jumping scorpions), there should be an end scene, or if there's not room on Atari cart, then on Intellivsion version. When I was a kid I used to imagine he got picked up by a helicopter. So disappointing that I questioned years later whether I actually won it, so did it again a few years ago.

[@alliebooth1517]

​@@marcellachine5718😂 I still want a misspelled congratulations at the very least

[@marcellachine5718]

@@alliebooth1517 like in ghosts and goblins I think?

[@braedantaylor5124]

Code mystics really uploaded this

[@88DreadGT]

I remember I could always get a perfect score on Pitfall 2 but never this game. I'd get maybe 24 out of the 32 prizes and either run out of time or get killed... Nice job!

[@sandal_thong8631]

Yep, you need a map or a route to use the bottom scorpion-jumping screens to get through in time. I think I found 2 and did it at least twice, once in 1982-3 and another a few years ago. However, I hit the logs to lose some points, as well as losing 1 or 2 lives.

[@nfistfu]

The cool thing about this is that if I set the playback speed to 0.5 it looks like it's playing normally.

[@fpsawesom123]

Man. Pitfall on Atari 2600 is a real pain in the ass to find these days.

[@70sRockNRoller]

Not if you buy it on Atari Flashback 2. I think the latest version is 5.

[@Jenna-c1r]

nice work. such a classic game.

[@rafaelogenio819]

Good TAS! I Was looking for a TAS of this game.

[@sandal_thong8631]

WTF is TAS?

[@nastynate3163]

Jumping on the alligator heads requires incredible skill and accuracy. I could never do it. My mom was able to get a perfect score in this game though :-D

[@scooterahlers9666]

I must have missed one since I had a NEAR perfect game last year with a final score of 109,000.

[@DowntownCanon]

Influences of Donkey Kong, Frogger and Jungle King.

[@joeyjermiah]

Ok thanks for the explanation. I am attempting a perfect game on this and your video is helpful. Just found that one spot odd.

[@DharcNexus]

0:22 what a son of a .... XD

[@Thejellybaby]

You guys have my total kid and adult respect. Ever try stampede on 2600? Cool to see u guys play that one. Hard!

[@kewkabe]

I haven't seen or played this game in 40 years, but all the little timings and things you have to do on each screen immediately flooded back as I watched, at least on the earlier screens. When he got to those gold bars and the empty ground, I immediately remembered you have to wait because the hole will open up, and it did exactly that. I often can't remember all my coworkers' names, but I remember crap like that. Go figure.

[@sandal_thong8631]

If your co-worker puts you in a pit, I suppose you'll remember his name!

[@johnking4941]

I tried using the underground tunnel but I always ran into a brick wall. A perfect game, great job!

[@sandal_thong8631]

Yeah, you got to map it out. Or try to use his path, counting number of screens left or right.

[@Wasabialt]

You guys should make a video getting every achievement in Atari Vault, because there are some achievements that are impossible!

[@sandal_thong8631]

Just as Activision had a score to beat to send away for a patch, Atari had two logbooks that gave you three levels of scores to beat. I haven't beat the best of some of them, like invisible Space Invaders. Is this what you mean; did Atari Vault have scores to beat?

[@UpcomingJedi]

This is as disappointing as when I played ET 5 hours straight to get to 1 million points and then...... Nothing happened. The score went to 00000 and began to count up again. What a colossal waste of time! That game was as stupid as doing something to get in the guinness book of world records!

[@sandal_thong8631]

I guess you should take it back to the store like all the kids that could never win it! LOL. Flipping the score used to be an accomplishment for Space Invaders, Asteroids, etc. Last time I won 5 levels of E.T. and wrote my score somewhere. It's playable but frustrating. Looks like you mastered it. Congrats. They also had different levels, so if there's a teddy bear level, try next time with the men running around taking your stuff and putting you in the lab.

[@thejew1789]

My told me that he got to the last gold bar with the score back in 1982. His mother came into his room and blocked the screen with 7 seconds left on the clock and he fell into the hole. He’s still mad.

[@paxhumana2015]

I would have made that parent disappear for their idiocy, as well as sold their trashy and smutty "romance novels".

[@sandal_thong8631]

Walking in front of the screen happens all the time, as does turning it off on you. I can't see staying mad at that! I can understand being mad at your parents getting rid of your Atari, comic books, etc. while you're at college without your permission. My parents smashed my VIC-20 computer and double-cassette portable radio "boom box" on two occasions I was rude to my sister and brother, respectively.

[@billschlafly4107]

I loved this game when I was a kid. I tried and tried to get a perfect score. Once, I got to the last treasure on the screen without having made any mistakes and time ran out as I approached. I never played it again - as a kid. Excellent job by the way.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Pretty much the same for me. The winning ending looked like an out-of-time ending so that was disappointing. They could have done some fireworks like scoring a goal in Pele's Soccer, or lift him out of the jungle by a helicopter.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

To me, the most amazing thing about this game is how David Crane, the programmer, was able to fit 255 screens into only 4k of cartridge space. The way he did it is ingenious: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3O3YoKBa7t0f7c Unbelievably, none of the screens were designed by a human! He also talks about how he originally wanted to only give the player one Harry but was talked out of it by his fellow programmers. Problem was, he had already finished the game and used up virtually every single byte of storage so it then took him weeks and weeks to refine his code so that he could add the extra features. The man is a legend!

[@EnlightnMe48]

Never seen it done until now.

[@ObsidianContraption]

Hey there mystics. I was wondering if this gem or others like river raid would be included in a future vault for the Atari vcs?

[@CodeMystics]

We wish. Activision owns the games, so any re-release would be up to them.

[@paxhumana2015]

Why not go with a simpler way to get the game via Activision Anthology for the PS2 instead, @Obsidian Contraption?

[@ObsidianContraption]

@@paxhumana2015 I have them on a pi, would just like to play on the vcs

[@Error52QFG]

He's probably referring to the Pitfall II soundtrack

[@Alaska1925]

This game was really hard, compared to its sequel

[@Thejellybaby]

What kind of controller did u play with? This alligators still make my heart jump!

[@CodeMystics]

In this case, keyboard, but one of our crew actually accomplished this back on the original Atari 2600 back in the day.

[@1969EType]

The only correct answer here is...the Wico "Bat-Handle" joystick. It was all fun and games until someone showed up with one of those. What a glorious piece of over-engineered gaming accessory that was! It was exquisitely built and perfectly responsive.

[@Thejellybaby]

@@CodeMysticsVery cool

[@browntrout3994]

Impressive

[@daveidmarx8296]

Did the game actually freeze after picking up the final treasure or was that just part of the video?

[@CodeMystics]

That's what happens in Pitfall when you reach "game over" in Pitall for any reason. Note the "Activision" logo animates also at game over, so it's not the video. :)

[@daveidmarx8296]

@@CodeMystics Yeah, but there was still time left and there were still lives left... so what would be the reason for ending the game?

[@CodeMystics]

@@daveidmarx8296 Well, we didn't design the game, but we can speculate: maybe once you get a perfect score, the challenge then becomes to collect all the treasures in the least amount of time, so you'd want the clock to stop to see how much time it took.

[@_mnl_]

at double speed too!

[@markvincentlim6235]

Anyway my name is Pitfall Harry!

[@deejayborn]

Pitfall Harry got jets on..

[@MrDerpTurtle]

i always got into this level from the new pitfall and never got it.. still dont udnerstand from lokoing at this video

[@zykam1]

Entonces tiene un final o no?

[@Richard0915]

CodeMystics, I own the vol. 1 and vol.2 of the Atari Flashback classics on my Xbox one and I also have unlimited plays on all games on the mobile app, some games I suggest you guys add to them is Pitfall!, Joust, and Dig Dug, it would be amazing! I have them for an emulator on my computer, and I love them.

[@Richard0915]

Also, I claim WITCHCRAFT!!!!!1!! THIS IS AN ACT OF WITCHCRAFT, THIS FEAT CANNOT BE HUMANLY POSSIBLE!!!!!!!! But seriously, that must have taken your crew a while to do that, nice job, I was surprised when I saw it was by CodeMystics, because I remembered your logo from always switching between discs on the Xbox, and starting up the app.

[@CodeMystics]

Atari Flashback on Xbox is a collection of games made and owned by Atari. Pitfall! is Activision's game, Joust is Midway's, and Dig Dug is Namco's.

[@Richard0915]

CodeMystics oh ok, then do you have collections that include those...

[@CodeMystics]

Activision had us do Activision Anthology for iOS and Android, but nothing since. Joust is most recently on Lego Dimensions in their Midway Arcade expansion pack. Namco does their own compilations.

[@Richard0915]

ok cool thanks!

[@mathiaslindroth608]

Why did you travel left instead of right, which is the direction you face in the beginning?

[@CodeMystics]

You move with the logs instead of against them (less chance of tripping) and you can jump on the heads of the crocodiles without worrying about their mouths being open or closed, and then wait for the mouths to close to leap off rather than the other way around. Trying to time the jumps for a vine with the logs coming at you is trickier without breaking the flow.

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@CodeMystics Much better. I don't think I could win going right, even if there was a path to do it in time.

[@donniewinter5331]

Good job

[@SuperBoomshack]

All that work just to get a blast from Sub Zero😂

[@MrCxmx]

beautiful

[@anthonycassimiro2295]

I never cleared the whole game.

[@kingvoxel6516]

Something suspicious happens at 3:10

[@CodeMystics]

See the pinned comment.

[@krehztim]

The comments about Pitfall 2 are interesting to me. I mastered this one, but I just can't seem to get a perfect score in the sequel. This one, you just have to hit the right underground passages, since you don't have time for all 250-whatever screens. I don't think I've ever had more than 20 seconds left, so you've definitely gotta haul and take a chance or 2 on some vines. I just can't go a game of Pitfall II without losing some points somewhere.

[@70sRockNRoller]

I managed to get a perfect score on Pitfall II years ago when I had my Atari 2600. He does a little dance when you finally get the girl at the end. But, I never got a perfect score on Pitfall. On Pitfall II, you have to know which places to jump to and which side cavern have the treasures in them. I doubt I'd remember it now.

[@dnjj1845]

This game needed a better objective, throw in some easter eggs too.

[@delfmeek]

Nice! Two Thubs up! Remember to send in your photo for your patch! :)

[@bubba7578]

Damn boi how long did this take?

[@lXpOl]

How do you know which direction to go to find all the treasures?

[@1969EType]

Short answer...trial and error and comparing notes with friends on the playground at recess. There may have been an Atari 2600 magazine back in 1982 when this was released but, gamer mags back then were really just advertising platforms for new games. There were some articles that provided playing advice and strategies but, for a game like Pitfall! you would need a multi-page spread that would consume lots of pages and increase the magazine's production costs. Overall, in the early days of gaming the prevailing attitude was that is was a point of personal pride and street cred to beat a game by yourself with minimal outside assistance. As games evolved and became more complex, this attitude obviously changed.

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@1969EType Trial and error won't work, there's too many screens. You have to map them out going left and going right several times until you find you've connected. Once you do that you look for paths. I found two and I think the one I used was better than theirs since I think I had more than 7 seconds, even after bumping some logs. I still have the map I made in 1982-3, and the two guides telling when to go down-left and top-right.

[@MrHappycamper100]

that was close O_O saw some guy beat it with 50 seconds left (he didn't get a perfect score though)

[@sandal_thong8631]

That sounds more like my game. I found two paths on my map, but didn't get it out to watch and compare.

[@stonedsavage7814]

What score did you need for the patch on this game?

[@CodeMystics]

20,000

[@lilbuggers3]

under 20 minutes and a photograph of your screen

[@moomoomoo33ass]

Some people have WAYYYYYYYYYYYY too much time on their hands. It was a cool game when I was a kid though

[@KonstantinosPappas72]

i reckon it can be done in lesser time. maybe a few more seconds...

[@Poisonnachos]

What soundtrack.

[@CliftonPhotographer]

Why is it that at 9:44 you see the gold above you,but go one board over to the left,then go up the ladder and back THREE boards? I noticed this happen a couple of times where you have to go further back than where the treasure is.

[@1969EType]

1 screen underground is 3 screens above ground...commonly referred to by Pitfall! jihadists as "warp". The trick of course was figuring out when and where to go spelunking such that you did not overshoot a treasure (all of which are above ground) forcing you to either backtrack, be blocked by an underground wall and or go back and re-jump all the scorpions you just jumped.

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@1969EType Took a lot of playtime to make a map by going as far as you could right and same going left, then finding a path using underground shortcuts. My win left me with more than 7 seconds on the clock.

0.5x speed hell yeah

[@dennisbenedict5161]

I never could last the whole 20 minutes -_- I can beat Pitfall II with a perfect score in about thirty minutes though :)

[@rodrigoalves76]

Pitfall belezinha!

[@k1ngmak3r71]

Cracked :)

[@aparecidashek2358]

Amava esse jogo

[@SyahrilBaharuddinSellangme]

How do you know what to do and were to go in this game

[@1969EType]

Your question is a good one and speaks to the evolution of gaming since 1982 when Pitfall! was released. Honestly, it was mostly word of mouth. A couple of kids in the neighborhood all got the game about the same time and then at recess everyday, we would compare notes about what we had tried, scores, etc. What this video doesn't show is there are places underground where vertical walls would prevent you from advancing so, your only option was to turn around and go back above ground. Assuming you could safely re-jump all of the scorpions you jumped on your way to being stopped by a wall. This effectively ended any hope you had of beating the game during that try. It was purely trial and error. Somehow a more sophisticated and purer form of gaming...from a more civilized age.

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@1969EType "Trial and Error?" Nonsense. After I ran out of time running on the top, and i learned that underground skipped you three screens (maybe from the instructions) I mapped out all the treasures by going left on one attempt, and right on another until they overlapped. Then I looked for paths to cross fewer screens by going down-left and up-right than just running up-left to save time. Then I had to learn to jump scorpions without dying more than twice. I still have the map and guide to the path, and found a second path a couple years ago to win in better time.

[@1969EType]

@@sandal_thong8631 Well, Sandal...what can I say? You are...The One. Congratulations...you win the Interwebz, I guess...

[@jclay6680]

13:38 he died (restarted) ?

[@CodeMystics]

The video is only 9:59 long, so... no? (If you're talking about 3:11, that glitch is explained in the pinned comment.)

[@ChaplinaRyona]

cool

[@pepehimovic3135]

Why

[@medexamtoolscom]

What happened at 3:11? Because what it LOOKS to me what happened at 3:11 is ya cheated and spliced clips together.

[@CodeMystics]

See the newly-pinned reply from the first time this came up 6 years ago. :)

[@fpsawesom123]

That's why we have emulators.

[@glorimona]

An emulator, Search Atari 2600 Emulator then Pitfall ROM.

[@SPINUNDRUM]

Never got very far, but wow how boring. It doesn't change at all!

[@sandal_thong8631]

I asked my cousin's son (who liked to watch people play games on KZbin) if he wanted to see games I played at his age. "No." There's a dozen different screens, some with vines, some without, and some accessing the tunnels. It was the Atari game to get for Christmas 1982. Kids also got E.T. but returned them in droves. People also wanted Donkey Kong, but the Atari and Intellivison ports sucked, but it did sell 500,000 ColecoVision consoles. Though some said compared to the arcade even that advanced version was disappointing. Other games had at most 5 screens or stages, like Phoenix and Gorf. Adventure and Superman being adventure-games had ~30. Activision pushed the envelope with Pitfall, followed by Pitfall II in 1984 (after I stopped buying Atari games).

[@Poisonnachos]

Ohhh

[@randallgoeswhere]

As suspected another hard game with a crappy ending.

[@marleydondeestoyjajajaja8953]

...

[@eggbass]

google free80sarcade

[@drainide]

C'mon you deserved some prize at the end, this is bs

[@tim_nj_devil176]

Actually, you did get a prize. When ACTIVISION was making ATARI games, they had a section of the instructional manual that offered a challenge and if you achieved a certain score for example, took a photo of the screen and mailed it in, they would send you a patch. For PITFALL! it was a score of 20,000 or more.

[@RetroRPM72]

YES!!! They also did the same with River Raid.

[@zilchsr]

@@RetroRPM72 They did with nearly every Atari 2600 & 5200 game they released (up through 1983 releases like Frostbite, Pressure Cooker, Space Shuttle, etc.).

[@sandal_thong8631]

The patches now cost more than the Activision cartridges! But I agree; I used to imagine he'd be taken away in a helicopter. It shouldn't look the same as if you ran out of time.

[@chrishawkins7586]

Not perfect. U missed some points. Nice run

[@CodeMystics]

No... 150,000 is actually the maximum score achievable. It's well-documented.

[@foxer2628]

Doctor: You have 10 minutes to live Me:

[@joeyjermiah]

at 3:11 looks like you died in the water but there is a glitch in the video.

[@DragonTigerDude]

And it only took 30 years! Lol

[@lllexoduslll]

I thought you were going to mess up at 9:52.

[@AyaneOfDeath]

Man my favourite Atari Game

[@McOuchies]

As Darth Vader would say...*deeper voice*: Impressive...most impressive

[@lindaeasley4336]

I found out that you could safely land on top of the croc 's head when swinging across

[@eggbass]

I still have my Explorer's Club patch :)