An action platformer from the Commodore 64 era is getting a new sequel next month, over 40 years after its original debut.
There’s been a growing trend of classic video games making a comeback as of late, and now one from the 8-bit age has joined the list, although not the one a reader was hoping for over the weekend.
Impossible Mission was an action platform series created by Dennis Caswell and published by American company Epyx in 1984, for the Commodore 64. It was subsequently ported to the Apple II, Atari 7800, ZX Spectrum, and other platforms in subsequent years, culminating with the Sega Master System in 1990.
The game is often touted as one of the Commodore 64’s best games, and is known for its sharp visuals, challenging gameplay, and digitised speech – which was still rare at the time. It received a less well regarded sequel, from a different developer, in 1988, but now, 38 years later, another sequel is just around the corner.
A third entry, Impossible Mission 3, is set to be released on May 18, 2026, as a digital download and a physical cartridge or tape for those who want to play it on the original Commodore 64. Additionally, you can get it as a cassette-shaped USB.
As shown in the trailer, this third entry looks as if it’s straight out of the ’80s, with visuals that appear almost identical to the original. And, just as before, it sees you controlling the James Bond-esque Agent 4125, who’s on a mission to thwart the evil Elvin Atombender and his army of robots.
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In tongue-in-cheek fashion, the trailer for Impossible Mission 3 boasts ‘a massive 512K of game packed into one cartridge file’, along with new gameplay mechanics, explosives which destroy the scenery, a 3D lift effect, and over 30 speech samples.
Impossible Mission 3 is developed by UK-based team Icon 64, comprised of programmer Stuart Collier, who is well known for making new games for the Commodore 64 in the modern era. It’s published by Psytronik, although Epyx went bust decades ago, with some of their assets now being owned by British publisher System 3.
You can pre-order the sequel on Psytronik’s website, with the various editions ranging from £8.99 to £49.99. All physical versions come with a free digital download as well.
While Collier has coded this third entry, the game’s design, graphics and coded speech is by industry veteran Trevor Storey, whose previous work includes NBA Jam on the SNES and Batman Forever on the original PlayStation.
It does seem a few decades late to the party, considering how old you’d have to be now to remember the original but Collier’s work is well regarded in fan circles and there’s an obvious love for the original game.
Whether a modern continuation of the franchise would work is hard to say, as it’s particular style of pixel perfect platforming has fallen out of fashion over the years. But perhaps if this is successful that might be a possibility.
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