Retro Gaming: Mission Impossible

Oh my. Ooooooh my.

First, some context. There was this game, Mission Impossible, for the Commodore 64. The C64 was an old computing system from the 1980s that got used for tons of games. It was the first computer I used, and my first game system.

The game's premise was that you were going through a series of rooms and elevator shafts in a mad scientist's layer, trying to search through desks, bookshelves, and so on for puzzle pieces. Completing the puzzle pieces would give the missile codes to prevent the mad scientist from launching a missile. In each room were robots to be evaded with different programmed behaviors, like electrifying a particular spot, or patroling back and forth. The layout of the hideout, and the behavior of the robots in the rooms, were randomized. And the trick is that you only have 6 hours... and you lose ten minutes whenever you die. Like any game from that time, it wasn't easy, and I never beat it.

It's a very pleasing game, even now. The haunting voice, "Another visitor. Stay a while. Stay forever!" is still cool. The character's steps sound like ice skating or something like that. The sprite's running and jumping actions are fluid. So on and so forth.

Anyway, I had forgotten all about it until today, when I went browsing for games. I found a Nintendo DS port of Mission Impossible for $10. It has a version with updated graphics and an original version. Needless to say, I bought it and played both. It's an improvement. There's a save feature. The bottom screen is used for the layout map, and they've enabled some simple touch-screen commands, though it's nothing revolutionary. It's worth the $10, though not much more than that. A 24 year old game has seldom looked better.

Here's a video if anyone's interested on seeing at least a little gameplay: http://www.archive.org/details/C64Gamev ... bleMission