Arriving just a little too late for my retro round-up earlier in the week, I've just received some screens and info on a mobile conversion of Impossible Mission, the fantastic EPYX platformer from 1984. Originally released on C64, the game had you infiltrating the robot-filled secret lair of mad scientist, Elvin Atombender, with just a few hours to stop the crazed genius from starting a nuclear war. Featuring smooth animation and perfectly designed locations it was one of the most satisfying and challenging platformers of all time.
As you may just be able to make out from the tiny screenshot, US publisher Mforma has added more detail to the sparse environments, giving the game the look of a Mega Drive-era platform adventure. I'm not sure how I feel about this - like Paradroid, the original exhibited a refined visual economy - now it has more of a comic book look, complete with musclebound lead hero, replacing the lithe athletic secret agent of old.
It seems the gameplay remains untouched however. Your job is to infiltrate 32 rooms and download pieces of a password from a series of terminals, then use the code to shut down Atombender's mainframe. The key element is - or at least it was - learning the patrol patterns of the robots and timing all your movements accordingly. Absolutely gripping stuff.
The mobile version is due out in March.
Quick quiz: what did Elvin say in the famous speech sample at the beginning of the game...
