Does this game have a Double Jumo? Yes.

Pitfall is a pretty neat platformer, but it gets really annoying about 3/4 through for me so I just quit. It starts out impressive tbh, good artstyle, very cartoony performances by Steve Blum and the animation team. Like the animations are really fun and Pitfall Harry is way more expressive than he should be. The traditional pits in this game are also just "Mouths in the Ground"; like they have teeth and they chew and they just generally ungulate, its a really cool design choice.

The game plays pretty well, and you unlock a bunch of abilities/tools that are neat. An early mechanic you learn that is vital to many of the tools is that your right thumbstick controls your hand to grab treasure (that you would just pick up by walking into it in any other game. It is really fucking funny to just watch Pitfall Harry just stand around and grope the air, along with his ability to just turn into the Morph Ball and roll around. Most of the tools you have rely on you moving your hand with the thumb stick. For example, you have a estus flask, that when you equip, you hold up to drink from it to heal, and to fill it up you must hold it down in a heal pool. There is a raft that you use the thumbsticks as paddles to move around (it is very clunky and annoying though) and pickaxes that you climb with each stick to a axe, and other ones too. I like when games use the thumbsticks like this, it can feel just really intuitive (sometimes) and has usually made me feel better when playing a game.

This game is kind of annoying to traverse if you want to go back to other areas, or trying to figure out where to go when it doesnt just lead you in a straight line. The map isnt a real video game map so it can be confusing with exit you need to go to in a room. About 3/4's through the game the individual rooms get annoying too. The boss I quit on is like a typical sumo "knock them out of the arena" boss, but it just does not control good at all because you are playing as a penguin instead and it just sucks. I was already getting annoyed at later stuff in this game so I just thought I got my fill.

This game is weird. Even though Pitfall is something Activision tries to bring back every once in a while, this one still feels like it came out of left field. It’s especially strange because it’s admittedly pretty good. The Lost Expedition is a 3D Metroidvania that takes place in a jungle with deep caverns, snowy mountains, ancient temples, and more. There’s a wide variety of tools you receive throughout the game and tons of useful collectibles to find for upgrades. The best part about it is arguably the movement. Harry’s animations are snappy, silly, and cartoonish. Combined with responsive controls, the animations make Harry feel smooth as butter to control. I don’t find the music very catchy or memorable, but it compliments the environments and actions really well. In terms of the design and gameplay, I think it aged pretty well.

The absolute worst things about this game are the writing and scenarios. The writing itself is pretty generic; I can barely even remember the plot. The primary issues are the sexism and racism. Pitfall Harry is a creep to women at almost every opportunity he can get. The ending culminates in Harry being the Prophetic White Guy Savior to the ancient civilization of El Dorado. Additionally, you’re going to be spending the majority of the game brutally beating animals and natives to death as they try to defend themselves. As a kid, I didn’t really think twice, but as an adult, it’s kind of awkward to kill them and just look at their lifeless bodies on the ground. I think an apt summary of this game is the penguin enemy you’ll encounter in the icy mountain areas. Each penguin has a nest that they leave very briefly to slide and lunge at you. If you destroy the egg in the nest while the penguin is gone, the penguin will start crying and it will no longer attack you. This game has all sorts of great attention to detail like this, but it feels wrong in lots of places.

Product of its time for sure. Middle of the road 3D platformer that's perfectly serviceable but doesn't excel at anything. It wants you to collect upgrades and revisit old areas to collect more stuff, but I found the level design too linear to encourage doing so. Traversal isn't fun enough for me to want to run through all the areas the same way several times since none of the upgrades allow you to approach areas differently. The game already has me doing that enough anyway. Rewards for exploration are also always uninteresting and exactly what you expect.

I didn't find any of the characters very likeable, especially Harry. The jaguar was really annoying. The story in general is whatever but it's not like I expected much. Audio mixing in this game is terrible and sound effects vary wildly in quality.