Impossible Mission II

Novotrade

Industry	Video game development
Headquarters	Hungary
Products	Impossible Mission II

Impossible Mission II is a video game from 1988, developed by Novotrade and distributed by Epyx. It was made available on a variety of platforms, including Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Enterprise 128, Nintendo Entertainment System, MS-DOS, Atari ST, Apple II (128K+), Apple IIGS, and Amiga.

Serving as the direct follow-up to Epyx's 1984 title Impossible Mission, this sequel continues the narrative with the villain Elvin Atombender seeking vengeance. While preserving the fundamental gameplay mechanics and overall design of its predecessor, it introduces additional elements and increased difficulty.

Gameplay

The game is set within Elvin’s stronghold, which consists of nine towers. Each of the eight peripheral towers presents a unique theme, such as computer technology, automobiles, and furniture. These towers are composed of several rooms connected vertically by corridors equipped with elevators, while horizontal corridors link different towers. Movement between towers is limited by locked passageways that players must unlock by solving numerical puzzles.

Within each tower, numbers zero through nine appear in three different colors. Players interact with a computer interface to test various number combinations to open these locked routes.

To advance, players must uncover a password embedded in musical segments secured inside safes scattered throughout the towers. The final password requires six distinct musical pieces; any duplicates must be replaced by carefully rewinding tapes to optimize the collection.

This installment introduces a variety of robotic adversaries that expand upon the original game’s security bots:

• Security bot – the standard foe.
• Shovel bot – tries to shove the player off ledges.
• Suicide bot – similar to shovel bot but leaps off edges.
• Mine bot – lays dangerous land mines.
• Pest bot – non-lethal but disrupts player movement on elevators.
• Squat bot – jumps up from floors, affecting player positioning.

The earlier “ball” type robot has been removed.

Players gain access to bombs and mines which can be used to create holes in floors or to unlock safes. Bombs explode after a countdown timer expires; mines detonate upon contact with players or robots. Additionally, snoozes temporarily immobilize robots, and lift resets help facilitate navigation.

Development

Unlike many sequels of its era, Impossible Mission II was created entirely without reusing code from the original title. The visuals were completely redrawn using a bitmap animation program called Film Director. The primary development platform was the Atari ST, with work on ports for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum commencing only after the Atari ST version neared completion. For the ZX Spectrum release, all rooms were redesigned specifically.

László Szenttornyai, Novotrade’s programmer responsible for the Spectrum version, mentioned that the NES edition "almost wasn’t released" due to conflicts between Epyx and Nintendo.

Reception

Reviews were mixed overall. Critics frequently pointed out the game’s close similarity to and limited enhancements over the original Impossible Mission, alongside its sparse sound design. Nonetheless, challenging puzzles, smooth player animations, and the suspense generated by time-limited gameplay were consistently applauded. German magazine PowerPlay honored it as the best platform game ("Geschicklichkeitsspiel") of 1988.

Legacy

In 2004, Impossible Mission was included on the C64 Direct-to-TV device, and both it and its follow-up were part of the C64 Mini collection. The franchise progressed with Impossible Mission 2025, a title exclusive to the Amiga platform that departed from the original corridor-style design in favor of a single expansive room. This installment also featured three distinct playable characters: a secret agent, a female gymnast, and an android.

External links

• Scans of the Impossible Mission II manual