Impossible Mission

"Retro game brought back to life"

It was with a real enthusiasm that I bought this game. Fond memories of the mid 1980`s came flooding back, playing the first games system the family owned a commodore 64. This is because Impossible Mission is the updated version of the same game that was released over twenty years ago in 1983, or rather it isn`t at all. That is because the game is really three games in one. There is a choice of playing the original game, a fully updated version with new characters, or a hybrid of the two with the fully updated backgrounds but the same classic character to use.

Gameplay

No matter which version of the game you choose the general idea and game play are exactly the same. You take control of a secret agent type character and must run and jump around an underground base to find pieces of a puzzle that will give you the codes to a computer that will stop the evil Dr. Atombender from starting a nuclear war. There are nine puzzles in all which each consist of four pieces. Each piece can be changed into different colours and flipped around to make it fit. The pieces are hidden in a series of rooms, each of which contains a random number of platforms, lifts, objects that can be searched and robots trying to stop you. The unique point about the game was that you could die several times and still succeed. The game runs on a time limit of seven hours but each time you die ten minutes comes off the clock. The controls are very simplistic with one button to jump and one to search the various objects. Some use is made of the touch screen when solving the puzzles by using the stylus to rotate the pieces, but that's about it.

Conclusion

The game is very simplistic, and after a few attempts can easily be overcome, with an average game time of around thirty minutes. The idea of three games in one falls a bit flat because they all play exactly the same to the extent that the room layouts are very similar, only the graphics are the different. The random placement of rooms in each new game is also something of a fad, because it is easy to traverse the various rooms and no matter where they are placed you get the same set of puzzles each time, meaning it becomes easier to complete with each play. That being said it was nice to play the retro version if for nothing else than to bring back some memories. It's also very easy to pick up and play, and with the relatively short game times is ideally suited for the DS, and when you are looking for a bit of light relief. A fun, simple game that harks back to the early days of video games, which in many ways is also its undoing.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/29/07

Game Release: Impossible Mission (EU, 08/31/07)