Impossible Mission
| Impossible Mission | |
|---|---|
| Studio | Epyx |
| Publisher | Epyx |
| Senior Developer | Dennis Caswell |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1984 |
| platform | C64 , Acorn Electron , Schneider / Amstrad CPC , Amiga , Apple II , Atari 7800 , BBC Micro , Sega Master System , Sinclair ZX Spectrum , C64 DTV , PSP , NDS , PS2 , PS3 , Wii |
| genre | Jump 'n' run , puzzle |
| Game mode | Single player |
| language | English |
Impossible Mission [ ɪmˈpɒsəbl̩ ˈmɪʃən ] is a classic computer game for home computers . The title, first published in 1984 for the Commodore 64 , is a mixture of platformer and puzzle game. The original version for the C64 was programmed by Dennis Caswell and released by Epyx . Later compilations brought the game to almost all popular platforms such as the Acorn Electron , Schneider CPC , Amiga , Apple II , Atari 7800 , BBC Micro , Oric Atmos , Sega Master System , Sinclair ZX Spectrum and the C64 DTV . In 2007 a version for the PlayStation Portable was released , which, in addition to a newly designed look, also contains the original C64 graphics. A version for the Virtual Console ( Wii ) was released on April 11, 2008.
action
In Impossible Mission, the player takes on the role of the nameless secret agent 4125, who is the evil Dr. Elvin must hunt down Atombender in his underground base. The 62-year-old Caucasian villain is holed up in a secret bunker inside the base. The player has access to this bunker with the correct password, which is distributed on three dozen punch cards in the underground complex. Four of the cards result in one of nine letters for a password. The password cannot be entered manually, so all nine puzzles must be put together completely. The agent can use the phone (bottom left) to call his helpers and have the parts sorted. Here he can also ask whether a puzzle is already complete or whether more pieces are needed. To put the puzzles together, the punch cards may have to be colored again and turned into the correct position. If a puzzle is full but does not resolve, the entire puzzle may have to be rotated again. When a puzzle is partially put together and forms a geometric figure like a rainbow, a spiral or a zigzag line, you are on the right track.
The building complex consists of 32 rooms that are connected to one another by eight elevator shafts. Most rooms have mini-elevators (floating platforms) and various horizontal levels that can be reached via the mini-elevators. The rooms themselves have one or two entrances, which in turn lead to the large elevator shafts. There is always at least one space between two elevators through which one can get in and out at the same height. The player must find the 36 code cards in these rooms within six hours in real time and put them together correctly. The code cards are hidden in 128 pieces of furniture or furnishings such as printers, desktops, hard drives, tape drives, desks, reading lamps, reclining sofas, seating areas, snack vending machines , kitchen units , trash cans, bathtubs, bookshelves or chests of drawers within the rooms. So the hero has to search all the furniture, with robots and flying bullets threatening his life.
The rooms are guarded by up to four cylinder-shaped robots with different behavioral patterns. Some respond to the player while others stubbornly stick to their program. When touching the electrified robots or their energy beams, the player loses ten minutes of playing time, which theoretically gives him a maximum of 36 lives before the playing time is up and the game is lost. At the push of a button, the character performs a jump and can jump over robots and floor openings. In addition, the player has the option of freezing the movement of the robots for a certain period of time using computer terminals set up in the rooms (“snooze”). This enables him to look for code cards in difficult places.
In addition to the puzzle pieces, special code cards are also hidden in the furniture. There are nine cards that reset the platforms within the rooms to their original position; nine more cards let the robots fall asleep for a certain time (freeze, see above). Rooms 17 and 27. Both rooms are almost identical. There is a large control panel with colorful buttons attached to a giant screen. There is a checkerboard pattern on the screen. When the agent searches at the terminal, three of the fields flash. Tones will sound, these must be played in ascending order by clicking on them. If it is done, the game can be restarted, but then with four fields (and so on), for each successful solution there is alternating a liftreset or a snooze password.
So that the game doesn't get boring too quickly, the rooms are shuffled every time. A random generator decides which room can be found in which place in the building.
Game principle and technology
In addition to the new game principle, a mixture of jump 'n' run and puzzle, Impossible Mission impressed above all with the fluid animation of the character and the voice output, which was unsurpassed on the C64 at the time. The sentence "Another Visitor ... Stay a while - stay forever!" , Which greeted the player at the beginning, is still considered to be one of the cleanest C64 voice overs. The speech was realized by synthesizing sound samples on the SID chip from Electronic Speech Systems .
Each time the game starts, the rooms are randomly redistributed and the robot's strategy also changes. So every game is different.
Production notes
At least in the NTSC version (USA) for the Atari 7800 , the game contains a programming error, which makes it impossible to solve and which involuntarily deserves its name. The European PAL version does not have this error.
A C64 version also contains an error: As soon as a robot directs its electric beam against this wall when it comes into contact with a wall, the character is immediately killed. In those cases in which the player cannot reach a terminal beforehand (to enter a “snooze” command) and there is a puzzle piece in this room, the mission cannot be completed because all puzzle pieces are required without exception . The error can occur in six of the rooms (terminal no. 11, 14, 16, 18, 29 and 30) and only if the robot in question behaves accordingly. In a corrected version, a gap was left between the robot and the wall so that this situation could not occur.
Sequels
The game was continued in 1988 with Impossible Mission 2 , which was named "Most Peaceful Action Game" by the magazine 64'er in its retrospective Games '88 . In 1993 the third part was published with the title: Impossible Mission 2025 by MicroProse Ltd. for the Amiga. In March 2007, System 3 (Studio 3) released a remake for PSP and Nintendo DS. A version for Nintendo Wii followed in 2008.
reception
“The animation of this game is also excellent. The gameplay is similar to a cartoon, the only difference being that you control the process. Lovers of maze and skill games will surely be enthusiastic about Mission Impossible. "
“The best thing is the bloodcurdling scream the player utters when he falls into a hole in the ground. "Impossible Mission" is a game of skill in which joystick precision as well as logical thinking and a strategic approach are important. The level of difficulty is relatively high, but the game is also fun for a long time. "
Web links
- Impossible Mission at MobyGames (English)
- Playable emulation in the Internet Archive (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Impossible Mission . In: Happy Computer . No. 03 , 1985, ISSN 0344-8843 ( kultboy.com ).
- ↑ Most peaceful action game . In: 64'er . No. 2 , 1989, ISSN 0176-8824 , pp. 17 ( kultboy.com ).
- ^ Christian Rogge: Games test . In: 64'er . No. 2 , 1985, ISSN 0176-8824 ( kultboy.com ).