Journey
Arcade
Nostalgia Factor:
Another game from 1983, and this is one I've been wanting to play for a while now: Journey. All I know about this game coming into it is that it stars the cast of 80s super group Journey, and that the band's music is featured prominently in the game.
Would it be any fun, though? That's what I am here to find out.
Story:
It's the future, or at least I think it is. The game isn't really clear on that. But anyway, the band Journey has had all of their equipment stolen by alien groupoids. Journey hops in their space ship and heads out to reclaim their lost equipment.
What. A. Concept.
Gameplay:
Similar to 1982's Tron, which I recently reviewed, Journey consists of a series of looping minigames that get harder and harder each trip through the loop. When the game begins you can select from five different minigames. Each minigame represents one different band member retrieving their stolen equipment. Let give you some examples of these minigames.
One of them has you bouncing into the air on a series of trampoline-like objects while Wheel in the Sky plays in the background. Initially these trampolines are red. When you bounce on them once, they turn blue. Bounce on them twice and they disappear. It's your goal to bounce on each trampoline, turning them to blue. If you bounce on them twice and make them disappear, that's fine too. As long as you bounce on all of them at least once and don't fall off the screen and die you are good to go. Once you do this, you collect your stolen piece of equipment. But you're not done! Each time you retrieve a piece of equipment in this game, you have to make your way back to Journey's ship with the instrument in tow. Suddenly the game turns into a shooter and you have to make your way to the bottom of the screen while avoiding the bevy of bullets that come your way. Reach the bottom of the screen and you have completed the minigame. You go back to the stage selection screen where you must pick from one of the remaining four minigames.
A quick rundown of the other four minigames: one of them is like a reverse Donkey Kong where you start at the top of screen and have to make your way to the bottom, all while traversing angled ledges and jumping over enemies. Another minigame has you floating through a cavern in a spacesuit. Touch the walls and you die - kind of like the board game Operation. Another one finds you squeezing your way through a series of dangerous, constantly shifting laser-like barricades while Don't Stop Believing plays in the background. The final minigame has you climbing and jumping from a series of poles until you reach the instrument at the top of the screen. Each stage morphs into a shooter-esque stage after you grab the instrument and start working on your way back to Journey's ship.
Once you have completed all five minigames, Journey celebrates by throwing a big intergalactic space concert. You take control of a bouncer that you have to move left and right to block crazed fans from rushing the stage. In a way, you could classify this as a sixth minigame. Eventually there becomes too many fans to block, and once again they rush the stage and steal all of the band's equipment.
You then have to complete all five minigames again and get your equipment back. But this time, each of the minigames are just a little bit harder than they were the last time. And so the endless loop begins. Collect the band's equipment, try to block the fans at the concert using the bouncer, fail, get your equipment stolen, retrieve the equipment, control the bouncer, etc. On and on it goes, getting steadily more difficult with each attempt.
Graphics:
This is easily the best looking game I've played since I started doing the whole "review three games from each year of your life" thing. I love the little black and white digitized Journey members. The levels are bright and colorful. The game is just bursting with life and personality, which is something that I found sorely lacking with Tron. Although this game may look primitive by today's standards, it's still a lot of fun to look at regardless.
Sound:
STAGE MUSIC!! For the first time since I started this little project of mine, I am finally able to play a game with stage music. And what stage music it is! You can't go wrong with Journey music playing in the background, even if each song is comprised of early 80s beeps and bloops. I still thought it sounded great and I still found myself wiggling along to it. My wife, however, did not enjoy the game's music and found it "annoying". She said that the music sounded like nothing, and that she couldn't even tell it was supposed to be Journey music. That was kind of disappointing. It took me about five times playing through the Don't Stop Believing minigame before she finally was able to recognize the song playing in the background.
Side note: during the stage where you control the bouncer, the game was completely silent for me. There's a reason for this. I was playing an emulated version of the game. If you are playing this on the actual arcade unit, there is a cassette tape inside the console that plays "Separate Ways" while you play the bouncer stage. I thought that was pretty cool. I doubt I'll ever encounter this game out in the wild, but if I do I'll have to make it a point to hear it in action myself.
Overall:
This game is a ton of fun. Normally I am not a huge fan of games that can't be beaten or just loop repeatedly, but Journey is the exception to the rule. This is easily, EASILY the best game I've played in the last few weeks. The minigames are fun, the graphics make me laugh, the music is awesome, and the concept is just wild - in a good way. Overall this game is very addicting and I enjoyed every second of it.
Unlike basically everything else I have played for my Mop Up Duty review tour, I would definitely play this again. If I'm sitting around bored, or if I just have a few minutes to kill before heading out the door, I could easily see myself firing this up to pass the time. I am so glad I played this.
THE GRADE:
B+
40th Birthday Mop Up Duty Celebration Tour:
1982 Reviews:
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But you have Celeste a C?
ReplyDeleteYes! This game is super fun and addicting while Celeste was a pain in my behind.
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