While on a plane headed towards a Peruvian jungle expedition with the intrepid Dr. Bittenbinder at the lead, Harry is in the midst of exhibiting his undeniable charm to a young female passenger when the plane shakes and rattles before spinning toward certain doom. All of the passengers survive, but now they've been scattered all over the jungle and our hero is the only one with the wits to rescue the crew. Unfortunately for Harry, there's much more to the jungle than it seems.

Fans of the original Pitfall keep in mind that Pitfall: The Lost Expedition holds little in common with it classical roots. Though Edge of Reality has cleverly hidden both the original Pitfall and its sequel in the game for enthusiasts (and once accessed a single time, a button combination unlocks each on the menu screen), besides sharing a jungle setting and a name, the Pitfall of 2004 is almost the polar opposite of the side-scrolling Pitfall from 1982. There is still plenty of vine jumping and alligator avoiding to be had, though!

Traversing through the environment in this latest Pitfall adventure is slightly different. It's hard to explain, because it sounds like a feature found in most platforms, but Pitfall: The Lost Expedition accomplishes it in such a seamless fashion that it truly seems "natural." Even though the game is divided into linear stages, the players don't really use the map as a guide of where to go next. Instead, it's based on the player discovering new paths in each level and using their new abilities to uncover even more. The ability to move back and forth to unearth new secrets creates a far-reaching feeling of accomplishment. Each stage hides hordes of secrets, encouraging the player to come back with new abilities later in the game. To expedite the process, the in-game map even marks areas that cannot be accessed without a new ability.

It's difficult to start faulting the game, but at the same time, heaping on praise doesn't seem appropriate either. Edge of Reality has succeeded in creating a perfectly playable platform game that younger gamers will enjoy more than the older crowd and veterans can still have fun with. The visuals, while nothing outstanding, are, like the rest of the game, acceptable. The textures aren’t extraordinarily detailed, but the environments are constantly varied and the frame rate never drops. You could blame Pitfall: The Lost Expedition for having a lack of ambition, but what it sets out to accomplish it does very well. In that sense, Edge of Reality succeeded admirably.

Nothing about Pitfall: The Lost Expedition separates it from the rest of the overcrowded platforming games. Depending on your experience with the genre (not to mention your age), what you take from Edge of Reality's effort will differ. Gamers who have been versed in the worlds of Sly Cooper, Jak and Daxter, etc. will find the new Pitfall entry with little to offer. It sports solid, loosely Pitfall-inspired gameplay, there is just nothing new about it.