Athletic Land

Holy moley, this game somehow improves on every single interesting facet Pitfall ever had.

No longer limited to the Atari hardware, this is a vibrant platformer that beats Pitfall in two ways: First, the tiresome treasure-hunting and map making is done with, and Athletic Land is a streamlined and linear game with the only set goal of reaching the end. Second, the challenges and obstacles provide a perfect difficulty curve, unheard of in the age this was made in. You confront hazards and enemies one by one, isolated at a time; And in the latter screens they will compile in surprising ways, really testing the skills and all the things you've learned. And when it becomes hard it does not become so to frustration: In fact it's the opposite, losing at the game somehow invigorates you that you have learned from your mistakes and can do better.

This game was developed by Konami for the MSX, but in the USA it is probably better known as a Colecovision game with the sprites retooled, Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park. Make no mistake, it is completely the same game, and for either of the platforms it is one of their greatest, and the best example of demonstrating a fair difficulty curve in this awkward and murky time of gaming history.

I think the Cabbage Patch Kids release has a slight edge in being partially easier than the MSX counterpart, but the MSX, on the other hand, as a system supports processor slowdown, so take your pick.