Impossible Mission

1984 · Action / Platform · Commodore 64

Overview

Impossible Mission (1984) is Epyx's C64 action-puzzle game: search Elvin Atombender's rooms for puzzle pieces while somersaulting over robots.

Deep Dive

A secret agent infiltrates the underground complex of Professor Elvin Atombender, searching furniture room by room for puzzle pieces and codes while dodging patrolling robots — 'Another visitor. Stay a while… stay forever!' greets him in synthesised speech. The pieces must be assembled into a password to reach Atombender, and the puzzles are shuffled each game. Designed by Dennis Caswell, it was famous for its fluid, lifelike animation of the agent's run and somersault.

Developer Story

Impossible Mission was designed by Dennis Caswell at Epyx in 1984. The game is famous for its synthesised speech — "Another visitor. Stay a while... stay FOREVER!" — delivered when the player's spy character was killed by a security robot. The smooth animation of the protagonist, achieved through rotoscoping-influenced sprite work, was exceptional for a home computer game of 1984.

Did You Know?

"Another visitor. Stay a while... stay FOREVER!" became one of the most quoted villain speeches in gaming history.
The protagonist's animation was among the smoothest ever seen on an 8-bit home computer, achieved through carefully crafted sprite sequences.
The game's puzzle mechanic — searching rooms for puzzle pieces to assemble a password — was a completely original structure.
Each game had a randomised puzzle, meaning the same room layout could require different puzzle pieces each play.

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