Impossible Mission
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| Impossible Mission | |
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| Developer(s) | Epyx |
| Publisher(s) | Epyx |
| Engine | Custom |
| Release date(s) | 1984: C64 1986: A7800 1988: MS 2007: DS/PS2/PSP/WiiVC |
| Genre(s) | Action/Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | N/A |
| Platform(s) | Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 7800, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Nintendo DS, Sega Master System, ZX Spectrum, Wii Virtual Console |
| Input | Keyboard and joystick |
Impossible Mission is a 1984 computer game for several home computers by Epyx. The original version for the Commodore 64 was programmed by Dennis Caswell. In 2004, it was one of the games featured on the C64 Direct-to-TV.
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[edit] Description
Impossible Mission has the user play a secret agent attempting to stop an evil genius. Professor Elvin Atombender is believed to be tampering with national security computers. The player must penetrate Atombender's stronghold, racing against the clock to search the installation for pieces of a password, all the while avoiding his deadly robots. Once in possession of all the password pieces, the player must put the password together and use it in the main control room. One finds password pieces by searching furniture in the rooms. When searching, one can also find "Lift Resets" and "Snoozes." They are used at computer terminals. The former will reset all moveable platforms, the latter will freeze all enemies (but it is limited, and only works in the room it is used in).
All the game elements are randomly generated each game, providing replay value.
The Commodore 64 version is notable for its early use of synthesized speech (i.e. built out of SID-waveforms, syllable for syllable and not digitized as in e.g. the game Crazy Comets). Notable uses of this technique include the player character's death scream and professor Elvin's opening line: "Another visitor. Stay awhile... staaaaay FOREVER!" Another prominent line is Professor Atombender's exclamation, "Destroy him my robots!"
[edit] Enemies
Impossible Mission had only two types of enemy. The first were the robots. These had a cylindrical main body, much like R2D2 or a Dalek. Their defence was high voltage, both the body, and some were able to use a short range death ray. According to the instructions, the robots use linear induction motors to move around, and different robots have different features enabled. Some would hunt the player, others would follow patterns. Some would shoot, some would just try to ram the player. Some had to actually see the player, and others knew where the player was at all times. Which robots were granted which abilities was something that was random, meaning that a room that was easy to explore in one game might be much more difficult in another. The second enemy was an enormous hovering electrified ball. Much rarer, most of these would chase the player (with a couple of exceptions). It may have been inspired by the Rover from the Prisoner TV series. While it would be affected by a "snooze", unlike the robots it still had a high voltage when disabled.
It should be noted that the two robots share an interesting interaction with each other. When the ball comes in contact with the robots, the ball disappears. Whether this is a glitch exclusive to a specific version needs to be explored.
[edit] Ports
Though originally developed for the Commodore 64, Impossible Mission was ported to the Apple II, Atari 7800, ZX Spectrum, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, NES and Sega Master System. Not all of the ports had the same features as the C64 edition, such as speech.
The American Atari 7800 version has been confirmed to have a bug which places some of the code pieces underneath computer terminals, which the player cannot search since attempting to do so will access the terminal. Therefore, it makes the game actually impossible to win. There were rumors that Atari was going to release an updated version of Impossible Mission for the 7800 without the bug, however these rumors were put to rest when Atari formally announced the retirement of the Atari 7800 on January 1, 1992.
The Commodore 64 version of Impossible Mission will be one of the games available on the Wii's Virtual Console. [1]
[edit] Gallery
 Acorn Electron |
 ZX Spectrum |
[edit] Sequels
The sequel, Impossible Mission II followed in 1988. It further complicated the quest with new traps and items. Now divided into a number of towers, Elvin's stronghold also grew in size and the player had to traverse through each tower, all the while picking up pieces of the password (an aural one this time around).
In 1994 Impossible Mission 2025, the final game in the series (so far), was released for the Amiga. It kept the same idea as the previous games, and was mainly updated in the graphical and audio features as well as allowing the player to choose between three different characters. The game also contains the original Impossible Mission.
An Impossible Mission game has been announced for the Playstation 2, Nintendo DS and Wii, though little information is available. It is scheduled for release in early 2007, and whether it will be a remake or a sequel is unknown.
Impossible Mission was to be remade for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance by Oceanic Studios under licence from Ironstone Partners in 2004. The development deal seems to have been put on hold. A Game Boy Advance ROM file with the complete game is rumored to exist on the Internet.
