"It's a music video/video game, and it rocks!"

Back when rock bands wore exuberantly bad clothes instead of dull, bad clothes, there was a boom in the video gaming industry. The video game Journey represents the only major crossing of these two, and on its evidence I am slightly disappointed not to have seen, perhaps, a Duran Duran or Loverboy game, although it's difficult to finagle a plot for either that is suitably different to Journey. This game had several things I liked that made me welcome this game with Open Arms; it was about a rock band(my mother didn't want me listening to them and ''turning into my sister,'') played their music, and was like five games in one, though probably easier than Tron. Perhaps one reason I remember it so fondly is that I got nine of the top ten scores on the machine--the game also never seemed popular, so I didn't have to wait. I remember it felt like a make-your-own-rock-video(no, my mother didn't approve of music videos, either) which was another huge drawing point in the days when MTV showed them, before Reality TV Killed the Video Star.

The game's basic premise is that Journey has had its instruments stolen by a bunch of crazed groupazoids. They must go to five different planets, with each member retrieving his own instrument. Steve Perry goes past swinging and advancing gates to get his microphone, Ross Valory jumps on platforms to get his bass, Steve Smith bounces on vanishing drums to get his drum, Neil Schon plays a Lunar Lander sort of game to get his guitar, and Jonathan Cain walks across long platforms and over hurdles to get his piano. Once each band member gets his instrument, he must shoot his way back to the ship. Once all five have secured their instruments, you are treated to a mock concert Journey's ''New Hit Song''(which actually hit #2, but I won't spoil it) while you get to play a fat bouncer, Herbie, who guards three stage doors by bouncing the groupazoids off his chest. Eventually the groupazoids get too fast and swarm the stage and you must do everything all over again. There are five different waves, which get progressively tougher, then you get some random mix of the third through fifth from then out. The scenes for each individual are different enough that the game shows real diversity. There's also diversity between levels. The drums Steve Smith bounces on drastically change their patterns each level, and the narrow platforms where Ross Valory jumps become fewer in number as he improves. Steve Perry has to pass through gates that switch and ascend more quickly, Neil Schon's guitar is further into a nook, and the hurdles guarding Jonathan Cain's piano are more frequent. Enemies often come quicker and in different formations when possible on your return trip. These wrinkles complement the game's quicker pace well, and you don't feel you're overwhelmed by pure speed.

As for choosing the order of completion, the game is very fair. The order of completion is, well, Any Way You Want It! You can go to any unsolved planet you'd like, and if you are unsuccessful, you can choose a different one. It's a bit like Tron but without the slightly unfair random element, and the planets with the instruments are a cool way to indicate where you need to go.

Each character has his own controls, although there are at most four directions any character can move in. For instance, Neil Schon can't fire his jetpack down as he works his way to the bottom. Steve Smith can control how high he bounces if you tap the joystick up or down. Ross Valory can change his jumps in midair. Only Steve Perry is straightforward. The fire button isn't a factor until you retrieve the instrument and enemies begin to attack, and it's a bit limited. You can only fire in the direction of the ship, but you can fire several shots at once. Joystick controls for all the band members also revert to standard four-direction movement, except for Neil Schon, who still maneuvers with his jetpack. Quite frankly, though, it's nice to get such frequent breaks from button-mashing, and that is why I liked the controls.

The graphics are a hoot. From the opening where the characters with their three-quarters Egyptian profile, big grayscale heads and atrocious clothes jump in the Scarab vehicle featured on a Journey album cover and through a head featured on another, to how the four guys in the Scarab switch between two silly faces to a band member's reaction when he is hit or gets or returns and instrument, it's hard not to find this funny. The concert graphics are also great. This makes up for rather plain and abstract monsters. There's also one of my favorite oddities concealed; if you bounce on the final drum as Steve Smith, and it's too high up, Steve goes through the bottom of the screen.

The background sounds consist largely of Journey songs butchered into far fewer notes--I couldn't figure out some of them, but they sound nice anyway. There aren't any lyrics until the big concert, which is worth it, and stuff like playing a clip from ''Who's Crying Now?'' after you lose a life is clever. Keep in mind that any video game speech back in 1982 was way rad.

I found this game very replayable. Although it gets seriously difficult around the fourth(technically the sixteenth) level, the progression in challenges is rather good. Those who enjoy not having to control the same old thing for more than a minute but who want to push game time per play to its limits will like this. Although Tron may have pioneered the game where you complete several sub-levels to advance one level, Journey may be the best of the genre.

**utterly gratuitous crunching pun**: 20 years after, don't stop believing that this game is still good. I don't regret playing it faithfully. Though the Wheel in the Sky has forced myself and the old machine at the ShowBiz Pizza to our Separate Ways(truly, we are Worlds Apart,) I remember saying to the memory of machine--somewhere, wherever you are, I'll Be Alright Without You.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/15/00, Updated 09/02/01