Editing Pitfall! (section)

{{Use American English|date=November 2023}}
{{good article}}
{{short description|1982 video game}}
{{About|the video game|other uses|Pitfall (disambiguation){{!}}Pitfall}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Pitfall!
| image = Pitfall-cover.jpg
| developer = [[Activision]]
| publisher = Activision
| platforms = [[Atari 2600]], [[Intellivision]], [[Atari 5200]], [[ColecoVision]], [[Atari 8-bit]], [[Commodore 64]], [[MSX]]
| released = {{Collapsible list
| title = {{nobold|September 1982}}
| '''Atari 2600'''
| September 1982
| '''Intellivision'''
| November 1982
| '''ColecoVision'''
| February 1984
| '''Atari 8-bit'''
| March 1984
| '''Atari 5200'''
| March 1984
| '''Commodore 64'''
| June 1984
| '''MSX'''
| September 1984
}}
| genre = [[Platform game|Platform]]
| modes = [[Single-player]]
| designer = [[David Crane (programmer)|David Crane]]
}}

'''''Pitfall!''''' is a [[video game]] developed by [[David Crane (programmer)|David Crane]] for the [[Atari 2600]] and released in September 1982 by [[Activision]]. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who has a time limit of 20 minutes to seek treasure in a jungle. The game world is populated by enemies and hazards that variously cause the player to lose lives or points. ''Pitfall!'' was ported to the [[Atari 5200]], [[Atari 8-bit computers]], [[ColecoVision]], [[Commodore 64]], and [[MSX]].

Crane had made several games for both [[Atari, Inc.]] and Activision before working on ''Pitfall!'' in 1982. He started with creating a realistic-style walking animation for a person on the Atari 2600 hardware, then fashioned a game around it. He used a jungle setting with items to collect and enemies to avoid, and the result became ''Pitfall!''

''Pitfall!'' received positive reviews at the time of its release praising both its gameplay and graphics. It was influential in the [[platform game]] genre and various publications have considered it one of the [[List of video games considered the best|greatest video games of all time]]. It is also one of the [[List of best-selling Atari 2600 video games|best-selling Atari 2600 video games]].  It has been included in various Activision compilation games and was included as a secret extra in later Activision-published titles. A more advanced sequel, ''[[Pitfall II: Lost Caverns]]'', was released in 1984.