Impossible Mission

Impossible Mission is a video game for several home computers. The original version for the Commodore 64 was programmed by Dennis Caswell and published by Epyx in 1984. The game features a variety of gameplay mechanics from platform and adventure games and boasted novel features for the time, such as digitized speech. Impossible Mission, which casts the player in the role of a secret agent infiltrating an enemy stronghold, is widely considered one of the best games for several platforms and inspired sequels and remakes.

The player takes the role of a secret agent who must stop an evil genius, Professor Elvin Atombender, who is believed to be tampering with national security computers. The player races against the clock to reassemble and decrypt the password to Atombender's control room while avoiding deadly robots. Password pieces are found by searching furniture in the rooms. When searching, the player can also reset all moveable platforms and freeze enemy robots for a limited time. The game also features similar rewards for completing bonus puzzles. Impossible Mission enemies include two types of enemies. The first are the robots. These have a cylindrical main body. Their bodies are electrified, and some are able to use a short range death ray. Some are stationary; others move in patterns, and others specifically hunt the player. Some have to actually see the player, and others know where the player is at all times. The second enemy is a hovering, electrified ball. Most of these chase the player.

The player has six hours of game time to collect 36 puzzle pieces. Every time the player dies, 10 minutes are deducted from the total time. The puzzle pieces are assembled in groups of four. The puzzle pieces overlap, so three pieces can be assembled before the player realizes he must start over. Pieces may be in the wrong orientation, and the player may have to use the horizontal or vertical mirror images. Additionally, the puzzle pieces are randomized in every game. A completed puzzle forms a nine letter password which lets the player reach Professor Atombender.

Impossible Mission was ported to the Apple II, Atari 7800, ZX Spectrum, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC and Sega Master System. Not all of the ports had the same features as the C64 edition, such as speech. The sequel, Impossible Mission II, followed in 1988. It further complicated the quest with new traps and items. Elvin's stronghold also grew in size, divided into a number of towers which the player had to traverse, all the while picking up pieces of the password.