Impossamole (TurboGrafx-16) Playthrough
131A playthrough of NEC's 1991 platformer for the TurboGrafx-16, Impossamole.
If you want to skip the intro, the game begins at 3:57.
Gremlin Graphics got their start as a software publisher in 1984 with the release of Wanted! Monty Mole, a platformer for the Spectrum ZX and Commodore 64. The game was a huge success and kicked off a series that saw regular releases throughout the 80s.
Developed by Core Designs, the sixth and final Monty game, Impossamole, came out on 8 and 16-bit computers in 1990. A year later, a heavily reworked version showed up as a US-exclusive title for the TurboGrafx-16.
As Impossamole begins, Monty Mole is abducted by aliens who turn him into a superhero and demand that he travels the world in search of their sacred scrolls.
There are five worlds to conquer, and the first four (Ice Land, Klondike Mountain, the Orient, and the Amazon) can be played in any order. The game plays as you'd expect from any platformer produced in England in the early 90s: you wander around semi-linear stages, kicking and throwing blocks at enemies and grabbing powerups as you search for the scrolls.
It's good fun, but it's not without its quirks. The collision detection is extremely iffy and you're constantly assailed by hidden hazards and blind jump traps, but there are enough health items strewn about to see you through as long as you're playing cautiously. It's that sort of design (or jank, if you prefer) that makes Impossamole feel more like a computer platformer than a console one.
The stage design is fairly intuitive, though, and Monty controls feel solid once you get used to the way he reacts to your inputs. It looks nice - there's plenty of color and the sprites, though small, are detailed - and the soundtrack, composed by Barry Leitch, is full of bangers that translated well to the Turbografx.
(And I love that Impossamole's costume includes his mom's dishwashing gloves.)
Impossamole isn't a classic, nor is it even very good, but it's a fun way to pass a few hours. If you're on the lookout for an obscure TG16 platformer to try, you could do worse.
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