Pitfall

Kids today may turn away in disgust at these screenshots but back in 1982 Pitfall pushed the Atari 2600 to very extreme and helped to change the face of home gaming. With over 4,000,000 units sold and a number of sequels pumped out over the following 30 years it's fair to say this was one of the most revolutionary games in history.

The game controls a very simple character (Pitfall Harry) as he goes through the jungle searching for a number of treasure. In the players way are a number of obstacles including snakes, burning logs, sandpits and crocodiles (amongst others). The player can move left or right, they can jump and they can go down the ladders to enter a tunnel (which helps the player get around some obstacles) and they can swing on vines to get over sandpits.

On the whole it does seem really simple yet the game is still as fun and addictive as it was back in the day. The problem is that Pitfall does look like a game from the 1980's and it also sounds like a game from the 1980's. The colours are limited, the graphics are primitive and the sounds are horrifically digitized. Whilst some older gamers may see this as a sign of the games charm it's honestly a bit like looking at a beauty queen from the 60's as she looks today all withered, wrinkly and rather saggy. And whilst looks aren't "everything" they do mean something to the modern day gamer who wants realism and the chance to see real time reflections in water.

If we can see past the graphics and the sound and remember this is a game that has just turned 29 years old (back in September) then we can actually appreciate it for what it is. It's a game that helped further the platforming genre, it helped make Atari the dominant company in the early 1980's and it helped home gaming become what it is today.

Whilst it may look uninspired now, at the time it helped revolutionize gaming. It's with this in mind that we've decided not to give the game a score as such but put it safely in our new "History Vault" section as a "Certified Classic".

Details:
Console-Atari 2600 (ported to almost every console of the 1980's and early 1990's and also Windows Live Phone in 2011)
Release-1982
Developer-Activision
Genre-2D Platformer
Players-1

Trivia:
The advert (which can be seen below) features Jack Black (of Tenacious D fame)

Pit Fighter

"The Hall Of Shame" was never meant to be a huge part of this website though with gaming abominations like Pit Fighter it's hard not see it growing rather quickly.

"Pit Fighter" was originally released in 1990 on Arcade machines though would later be ported to a wide number of home consoles including the Sega Mega Drive and the SNES (it's the SNES version we're reviewing here) and really stink up the living room.

The game, in all it's versions is a fighting game that seems to have taken ideas from "Fight Club" and thrown it in to a grinder with Mortal Kombat and then added a control method that seems to have been sent straight from hell.

 The player controls one of 3 characters (Buzz or Ty on the home console versions, whilst "Kato" was also playable in the arcade original). Despite the images and stuff looking "OK" on the character select screen, this is about the only time the game does anything other than stink out the joint.

Firstly the controls, or rather the attempt at controls. The problem is that the controls seem to have been set up by someone who has never played a video game and has decided not to try them for the game. They are dodgy, harsh and seem to respond randomly. This is added to the computer generated characters that never seem to miss and seem to be able to deck you swiftly and really hurt you. This combines to make the game as difficult to play as trying to cut your finger nails with a bread knife and almost as enjoyable.

Added to the extreme difficulty  and poor controls are turgid graphics that feel like they are trying to rape your eyes. It appears as if you are fighting in a Dojo though even that is hard to be sure of as it really just looks like a generic and dire design. Whilst the level design is poor the character models are wooden and horrific which makes you wonder just who thought any of it looked good.
Whilst you may wish to say "Oh but it is 20 years old" that's not really an excuse, I've seen older games that look better, play better and are over all a much more enjoyable experience than this half arsed attempt at a fighting game.

What Pit Fighter does do well however is make it completely obvious when you need to stop playing. After you get beaten you see a very clear image of "GAME OVER", thankfully after seeing this screen once or twice you'll agree and never play this wretched abortion ever again.

With fighting games like Street Fight II and Mortal Kombat II you have NO REASON to every subject yourself to this dreadful excuse for a game. If you collect dreadful games whack this on your list, if you play games for fun however stay away from this.

12%

Details:
Console-Arcade, Sega Mega Drive, SNES and a host of others
Release-1990 (Arcade)
Developer-Atari Games
Genre-Fighting
Players-1 or 2 on home consoles, 1-3 on the arcade

Trivia:
This is often referred to as the worst SNES game ever, and I happen to agree
The games animations were originally done on bluescreen, this was one of the first games to do things that way.