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Super Pitfall 30th Anniversary Edition

Original game : Super Pitfall

Platform : NES

Author : Nesrocks

Release date : 05 September 2016

Category : Complete

Patch version : 1.0

Modifications : G, S, T, P, O

Downloads : 5943

ROM Information

No-Intro Name: Super Pitfall (USA)
CRC32: A4958020 (With Header)

(No-Intro version 20130731-235630)
File SHA-1: 2373E952FECC5F7507F99476E82C298CAB1F51CB
ROM SHA-1: B29F4BB5B0C30ED133AD82CA5A2134C31C003862

Hack description

Super Pitfall 30th Anniversary Edition.
Release 1.0 - 05 Sept 2016.
A hack by Nesrocks.
New soundtrack by FCandChill.
Pitfall II arrangements by rockman_x_2002.

This hack was created in celebration to 30 years of Super Pitfall. It vastly
improves the original game while keeping the base game and level layout intact.
The idea was to modernize, fix and beautify the original game because the author felt
like the game's problems kept it from getting justice.

This hack changes the game's code, graphics and sounds in several ways.
Some of them include:

- Completely new graphics
- Completely new Soundtrack
- New menu screens
- Improved game design (no more hidden items, warps are now doors, new in-game HUD, improved game controls, small level design adjustments, etc!)
- Improved performance
- Seamless, fully automatic save feature (please hold reset while shutting down when playing on a repro cartridge to avoid save file corruption).
- Available languages: English and Portuguese (choose one of the patches in the zip)
- Many more small improvements!

Please read the readme for full credits and special thanks.

Tools and information used:
- Fceux
- yychr and PrgEditor
- Hex Workshop, XVI32 and Frhed
- Google Docs spreadsheets
- MapEd Pro: http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7111&sid=c71519e55ea188ca3afbe7ffbae1454a&start=60
- PPUSplit: http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/2080/glitchnes-02/
- NESHEAD
- Famitracker
- Punes
- Notepad++
- Lunar Ips
- ROM Hasher
- 6502 opcodes: http://www.6502.org/tutorials/6502opcodes.html

You're free to build upon or modify this hack. Please keep credits where credits are due.
The hack contains original artwork which may not be used in commercial products.
The unmodified game Super Pitfall is the property of Activision.
If you have questions contact me at nesrocks@gmail.com

http://nesrocks.com

Screenshots

Contributions

ContributorType of contributionDescription
NesrocksGraphics
NesrocksHacking
FCandChillMusic

Reviews

This awesome hack!VitalikNerd0052021-12-04Version 1.0

Hack on a dull bad game, made into not just a hack but a full-fledged indie game on the NES!!

Everything is great here, now this hack has convenient controls, nice and colorful graphics, endless pistol cartridges and music takes from Pitfall 2 on the Atari 2600, and also added a save function.

Аll in all, I advise you to play this awesome hack!!!!

Works with the Japanese version!Cjleeh2021-08-09Version 1.0

I love the passion that went into this piece of art, but I also have nothing more to say really. I played it, and I enjoy it. I keep coming back to it, and I did patch the Japanese version to see if it worked. Seems good so far.

Beautiful !alien nose job2019-04-11Version 1.0

Beautiful work, the visuals are great and the musics are very catchy, all over it's a new game, the only thing that could be an improvement would be if you could shoot while ducking. Congratulations and a big thanks!

A Familiar New ExperienceMother Kojiro2019-03-14Version 1.0

I'm going to be up front: I really like the original Super Pitfall. Yes, it's a nasty, broken glitch picnic, but it has both a surreal charm from all of the absurd things that happen (some of them intentional), and it's also a very authentic video game experience from its era; exploring the whole cavern takes me right back to that dusty old basement with Donkey Kong, Circus Charlie, and Altered Beast cabinets, among many others. It isn't nostalgic for me, exactly, but it's a neat time capsule. I was wondering if this hack would be able to maintain that original charm, and having finished it, and explored every single corner, I can say that it absolutely does not. So why the recommend? For one, I can always play the original, if that's what I'm looking for, but more importantly, this hack brings a new charm all its own.

It's really amazing how a new tileset with some minor palette and level tweaks can give such a drastic new feel to such a familiar old experience. The level design tweaks are almost all very minor, and absolutely every one of them is for the better. The new HUD keeps track of which major items you've found, how much treasure you've collected, and that's a big deal, although, it would've been nice to also keep track of how many of each "key" you've found. No problem, though; items are no longer invisible, so you can play this like a normal game. Having infinite bullets once you find the gun is an absolute boon, too! There were other nice little touches, like new music, and a new palette for those weird vulture warp areas. The music can be a little hit or miss when compared with the original soundtrack, but nothing is outright bad, and overall, there is a lot more musical variety. Some glitches present in the original are still here, but they're mostly graphical, so they don't affect the experience much.

Awesomestevebarn2017-10-29Version 1.0

It's an impressive hack ! I walked into hacks for several years now and it's one of the best I saw, the maker of this hack deserves to receive great encouragement for his enormous work !

Believe the hype.Chronosplit2017-06-11Version 1.0

This is every bit as good as people say. And it's outright amazing, because Super Pitfall was so bad. It boggles the mind just how much better Super Pitfall in general is now.

This hack is not the overhaul Super Pitfall deserves, but it's the one it absolutely needed. Get this now and have some fun.

Super Pitfall: The Good EditionAndromeda2016-09-09Version 1.0

First off, I have to commend the time and effort it took to essentially rebuild Super Pitfall from the ground up. Comparing the hack to the original game, it is almost unrecognizable in every way, save for the enemies and gameplay. This isn't a bad thing by any means; in truth, the new content is greatly welcomed in an extremely bland game. Playing this hack, I cherished all the updates offered, but there is still a glaring problem nonetheless: Super Pitfall itself.

You see, there are many problems from Super Pitfall that the 30th Anniversary hack cannot cover up, be it the inability to do so, or choosing not to fix them. Pitfall Harry still can't shoot his gun while crouching (the mod seems to have removed crouching as a whole) which is a major problem, as a small chunk of enemies are too short to shoot at the standing position. No matter if the music from Pitfall II, or the "hidden objects" are already in clear day, Super Pitfall's repetition is still visible in the mod.

All-in-all, this is a prime example of what modding a game can do, for better or worse. In this case, Super Pitfall: 30th Anniversary does the best job it can to address and fix the problems plaguing the original. It is a mod that can be best enjoyed when comparing it to the unmodified original.

Almost unrecognizable as the same game (in a good way!)Midna2016-09-05Version 1.0

This hack does an admirable job of taking a clunky, vague, generally unpleasant NES game and making it a decent, even fun, game. Steps were taken to remove or alleviate most of the game's annoying features (unclear objectives, messy and unfair level design, bad music, bad graphics, limited bullets), and the end result is leaps and bounds better - definitely what the game as released should have been. It's still an NES game, so it's still pretty hard and easy to get lost in. Making Super Pitfall a better game doesn't mean removing the challenge, after all. But the better physics and level design give the impression that when you die, it's your fault and not the game's.

Definitely worth a look!

How it should have been releasedmacbee2016-09-05Version 1.0

It's nice to see justice being done to Super Pitfall. It's a very good game trashed by poor execution of the original team. Now that it's fixed I'm sure that many people will give it a second chance.

Super Pitfall was the second NES cart I ever had (and I played it for countless hours when I was a kid) - so I'm familiar enough with this game to assure this hack is a work of affection and respect to the original (despite all flaws made by Micronics) and to the Pitfall franchise itself.

Super Pitfall Dug Up and PolishedFCandChill2016-09-05Version 1.0

This hack greatly improves upon the original by Micronics. It was originally a deeply flawed game ... however, with the work of nesrocks, many others, and I ... we managed to polish up this game to make it much more playable and enjoyable. Greatly improved graphics, much better music, save feature, and less buggy gameplay ... what more could you ask? The movement with Harry is a little weird ... but it was like that in the original and is easy to adjust to. Nesrocks hinted that he isn't finished with this hack thus I hope that in the future a more complex sound engine is implemented so I can improve my songs!

Super Pitfall: Good EditionArjak2016-09-05Version 1.0

Super Pitfall, as it was originally released in 1986-87, was a disaster of monumental proportions. While it had a great game concept, that concept was buried under a pile of flaws a mile high: Bland, ugly graphics, ear-bleeding repetitive music, and design decisions that will drive you insane. And that was on top of the game being a buggy, unpolished mess.

Thirty years later, NESRocks has released a patch that claims to fix a lot of the problems that made the original such a lost cause. Does it succeed? Not only does it succeed, it does so beyond my wildest dreams. The game is now actually fun to play.

Gameplay: 10/10

When I played the original Super Pitfall, I felt depressed afterwards because I knew that under all of those flaws was a good game trying to get out. Unfortunately, it is quite clear that the programmer of the original game, Micronics, couldn't make the NES look good if their lives depended on it.

This patch makes several fixes to the game that make it much more fun to play. First of all, all items are always visible, meaning that you no longer have to jump around to find a hot spot to make them appear. Warps have been given the same treatment. Now, instead of jumping into a random wall or condor (which looks exactly like the ones that kill you), there are doors that you simply walk up to.

These two improvements on their own are a godsend, but NESRocks has also taken the time to fix a lot of the bugs that made the game a pain to play. I never fell off a ladder when climbing, which was a common occurrence in the original. There are still some graphical issues, but they never caused me a problem while playing.

In the original game, you had to constantly be on the hunt for additional bullets for your gun. In this version, the gun has unlimited ammo, but you don't start with it. It's pretty close to the beginning though, so it's not a problem. After constantly being out of bullets in the original game, this is a welcome change.

The game now saves your progress, which is quite helpful, as you no longer need to worry about the continue code. This does lead to an interesting change. When you lose a life, you start close to where you died, like in the original game. However, when you game over, you now re-spawn from the starting point of whatever map you were on. Even though this can be very frustrating, it still feels fair, balancing the game so that you can't just breeze through it.

Replacing the score and bullets counter is an inventory shown at the bottom of the screen. This new display shows all of the items currently in your possession, from keys to quest items, to how many gold bars you have found. This is very helpful.

Last but not least, there are now options on the main menu to go to a screen that shows your objectives and current progress, as well as a Music Test. If you are familiar with the original, you might wonder why on earth anyone would use that, but hold that thought for now.

All in all, these major and minor changes make the game much more playable and even, dare I say, good. There is one point in the level design that reminds me of that death trap at the beginning of the original game (which has been fixed), where dropping off a ladder causes you to fall into a lava pit, but besides that, the game is now almost infinitely more playable.

Graphics: 10/10

The moment you boot up the game, you are treated to a gorgeous new title screen that really shows off the major improvements made in the graphical department. The game is now colorful, vibrant, and quite charming to look at. A large percentage of the sprites and background tiles have been completely redrawn, to much improvement. The original game looked like a very early and primitive game for the NES, which in all fairness, it was. The new graphics are a huge upgrade, taking full advantage of the system's capabilities and make the game look like a much later release.

Of special note are the new sprites for Pitfall Harry, Rhonda, and Quickclaw the lion, all of which have been completely redesigned. Harry no longer resembles Mario. His new design is cute, charming, and far more appealing. He also now points the gun in the right direction. Rhonda and Quickclaw have been redrawn to resemble their counterparts from the Saturday Supercade cartoon, which is quite a clever nod, as that was where the characters first appeared.

Finally, in a very nice touch, there is now an actual ending graphic! No more black screen with text! Good riddance!

All in all, I couldn't imagine the game looking better. One of the most striking facelifts I've seen in gaming.

Sound: 8/10

The original soundtrack for Super Pitfall was jaw-droppingly bad. The main theme was an irritating 15 second loop, and the other songs weren't much better. The new soundtrack isn't perfect, but my god, what an improvement.

All of the songs have been replaced. The new main theme is a nice remix of the Pitfall II: Lost Caverns theme, which is appropriate, as Super Pitfall is basically a remake of that game. The song also lasts slightly over a minute now, which goes a long way to making the experience more enjoyable. The balloon theme has been upgraded, but is otherwise the same song. The warp area and Dark World themes are brand new, and both are well composed and appropriate. The warp area theme is a calmer, more laid back tune, and the Dark World theme is suitably spooky.

While not one of the best soundtracks on the system (to be fair, it has formidable competition), it is quite serviceable and does the game far more credit than the original. You might actually feel like using the Music Test!

Speaking of which, the old soundtrack is still in the game, and is available for listening in the Music Test, if only to show what an improvement the new music is in comparison.

Overall: 9/10

Talk about the devil being in the details! Super Pitfall: 30th Anniversary Edition is such an improvement on the original game that it indisputably proves Micronics to be a total laughingstock. If this was the version that had been released thirty years ago, the game would likely be considered a classic today. Is it perfect? Not at all, but this patch took an abysmal game, and made it into a fun, enjoyable experience that shouldn't be missed.

Download this. Do it now. You won't be sorry.

Looks like the Remake VersionGamerhenky2016-09-05Version 1.0

Ahh Super Pitfall one of the worst game ever made become very huge improved by Nesrocks in this hack as "Super Pitfall 30th Anniversary Edition".

The graphics was altered and recycled. The music was more arranged, new and no longer muzak-y in original game. The save features keeps track you data and you be able to continue where you left off. No more cryptic parts. Rebalanced gameplay.

Anyway. Come on let's grab this patch now, massive improvement!