Hello agents.
This mission, should you choose to accept it is to read a review from Playing With Power. It is a review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System.
This week, Playing With Power is taking a look at the video game Mission: Impossible. A licensed title based on the espionage action series of the same name, being handled by Konami’s side company Ultra Games.
Your mission is to read this review, and see my opinions on the game if it’s a either a successful mission, or self-destructs on contact.
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YEAR OF RELEASE: 1990
PUBLISHER: Ultra Games
GENRE: Top Down Action
Mission: Impossible was an action adventure espionage series that debuted in 1966, and lasted seven seasons ending in 1973. The popularity of the show, thanks in part to the rise of cable TV in the 80’s was enough to bring the show back in 1988. However, the show only lasted 2 seasons before being cancelled. However, the franchise bounced back in a big way in the mid-90’s with a movie series starring Tom Cruise would lead to massive box office successes, and a franchise that is still strong even with the latest film Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocal in 2011 making a worldwide gross of over 600 million dollars.
But the popularity of Mission: Impossible, and the show’s revival at the time was still enough for Konami to pick up the rights to the franchise. In 1990, they released a Mission: Impossible game under their umbrella of Ultra Games/Palcom in early 1990. The game has had mixed opinions, as most people often laud the game for its difficulty level. But were people missing out on a great game?
Also, the NES would later see the release of an unlicensed game called Impossible Mission II, which despite the somewhat similar titles bears no references to this game.
COVER STORY
Very colorful cover featuring the majority of the main cast from the 80’s TV show, all drawn close enough to the real life counterparts. Especially a really well done pic of Peter Graves. Lots of action in the background featuring the many things you do in the game. All in all, it definitely catches my eye, and would any fan of not only the show, but action games as well.
STORY
The members of the elite group known as the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) have been tasked with a daring rescue mission. “Dr. O”, a military scientist and his secretary (AKA IMF agent Shannon Reed) have been kidnapped by a terrorist group known as the Sinister Seven, with goals of starting World War III. Jim Phelps, leader of the IMF has relayed the info to our three agents, Max Harte, Grant Collier, and Nicholas Black. Only they can save Dr. O and the world from destruction.
GAMEPLAY
Mission: Impossible is a one player top down action game. You control the the IMF agents as they go from level to level in their mission to save Dr. O and Shannon, and stop the Sinister Seven’s plans. You move your players in all eight directions with the D-Pad, use your basic attack with the A button, and use your special item with the B button. When pausing the game with the start button, you can switch characters.
You have three agents to choose from. Max Harte is the gunman of the group. By pressing A, he can shoot his gun in any of the 8 directions. When pressing B, he can plant bombs that can be useful for trapping enemies or uncovering hidden paths. The downside to Max is that he’s the slowest moving of the three. Nicholas Black is the man of disguise. Pressing A will have him throw his boomerang which has a decent distance. Pressing B will have him don a disguise, which can help you go undetected against enemies, letting you pass by or quickly dispatch enemies. He has a medium walking speed.
Finally there’s Grant Collier, the master locksmith of the group. He only has a punch with the A button, but with the B button he can throw stun gas that will stop the enemy from moving leading to an easy punch. He has the fastest walking speed. He’s also the only one who can decipher certain doors that require a 4 digit code. you can tell the correct number with the different sounds of the pings when you scroll through them.
Each agent has their own health bar and amount of their special item. Like Ninja Turtles, you can switch at any time in the game. Also each agent counts as a life. If your agent gets killed in action, you continue with the ones remaining. Lose all three and it’s game over. But thankfully you have unlimited continues, and easy to remember passwords. However, the downside to the continues is that no matter how much progress you make, you’ll start at the beginning of the mission with all progress lost.You can find health boxes scattered throughout each level, as well as item boxes that refill one character’s special weapon box.
The game is broken into six missions. Four are top down levels where you’ll be on foot going through rooms, trying to defeat enemies, find ID cards, defeating enemies, and deactivating switches and fuse boxes. The first level takes you to the streets of Moscow where you have to be careful who you strike. Certain enemies will target you and go for the attack, so if you hit an innocent, you lose an agent. You eventually have to make it to the sewers and make your way around the maze, avoiding hazards like bombers that take half your health with one shot, or cameras that unleash zombie like guards. You have to turn off all the switches to make the seemingly unbeatable boss beatable immediately.
You’ll have to go to Venice, eventually making it to a cathedral-like level where you’ll go through conveyer belts and defeat seemingly living statues until you make it to the end of the level and face the ninja boss. The floor collapses as you stand still, and you have to time your movements and shots at the ninja who shifts his shadow clones around constantly. You’ll get to the Swiss alps and defeat the many enemies on the base before you face the man holding Shannon and Dr. O hostage. From there you’ll eventually learn that they’ve tried to make a powerful supercomputer launch nuclear weapons. You have to make it through the hardest level of the game and eventually battle the computer in a seemingly endless game of madelinette.
However, those aren’t the only levels in the game. The 2nd and 5th stages change the pace of the game by putting you in a boat and on skis. In the boat level, you have to shoot enemy boats while avoiding launching your boat into walls or buildings, or exploding from too much damage. And before the level finishes, you’ll have to dodge helicopter fire. The stage is a definite challenge for sure, but nowhere as painful as the skiing level. You have to attack enemies with your ski poles, while dodging everything from collapsing ground, tree stumps and collapsing bridges. It’s one of those stages that you’ll no doubt die on countless times while trying to study the level’s pattern.
And in the end, that’s how most of the game’s difficulty really comes off as. If you rush head on, you’ll be decimated quickly. It’s all about knowing enemy patterns and the best methods of completing a level. The game will definitely take a while to beat, but despite the “impossible” in the title, the game’s not the most difficult game. It just comes off as a game that will need a walkthrough for some of the vague tricks of the game, but otherwise, you should be able to beat it with plenty of practice. Plus the passwords does give you a chance to take some time in beating it and regroup mentally.
GRAPHICS
The game has some solid graphics. The main level designs are well detailed even for the top down look. Caricatures closely match the TV show counterparts, and cut scenes are well detailed despite too many major ones in the game. I also like the attempted remake of the show’s intro if you leave the title screen idle for a few seconds. It all makes for another great looking Konami/Ultra game.
MUSIC
This game has some great music. Every level has a great theme to it that fits the levels great. For example the top down action levels all have tunes that mix a bit of action and a sense of suspense to them. The levels like the boat and ski stages each have a great vibe of urgency and excitement within. Not to mention a great 8-Bit rendition of the classic Mission: Impossible theme. The soundtrack was handled by Jun Funahashi and Yoshiyuki Hagiwara, who would also compose other Konami/Ultra titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Adventures of Bayou Billy, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, and Ski or Die. In the end, they made another top notch soundtrack on the NES.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Mission: Impossible is a fun, yet challenging title that honestly seems to get a bit too much flack. Yes, it’s hard as the dickens, but contrary to its title, it’s far from impossible. It just takes a lot of practice and memorization. It feels a lot like a slimmed down version of Metal Gear, with far less dealing with sneaking around and using items, and with the addition of the boat and ski stages. And since both games were from Konami, that comparison actually fits well.
I will say that when I chose this one to review, my hopes weren’t high initially when I started, but as I got further into it, I actually started to enjoy it more and more. It’s definitely addictive. Another plus on my end is that is actually has me interested in actually watching the 1988 series that it’s based on. so that advertising works perfectly. In the end, it’s definitely a game for anyone who wants a real challenge game from the NES, and has already had their fill of titles like Ninja Gaiden and Battletoads in the “uber hard” category. I’d say give this game a pick up and see for yourself just how impossible it is.
RATING: Thumbs Up