Journey

Journey

Overview & History

Released by Data East in 1983, Journey is a wonderfully eccentric and psychedelic fixed-screen platformer based on the real-life arena rock band of the same name. Capitalizing on the peak of the band’s 'Frontiers' era, the game tasks players with rescuing all five band members—Steve Perry, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory, and Steve Smith—whose instrument-shaped icons were scattered across various alien dimensions by evil promoters. Unlike typical coin-op action titles of its time, Data East licensed digitized photographic faces of the musicians for the character sprites, creating a surreal blend of digitized portraiture and pixelated arcade graphics. The game spans five distinct stages, each featuring different gameplay genres ranging from vertical descent challenges to insect-squashing battles on alien planets, culminating in a final concert where the reunited band must reach their iconic scarab spaceship to escape.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Unlike standard continuous-scrolling adventures, Journey is structured into five distinct, genre-shifting rounds. The first round requires each band member to parachute down a vertical shaft, avoiding hostile creatures to land safely. Subsequent rounds transform into action stages where players control one musician at a time, moving left and right to collect their missing instrument while blasting swarms of giant giant bugs, giant rolling eyes, and weird aliens. The ultimate goal is to gather all five instrument parts across the levels, then successfully guide the reunited band members across a treacherous concert stage filled with fanatical groupies and security guards to board the hovering scarab ship. Success yields a digitized instrumental loop of "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)," rewarding players with a memorable slice of 1980s synth-rock audio-visual synchronization.

Keyboard Controls

• Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Move
• Action Keys: Attack / Jump
• Enter: Start / Pause