Now Activision brings back Pitfall Harry to star in a new adventure, this time on this generation's consoles. Pitfall: The Lost Expedition takes Harry into the jungles of Peru, where he must again face the pits and the crocodiles as well as various other dangers. The same game play elements that were introduced in the original are here, but they have been added to quite a bit. As well as jumping and swinging on vines Harry now fights, sneaks, rolls and double jumps, as well as being able to use various items. And it is surprisingly fun to do all this.

Controlling Harry is fairly simple and intuitive and he reacts well to any move the player makes. This is just as well since a lot of the areas Harry will need to go require some precision timing, although not to the same extent as the original games. Starting with buttons for basic attack, crouch and jump Harry can perform variations of these with a combination of button presses. These are fairly easy to learn, with moves like a rising attack required quite often in order to reach some of the higher platforms. Controlling Harry while he is swinging on vines is reasonable good as well, and changing direction or gaining some momentum for a larger jump is quite easily done. Other new moves, like swimming, are also fairly simple to pick up. A lot of the fun of the game stems from this intuitive control system. Players are never required to do something that feels unnatural, leaving most of the difficulty of the game in figuring out what to do rather than how to do it.

As well as these basic controls Harry also acquires various items during his quest, including flaming torches, pick axes, dynamite and even a rubber inner tube. These are assigned to the d-pad buttons for use when needed and can help unlock various parts of the levels through their use. Unfortunately, while there are only 4 d-pad buttons there are 9 of these assignable items so players will need to keep reassigning them, as they need them. While this only takes a few seconds it does get a little annoying to have to do this, as some areas require several items to be used to get from one end to the other. The use of these items is critical to getting from one place to another, and there are a lot of paths that are blocked until players find certain items. For instance there are several areas that are blocked by poisonous gas until Harry finds the gas mask. The torch would be the most useful of these items, lighting the way in a lot of the underground sections. A lot of the challenge of the game is figuring out how to use these items and Harry's abilities to get from one point to another, and while these are usually fairly straightforward there are some that will have some scratching their head for a while.

Unfortunately, while the control of Harry is fairly well done the control of the camera is anything but simple. The camera uses a combination of automatic camera panning and manual panning through the use of the shoulder buttons. Solely relying on the automatic camera won't always let players get the best view of the action so the view will often need to be adjusted. This can cause some quite bad jarring though, as the automatic camera fights what the player is trying to do. Camera views in 3D games such as this are never perfect but the camera in Pitfall could have been a lot smoother.

Behind all the action lies a reasonably simple story, but one that is told quite well. Harry and a group of explorers are in a plane crash over the Peruvian jungle. Most of the explorers manage to escape by parachute and are subsequently scattered around the jungle, captured by the natives. Harry heads off to rescue them, and in the process gets involved in a search for the fabled El Dorado and a fight against evil mercenaries. As well as rescuing the explorers Harry can search for relics, which can then be exchanged for extra abilities and bonuses.

Spread across over 40 areas and several environments the gaming area for Pitfall is rather large. As well as the large jungle Harry will need to explore snowy mountains, underground caverns, and ancient ruins. There is a good mix of areas that require some platforming skills, some puzzling skills, or a combination of both. Players will become quite familiar with most of the areas, since the game will require players to go through the multiple times. This can get tedious though, and with the story often leading Harry from one end of the map to the other and back again a few of the levels may need to be traversed at quite a few times. A lot of the game time later in the story just involves getting Harry from one point to another.

While most of the areas in the game are well designed there are a few sections where the design leads more to frustration than anything else. This is mainly due to the precise jumping that is required to get from one end to the other. The area containing the Great Tree for example requires several dozen jumps to get from the bottom to the top. Miss one of the jumps and players will find themselves at the bottom needing to start again. There aren't many of these frustrating levels but the ones that are there can start to annoy.

One of the first things players will notice about Pitfall is the look of the game. Presented in a reasonable exaggerated cartoon fashion it all looks fantastic. The jungle environments consist mainly of lush green foliage, and down at ground level the darkness and the enclosing nature of the forest can be seen and felt. Underground areas are often in almost total darkness or very dimly lit by natural means, and the way Harry's torch lit up these areas is quite impressive. The ruins look quite realistically old and dusty. Even the snowy areas are well defined and enjoyable to look at, rather than the bland white on white seen in a lot of other games.

Harry himself moves very well, except for an odd looking sprint. He swings on vines and swims quite realistically. Even while carrying items like a torch Harry's movements flow together perfectly, and the transition from walking to fighting to swinging is very smooth. The only exception comes when Harry tries to jump onto something that can't be jumped onto, like the side of a mountain. This usually results in an odd kind of floating until Harry hits the ground. It only happens when players try something that they shouldn't though so this not much of a problem. Other characters and creatures within the game are also well animated. The movement of crocodiles, mercenaries and native tribesmen are all well done.

The cut-scenes within Pitfall are also well done, and are of a slightly higher standard then the in-game action. These have been created by BrainZoo Studios, who are creating something of a reputation for their well constructed and often very humourous CGI work in games and movies. The humour presented in these cut-scenes is often quite funny, and permeates the rest of the game. There is quite a humourous bent to a lot of the game, from the chatter of the natives to the way Harry climbs down a ladder, and this fits in well with the whole style of the game.