ROM Hacks News
Did you know that a port of the original Pitfall! for the Atari 2600 was included as a hidden game in Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure? Do you want to play that hidden port as a standalone Super Nintendo game that works on real hardware or an emulator? If the answer to that last question is ‘yes!’ then you are in luck. This patch does just that.
The hidden game was previously only accessible using a cheat code or finding a secret portal in the game to play it. This patch removes the 16 bit sequel entirely from the game experience and is the product of a non-programmer spending weeks poking around in a hex-editor. The end result is achieved by changing only two bites of the original code.
Pitfall! was undoubtedly one of the biggest landmarks on the Atari 2600. Programmed by David Crane 40 years ago, it spent 64 weeks at number 1 on the best seller list, sold 4 million copies and is notable for its influence on home console platform games that came after.
Until recently, this hidden version of Pitfall! was the only way of playing a Super Nintendo version of an Atari 2600 game. There are now other ways of playing Atari games on a SNES. Miniature Golf for 2600 has received a homebrew port. Also, ports that appeared on the original Atari Flashback console are now playable on a Super Nintendo.
For Super Nintendo fans with any attachment to the Atari era, these are all great things to have in your collection and Atari Pitfall! is a must-have.
