History YMMV / Pitfall

* SugarWiki/GeniusProgramming: It can't be understated just how much of a technical marvel both the Atari 2600 games are. While [[OnceOriginalNowCommon mundane nowadays,]] the fact that the original had a full background, multiple procedurally generated screens, ''and'' a fully animated character sprite was seriously impressive; which it's sequel would push even further by adding stuff like animated water and interactive music; the latter of which most ''2600'' games were lucky to have ''at all'', let alone one that reflects how the player is doing. All this on a system that was largely designed to just play ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'' and pong-like games.

* SugarWiki/GeniusProgramming: It can't be understated just how much of a technical marvel both the Atari 2600 games are. While [[OnceOriginalNowCommon mundane now a days,]] the fact that the original had a full background, multiple procedurally generated screens, ''and'' a fully animated character sprite was seriously impressive; which it's sequel would push even further by adding stuff like animated water and interactive music; the latter of which most ''2600'' games were lucky to have ''at all'', let alone one that reflects how the player is doing. All this on a system that was largely designed to just play ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'' and pong-like games.

* SugarWiki/GeniusProgramming: It can't be understated just how much of a technical marvel both the Atari 2600 games are. While [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny mundane now a days,]] the fact that the original had a full background, multiple procedurally generated screens, ''and'' a fully animated character sprite was seriously impressive; which it's sequel would push even further by adding stuff like animated water and interactive music; the latter of which most ''2600'' games were lucky to have ''at all'', let alone one that reflects how the player is doing. All this on a system that was largely designed to just play ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'' and pong-like games.

!!The TV Series
* WhatAnIdiot: Several.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1A8PTptpHA Rosemary]], who completely bombed the Pitfall Round in the worst way possible, not even making it to the second zone after being trapped in the first pit for most of her time. However, she did do a little better on her second attempt.
** A lot of the show's contestants proved to be rather dimwitted, including one who thought a baseball game had four quarters.
** The show had a rule regarding Pit Passes — if you had a Pass for a particular zone, you still had to hand it to Alex in order to skip over that part of the bridge. Plenty of contestants fell into a Pitfall despite having a pass for that zone because they forgot to give it to Trebek, a point that he liked to rub into the players' faces afterward. [[ObviousRulePatch This changed when they changed the rules in which Alex directly asked for the Pitpasses at the appropriate moments.]]

* {{Metroidvania}}: Pitfall II may be the UrExample.[[note]]Which would also make it OlderThanTheNES.[[/note]]

* FridgeLogic: Who lit those campfires in the original game? Campfires just don't light themselves...or do they?

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Per a trade ad, the series was originally pitched for a fall 1979 launch with John Barton (who instead ended up announcing when ''Pitfall'' went into production two years later) as host, and was going to use celebrities (with Marty Allen and Nipsey Russell among the stars who participated), but was ultimately shelved for another two years after one of the celebrities got his fingers crushed by grabbing onto the cage above one of the elevators during the bonus round and threatened a lawsuit.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Per a trade ad, the series was originally pitched for a fall 1979 launch with John Barton (who instead ended up announcing when ''Pitfall'' went into production two years later) as host, and was going to use celebrities (with Marty Allen and Nipsey Russell among the stars who participated), but the series was shelved for another two years after one of the celebrities got his fingers crushed by grabbing onto the cage above one of the elevators during the bonus round and threatened a lawsuit.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Per a trade ad, the series was originally pitched for a fall 1979 launch with John Barton (who instead ended up announcing when ''Pitfall'' went into production two years later) as host, and was going to use celebrity/contestant teams (with Marty Allen and Nipsey Russell among the stars who participated), but the series was shelved for another two years after one of the celebrities got his fingers crushed while celebrating during the bonus round and threatened a lawsuit.

** A lot of the show's contestants proved to be rather dimwitted, including one who thought a baseball game had four quarters.[note]Admittedly, baseball isn't quite as popular in Canada (where the show and most contestants originated) as in the US, but most Canadians should be at least passing familiar with the basic rules.[/note]

** A lot of the show's contestants proved to be rather dimwitted, including one who thought a baseball game had four quarters.

* HilariousInHindsight: The end of the Mayan Adveture, where Pitfall Harry Sr appears in Atari graphics. He's not the only [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 missing father named Harry]] [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 to make an ending cameo with retro graphics]].

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lZHBYc0A_A Rosemary]], who completely bombed the Pitfall Round in the worst way possible, not even making it to the second zone after being trapped in the first pit for most of her time. However, she did do a little better on her second attempt.

* HilariousInHindsight: The end of the Mayan Adveture, where Pitfall Harry Sr appears in Atari graphics. He's not the only [[SilentHill missing father named Harry]] [[SilentHill2 to make an ending cameo with retro graphics]].

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* TooGoodToLast: It's beloved by those who have seen it.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The 1994 platformer ''Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure'' is filled to the brim with this trope. From the nasty jaguars and the life status that shows a crocodile slowly approaching to eat you up to the fact that killed animals become skulls, it will haunt you for years. And that's before you fight against a Mayan stone god as the final boss...

** The show had a rule regarding Pit Passes — if you had a Pass for a particular zone, you still had to hand it to Alex in order to skip over that part of the bridge. Plenty of contestants fell into a Pitfall despite having a pass for that zone because they forgot to give it to Trebek, a point that he liked to rub into the players' faces afterward.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJ25wJu_YU Rosemary]], who completely bombed the Pitfall Round in the worst way possible, not even making it to the second zone after being trapped in the first pit for most of her time. However, she may not be a total klutz since Trebek ''did'' mention that she had won close to $17,000 in cash and prizes before this, so she must have had some successful runs beforehand.