Impossible Mission II (C64)

From Video Game Music Preservation Foundation Wiki
Revision as of 15:40, 20 March 2019 by Piratenesgames (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search
Impossible Mission II
Impossible Mission II - C64 - Epyx - US - Disk - II.jpg
Platform: Commodore 64
Year: 1988
Developer: Novotrade Software Studios

Impossible Mission II is an action and puzzle platformer. The psychotic Professor Elvin Atombender has again locked himself in order to destroy himself and the world, this time into a tower, surrounded by 8 other towers. You start at one of them at random and have to search the furniture for the correct 3-digit code (to enter the next tower) and 6 unique musical sequences (to enter the central control room). You will very often get zapped by robots or crushed against a wall or ceiling, losing 6 minutes out of the 8 hours you got, but you can (and must) activate several power-ups on terminals.

The sequel features new power-ups and robots. The power-ups have become finite, rooms more puzzling and themed, robots and furniture can be destroyed, and each tower can be entered only once, making the game prone to unwinnability and more of a strategic rather than an arcade platformer. Unfairly, some areas can only be left by dying, and the very last puzzle is based on guessing. The game was acclaimed in magazines; however, gamers disagree on which installment is more fun, which is harder, and the graphics style.

Screenshots

Impossible Mission II - C64 - Title.png

Another visitor. Stay awhile. Staaaayyy foreverrr!

Impossible Mission II - C64 - Start.png

Today's start: The automobile tower.

Impossible Mission II - C64 - Search.png

What a dump.

Impossible Mission II - C64 - Somersault.png

You'd better exercise!

Impossible Mission II - C64 - Terminal.png

Who is mismanaging here, the developer or I?

Impossible Mission II - C64 - Sequence.png

Uh, password...

Music

The sound design follows the original C64 game and was received well by reviewers and gamers, although some said at the same time that it should have been updated even more. To the title screen, the original start speech and an all-new song (arranged in Soundmonitor with an optimized driver) play once. The footsteps, zap and scream are identical, the elevator noise is deeper, and the robot power noise is dull. All other speech, the robot u-turn and shot noises are gone.

The penultimate goal is to collect 6 unique musical sequences. 2 sequences have duplicates which must be erased or ignored. All sequences have the same melody, but different instruments. Although the SID chip could do better, some of these differences are low, so the duplicates can be hard to find for the average ear. This, and the inferior chips of other platforms, may be why other versions (which were reviewed later) use only one instrument and 6 different melodies (where the 4th one is the single C64 melody).

Recording

Unfortunately, the game is very inconsistent in terms of SID model and rate. The game was developed in Europe (where PAL was the norm) and the theme is tuned to PAL C64s (although this may be due to the European off-the-shelf driver), but contracted and published in the USA (where NTSC was the norm) and the sequences (in a custom driver) are tuned to NTSC. On the wrong norm, all sound is off by 65 cents and either 5 or 29 BPM. The game detects the gamers' norm, but adjusts only the actual game's speed, not the sound.

Furthermore, on the original 6581, the speech is clear, but the theme sounds choppy and stealthy, whereas on the revision 8580, the theme sounds fuller and dramatic, but the speech is quiet. Sequence 3's octave differs, too, but either sounds fine.

At least until the arrangers' respective original settings are known, all are recorded. People who worked at Novotrade could be asked for confirmation. Sadly, one of them already told C64.COM that Gábor Pongyor passed away.

  1. VICE 3.2 with the model C64C NTSC.
  2. VICE 3.2 with the model C64 NTSC, whenever different from 1.
  3. A real C64C PAL with an 8580 R5 4091.
  4. VICE 3.2 with the model C64 PAL, whenever different from 3.
# Title ComposerArranger Length Listen Download
101 Title Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:52
Download
102 Sequence 1 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:06
Download
103 Sequence 2 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:06
Download
104 Sequence 3 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:06
Download
105 Sequence 4 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:06
Download
106 Sequence 5 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:06
Download
107 Sequence 6 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:06
Download
108 Sequence 1 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:21
Download
109 Sequence 2 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:21
Download
110 Sequences 3 and 4 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:21
Download
111 Sequence 5 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:21
Download
112 Sequence 6 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:21
Download
# Title ComposerArranger Length Listen Download
201 Title Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:52
Download
204 Sequence 3 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:06
Download
206 Sequence 5 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:06
Download
# Title ComposerArranger Length Listen Download
301 Title Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:54
Download
302 Sequence 1 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:07
Download
303 Sequence 2 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:07
Download
304 Sequence 3 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:07
Download
305 Sequence 4 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:07
Download
306 Sequence 5 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:07
Download
307 Sequence 6 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:07
Download
308 Sequence 1 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:25
Download
309 Sequence 2 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:25
Download
310 Sequences 3 and 4 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:25
Download
311 Sequence 5 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:25
Download
312 Sequence 6 (pre-release) Scott JoplinTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:25
Download
# Title ComposerArranger Length Listen Download
401 Title Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:54
Download
404 Sequence 3 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:07
Download
406 Sequence 5 Chris GriggTamás Révbíró, Gábor Pongyor 0:07
Download

Credits

(Source: Manual, code comparison.)

Game Rip

Format

Download

SID.png

Download

(Info)


Audio Devices

This game uses the computer's built-in SID chip.

Releases

A version, dated 1987, with a different musical sequence, no theme, no speech, and a comical sound effect instead of a scream, has been spread since early 1988. It is not known to be released officially. In fact, Antal Zolnai, a programmer at Novotrade, told C64.COM in 2011:

Our pre-releases and our development tools were always stolen. I still don't know how.
  World.svg   World
NoBox.png
Title: Impossible Mission II
Platform: Commodore 64
Released: 1988-0?-??
Publisher: Epyx, Inc.
  USA.svg   USA
Impossible Mission II - C64 - Epyx - US - Disk - 2.jpg
Title: Impossible Mission II
Platform: Commodore 64
Released: 1988-0?-??
Publisher: Epyx, Inc.
  USA.svg   USA
Impossible Mission II - C64 - Epyx - US - Disk - II.jpg
Title: Impossible Mission II
Platform: Commodore 64
Released: 1988-0?-??
Publisher: Epyx, Inc.
  UK.svg   UK
Impossible Mission II - C64 - Epyx - UK - Tape.jpg
Title: Impossible Mission II
Platform: Commodore 64
Released: 1988-0?-??
Publisher: Epyx, Inc.
  Germany.svg   Germany
Impossible Mission II - C64 - Epyx - Germany - Tape.jpg
Title: Impossible Mission II
Platform: Commodore 64
Released: 1988-0?-??
Publisher: Epyx, Inc.

Links

Template:Series - Impossible Mission II