Mission: Impossible (NES)

Mission: Impossible
Developer: Konami Publishers: Ultra Games (US), Palcom Software (EU) Platform: NES Released in US: September 1990 Released in EU: November 28, 1991 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has regional differences. This game has a prerelease article

Mission: Impossible is a top-down action-adventure game based on the 1988 iteration of the TV series with gameplay very reminiscent of the Metal Gear series, albeit more action oriented. Despite being made by Japanese developers, the game remains unreleased in Japan, however it is notable for having a fully translated French release, something very rare for a NES game, which could probably be explained by the fact that the new TV series aired on national television in France around the time the game was released, and the old series also aired in the late 80's.

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Prerelease Info

Build Dates

Present at the end of the PRG ROMs of the US, European and French versions. A similar ID can be found in many other Konami games.

US Version	EU Version	FR Version
MAST900417	MSTR910708	MSTR910718

"MAST" or "MSTR" means it's the "master" version of the game, and the numbers represent the date. So, the US build was compiled on April 17, 1990, the European build on July 8, 1991, and the French version on July 18, 1991.

Regional Differences

Difficulty

In the North American version, a lot of enemies and environmental traps deal double or sometimes even triple the damage compared to the European versions, some examples:

• Fido T. Flamethrower (enemy throwing Molotov cocktails) deal 6 points of damage in the US version, versus 2 in the European versions. In other words, 2 hits are enough for a kill in the US version. It is the same with Jorgé Burns (enemy using a flame-thrower) in the final stage and the bombs from the grey version of Slash Stiletto at the end of the first stage.
• Bullets from Pistol Pete Piranovich (the purple enemy) deal 2 points of damage in the US version, 1 in the European version.
• A sword hit from the nameless stationary knights in stage 2 deal 2 points of damage in the US version, 1 in the European versions. As for their walking counter-parts, they deal 3 points of damage versus 1, and their debris deal 2 versus of 1.
• The flame-thrower wall traps also deal 6 points of damage in the US version, versus 2 in the European version.

Cheat Code

The US version contains an invulnerability cheat code which replenishes HP when it reaches 0. It is turned on by using stage 1 password LRHN and pressing A on controller 1 while holding Left, A, B on controller 2.

This cheat code does not work in the European versions. Firstly, there is no differential inputs between both pads in the European versions, as both pads lead to the same inputs pressing the B button would exit the password screen. However looking at the code reveals that a similar code did exist, but instead holding Up, Right, B, A. However that part of the code is never accessed when confirming the password, and again pressing B would exit the password screen anyway.

It is still possible to turn on the cheat in the European versions by using a cheat device to set value 01 to the RAM address $0033.

Graphical Differences

US	Europe

The computer used in the intro and on the password screen has a lighter palette in the European versions. It is the same with the computer at the end of the game, and you may also note that the entire screen differs.

US	Europe

The HUD is positioned a few pixel downwards in the European versions compared to the US version and an extra row of pixel is hidden by the black bar in the European version. Furthermore, the red bars are not positioned properly in the European versions.

US	Europe

Some of the passes are missing their bottom left corners in the European versions.

Manhole Cover

US	Europe

The European version of Area 1 has an extra manhole that the US version lacks. Attempting to open this with Max's bombs will freeze the game.

(Source: VG Maps])

Car Horn

To do: Upload the sound files for both horns.

The car horn has a different sound in the European version.

Credits

Some of the credits differ depending on the region:

Programmer
US	Europe
S. Fukuoka	K. Aoyama
Character
US	Europe
Togachan	K. Ogawa
K. Ogawa	Y. Kambe
Special Thanks
US	Europe
H. Yakuza	H. Takeyasu
Yukichan	Uekoh Yukichan