The Pit (video game)
Dig into a labyrinth, retrieve a gem, and escape.
The Pit is a 1982 arcade game from UK developer Zilec, with North American distribution by Centuri and Japanese by Taito. Designed by Andy Walker and Tony Gibson of AW Electronics, players must enter an underground maze, collect a gem, and get out. A 1983 handheld version appeared under names like Zackman. An unpublished game based on The Pit, created by Chris Gray, directly inspired Boulder Dash.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- AW Electronics
- Publisher
- Zilec (UK)
- Taito (JP)
- Centuri (NA)
- Designer
- Andy Walker; Tony Gibson
- Platforms
- Arcade
- Commodore 64
- VIC-20
- Released
- Arcade WW, April 1982 Commodore 64 UK, 1983 VIC-20 UK, 1984
- Genre
- Action
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The player controls an astronaut-explorer who lands in a spaceship and digs into a series of tunnels. Hazards include falling rocks, monsters, arrows, and acid vats. Instead of a timer, a tank called the Zonker shoots away a mountain near the ship; if the player delays too long, the Zonker destroys the ship and costs a life. After collecting the treasure, the player must cross a room called The Pit, which has a sliding retractable floor over a monster that devours anyone who lingers. Points are awarded for shooting enemies (200), collecting crystals (1000), retrieving buried treasure (2000), and safely crossing The Pit and reboarding the ship (1000).
Release
The Pit came out in April 1982, right around the same time as Namco’s Dig Dug, which had launched in Japan the month before and hit international markets that same April. This close timing sparked a dispute: Atari, Inc., Dig Dug’s US distributor, threatened to sue, but Centuri had registered The Pit’s US copyright three weeks before Atari registered Dig Dug’s. Designer Andy Walker claimed he showed a prototype of The Pit at a trade show, where some Japanese attendees—possibly from Namco or Atari—saw it.
Ports
The tank is labeled Zilec in the UK version and Taito in the Japanese version; the game map layout and color palette also differ between regional versions. The game was ported from its original 6502 processor board to Centuri's Z80 board in 1982. A Commodore 64 port was published in 1983, and a VIC-20 port in 1984. Bandai released a portable VFD handheld version in 1983 as FL Exploration of Space Zackman: The Pit, also sold by Tandy as Zackman, Tandy Space Explorer.
Legacy
Chris Gray programmed a game based on The Pit in BASIC for Atari 8-bit computers and submitted it to InHome Software as Pit-Fall. InHome liked the concept but deemed it not of commercial quality, so they gave it to Peter Liepa, who expanded and rewrote it; it was released by First Star Software as Boulder Dash in 1984. An unofficial ZX Spectrum conversion was programmed by Dave Tansley, who also implemented The Pit Jr. for the Pico-8 fantasy video game console.
More in Taito Games of the 1980s
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