Activision Pitfall II Strategy | Activision Patches

The minimum score required in Pitfall II by Activision for the Atari 2600 to earn a patch was: 99,000 points. The best advice in Pitfall II is to read the manual, so that you know all of the nuances of the game. The manual gives some really good tips. Make sure both difficulty switches are set to B. Pitfall II was designed by David Crane. The cartridge contained a special chip for additional features and music.

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns, is the sequel to the ever popular Pitfall! by Activision. You control your game in the same manner as Pitfall. Point the joystick to the right or left for your movement in those directions, and press up or down just before you climb onto a ladder. Press the button to jump.

The game starts with 4000 points, and unlike its predecessor Pitfall!, there is no timer. There are other key interests in the game such as riding a balloon. You can control its movements with the directions of the joystick, left and right. Press up or down to increase the speed or to decrease the speed of the balloon.

Much like the original, this game offers similar enemy perils that you will encounter such as bats, poison frogs, albino scorpions, condors, and electric eels. There are 28 gold bars to collect and the highly sought after Stone-Aged rat. Also, there is the Raj Diamond, Pitfall Harry’s niece Rhonda, and their cowardly cat Quickclaw.

For a perfect score of 199,000, you must collect all of these items without falling victim to a single peril. There are deeper levels underground than in the first Pitfall, so be careful as to how many levels that you fall if that does happen. Points are subtracted if you fall, unless you land in the water.

There is a red cross marker on the ground, and that would be considered your modern-day “save state”. If you get hit by any of the enemies, you will be transported back to the last cross that you touched. But please know that if you do hit one of the enemies, your points will steadily decrease until you are brought back to that last Red Cross marker. Falling down a ladder will penalize you 100 points, if you have bad luck in this game your score will never go below zero. If you fall off of a ledge, don’t worry because if you position your fall, you will land in the water below. You will not lose points. You’ll just have to swim back to an overhanging ledge that you can jump on to. Also if the waves of the water splash you high enough you can grab that ladder to climb up. Remember while swimming in the water watch out for those electric eels.

The game ends when you’ve collected all three of these items: The Raj diamond, Quickclaw and Rhonda. To get a perfect game your score ends with a total of 199,000 points. A perfect score ALSO requires collecting the 28 gold bars and the rat.

** Tips: Making maps will help, as in many Activison titles that have multiple screens. Mapping the area will help you find the better route in the game, so that you can finish with less deductions in your score and having faced the fewest possible enemies.

Here is a map of the entire Pitfall II world. It shows where each enemy is located. It shows where every gold bar is located and the locations of the other items to retrieve to complete the game.