What I remember most from playing my brothers’ hand me down Atari and Intellivision games as a kid, aside from the crude graphics, is how insanely difficult some of those games seemed. Whether it was because the joystick controllers didn’t allow for precise moments or another factor was at play, games were difficult to the point of frustrating not too long ago. The iPhone game (99 cents) brings back that frustrating feeling in spades.
The iPhone game couldn’t be much simpler. You control a block that moves across the screen. Tapping the screen makes the block jump, and you’re tasked with bringing the block to the end of the level. Sure, that sounds easy, but like the games of the late 70’s and early 80’s, the block does not have much of a fluid motion to it. It jumps the same height every time, but you’ll fall to your death countless times before you figure out the correct timing to leap across various chasms.
Visually, An Impossible Game isn’t much to look at. There is actually an option play the game with more or less visual detail, which becomes funnier when you realize that “more detail” means adding a few other colors on the blocky textures found in the “less detailed” version.
An Impossible Game isn’t going to win any sound or visual awards, and it doesn’t have a deep or interesting story, but if you want to play a side-scrolling platformer that is extremely difficult, download this iPhone game immediately.
