Playing Pitfall 3D: Beyond The Jungle

During Activision's recent visit to the VGS offices, company reps left a playable PlayStation demo version of Pitfall 3D (newly dubbed "Beyond The Jungle"), and I have to report that it's fantastic. To begin with, it's wonderful to see a 3-D game that's not following the perspectives set by such games as Tomb Raider, Super Mario 64, or Pandemonium. P3D instead follows a graphical route: Pre-established cameras alter the perspective during play, such as above, beside, and behind the character during various stages of game.

As for gameplay, the Pitfall 3D demo is as fun to play on the PlayStation as the original title was on the Atari 2600. Gamers swing on vines in eight directions, avoid scorpions, jump pits, and more. More importantly, it accomplishes something not yet really found on the 32-bit systems: It's a platform game that's really quite enjoyable. If the finished version of P3D ends up nearly as cool as this demo, Activision should have a solid hit.

Here's VGS' exclusive video of the Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle demo (which is admittedly less visually engaging than it is fun to play at this early stage, but gives a good idea what the gameplay is like).

As stated in VGS news on Wednesday, the title has been delayed until next March due to a "reengineering of the game engine."