#13: Impossible Mission II (Novotrade/Epyx, Commodore 64, 1988)

Instead of the rather incomprehensible jigsaws that served as the overarching puzzle in Impossible Mission, the sequel has a musical sequence, divided into segments, each of which are located in a safe somewhere in each of the eight towers. And like the idea of the ticking clock in the original, this is Impossible Mission II’s masterstroke. By having a predetermined location for the most important items to find in certain rooms, the game is able to set up elaborate set pieces, akin to a big stunt scene in a James Bond film. Although these can, to some extent, be bypassed through the use of snoozes and, at times, just accepting that death is inevitable and taking the ten minute hit, I’m fairly sure they are all possible without either, and figuring out exactly how is a huge punch-the-air moment of triumph.

Also, you can now leap from lift platforms while they are moving, like a total badass. In fact, maybe this is the game’s real masterstroke. I mean, you can jump off of a moving lift. And this isn’t just a throwaway bonus, it’s an integral part of the game, necessary to solving quite a few of its puzzles. If I was to summarise to appeal of the game in a single sentence it would be this; it’s just cool.