Admiral Jota delivers again in what is easily the best game in this set of SpeedIF. While remaining true to the theme of the comp, 2604 is in no way lacking for having been made under a time constraint.
2604 has a lot of replay value and indeed encourages you to do so, as there are some nice subtleties in the timed events that clue you into what is really going on. The replay is painless and allows one to watch the timed events more closely. In fact, I would recommend NOT reading the theme before playing (as I did) because it is much more fun to figure out what is going on by yourself.
The solution is simple but satisfying and echoes the old-school method of trying to get at an obvious solution by puzzling out sparse rooms and a few well-hidden objects.
It is almost a pity that 2604 is associated with the otherwise pretty rotten collection of SpeedIF games in this theme, because it stands so brilliantly on its own. A must-play quickie.