I think much of this is explained at a high level in this talk from the original game designer: Pitfall Classic Postmortem With David Crane Panel at GDC 2011 (A

I think much of this is explained at a high level in this talk from the original game designer: Pitfall Classic Postmortem With David Crane Panel at GDC 2011 (Atari 2600). https://youtu.be/MBT1OK6VAIU https://youtu.be/MBT1OK6VAIU I haven't seen it in a while (will rewatch now), but I remember him going over how he was able to create so many levels in such a tiny space. I love these sorts of examples of breakthrough tech products that were the result of a developer figuring out how to do something that seemed impossible. Much of Apple's early success, for example, could be attributed to this.