Pitfall! Critic Reviews

A thoroughly entertaining runner with enough personality to make it one of the best games on the App Store. Activision probably should have released it for free, as this is the standard where these games are concerned, but our dollar was very well spent.

If you're looking for a 3D runner with a distinctive visual style and thrilling level design, Pitfall! will more than satisfy. However, with an upgrades system that proves to be more frustrating than fun, I can't help but feel that Activision missed a huge opportunity to place itself as the absolute "best 3D runner on the App Store".

Activision has brought its classic platformer Pitfall back in a new iOS game. It bears more than a passing resemblance to the popular mobile game Temple Run, which will likely cause many to write it off as a simple clone.

This isn't Pitfall as you may know it - in fact it's another Temple Run style title, but one that feels at home with Harry's perilous trip down the side of a mountain.

Pitfall! manages to bring the gameplay of the original version to iOS, but it borrows –maybe too much– from other iOS/Android games like Temple Run. Apart from this, it's a fast and entertaining game, offering a very addictive and refreshing proposal on iOS. Ideal for those never-ending summer days.

The relentless push towards purchasing and a poorly thought out reward system plagues Pitfall!. Other games use upgrades to help players make permanent progress and that feeds the addiction. Pitfall!, however, falls into an avaricious money pit and ultimately feeds frustration.

Endless runner fans that don't mind the genre's frustrating one-hit deaths will enjoy Activision's refined take on the growing genre. Pitfall's similarity to its predecessor and reliance on In-App Purchases prevent it from being a true mobile gaming great, but I still enjoyed this daring volcano escape.

Pifall! is an average running game, with some nice graphics and music. Touch controls don't always work as they should, however, and the experience delivered is everything but original.

Activision had an opportunity to rekindle gamers affection for the Pitfall! brand, and they may still just win the hearts of casual gamers. But they'll do so in the ugliest way possible, by ripping of an independent competitor and begging for cash. The gameplay is like the gold statue in Indiana Jones. An enticing trap.

By abandoning the original and failing to match the best Temple Run clones on the market, Pitfall has misjudged its leap onto the iOS platform.

Activision cashes in on a classic by making one of the most important console games in history just another endless running game.

It's still worth it to see what it brings to the genre, but don't expect to finish it without significant financial investment.