Akeni Developer here! :D Wow! what a spot on review! that is the spirit I had with Akeni... the Pitfall Spirit! as I must say Pitfall II was (at that time in the 80s) my favorite game. So, I was disappointed with the NES version, (Super Pitfall, which was somewhat of a step back) and thought I could do something about it... and so because I could not make an official sequel (because of obvious copyright issues), I then resorted to create a similar experience with Akeni.
I remember myself inside the store (before ever playing Super Pitfall) looking at that box with those wishing eyes, trying to think how awesome it could be... little did I know it would be disappointing. The only thing I liked about it was the maze structure and being able to lift off in a balloon again! :D - I was also happy to find there was a balloon ride and a river to swim too and that it also looked similar to Pitfall II as a huge cave to explore :D
Something I disliked was the unrealistic (control me while in the air) jump, made famous in Super Mario Bros and which worked great for that specific game though.
If you run and jump you can not control gravity, you will land ahead depending on how fast you ran.
Both original Pitfall games was like that, so I had to value it on Akeni as well... You can tell I also like the Ghost n Goblins series because it features the same realistic jumping! The 1st and 2nd Castlevania as well. Of course getting sent back if hit was a step back :D - so none of that in Akeni!
Also of note is: Maldita Castilla - an arcade cabinet like game in the GnG spirit, in which the protagonist jumps like Arthur.
Happy playing! and If I update the game, (mostly graphically or gameplay-wise) all who have it will receive the update 4 free!
At first I had hand drawn all the levels, but then I thought about it and said to myself: this isn't on par with how Arcade games were made back then, so I resorted to tile based level and art. Things are set more mathematically, thus bringing a more Pro look to it!
By the way, come and learn from me, how you too, can make games like these, without programming, but with a lot of love towards pixel art games and the arcade machines of good old times here, at: https://aloan.neocities.org/retrofun.html
Great work on Cliff-fall, I wanted to download the atari pitfall 3 from your site after seeing the atariage forum post.
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/222739-cliffall-a-pitfall-ii-homage/?hl=%2Bclif... - Multimedia fusion 2 right?
http://aloan.site90.net - Is down
Nice work on Akeni - Alot of hard work on that one.
Are you taking commissions for games development?
Ok, good news and bad news!
The good first: I had the file! so I uploaded it here: Pitfall 3
Bad news: the game does not run on the Atari 2600. It was not meant to be a continuation. It was not made using a programming language either, but rather a drag and drop visual game building program. But I might at least bring the visuals very close to the Atari 2600 (using its color palette and perhaps respecting the scanline coloring. But I won't recreate flickering, lol