Screenshot from youtube.com@oldclassicgame Journey performs a “spectacular concert at Galaxy Stadium” in Bally Midway's 1983 coin-op video game Journey.
You may have heard classic rockers Journey's 1981 hit “Don't Stop Believin'”; run away The album was recently named the “Greatest Song of All Time,” but it's doubtful that the two early '80s video games featuring the band will rank among the top classic video game titles.
Journey was huge when these games were released, but I don't think even those who faithfully followed the group through their albums and concerts welcomed these games with open arms.
But they're fun to look back on now as relics of a somewhat groundbreaking time in that I believe they were the first licensed video games to feature music artists and some of their songs.
Although this was the first game, it is the weakest of Journey's two video game titles. First, it was created for the Atari 2600 home console rather than an arcade, which already meant it would be more limited in terms of graphics and gameplay.
Another indicator that this game probably stinks is that it was developed by Data Age, one of the many third-party companies that flooded the market with Atari games. Activision and Imagic were among the leaders of these companies, while Data Age was near the bottom by most views.
My only experience with Data Age titles at the time was when my mother came home from grocery shopping one day and gave me a Data Age cartridge Warplock. She probably found it in the bargain bin at the store. There were no instructions in the box, so I couldn't intuitively understand how to play the game, but what I saw and heard was pretty disappointing.
So it's a bit of a surprise that Data Age was able to license the Journey name and create what is perhaps accurately billed as “the world's first rock video game.” The game's box also featured the famous image from Journey's cover. run awaya scarab vehicle explodes from a sphere.
In the game, each member of the band must help them escape from “a bunch of love-crazed groupies and sullen-eyed promoters.” You also have to find the roadie or manager and run towards the getaway vehicle. If you do that, you can say, “Let's live a healthy life today!''
You can hear more about Journey Escape in this game's commercial. The commercial also includes footage of the actual Journey performing. Considering all the licensing money that must have been spent on this commercial, and what ended up being a disappointing game, it's no surprise that Data Age ended up being a short-lived company.
Some actual members of Journey's lineup at the time were instrumental in promoting the game.
In a 1981 MTV news item seen in the clip below, Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain talk about how the game is based on their rock 'n' roll lifestyle and that it's “our lifestyle in a tiny little game.” ” said Steve Smith. The “video game expert” explains that he can keep playing the game over and over again without getting bored. He might have been the only one.
Here's a little bit of the Journey Escape gameplay that Smith found so appealing. Most of the music used in the game is original music not based on Journey. Data Age must have blown his wad on getting his 8-bit version of “Don't Stop Believin'” on the game's intro screen.
If you want to try Journey Escape, you may be able to find used cartridges on places like eBay. There's also a gameplay emulator at this link on the Internet Archive.
© 1983 Bally Midway Mfg. All rights reserved.
The game, which arrived in arcades in March 1983, is arguably the best of the two travel-themed video games, both in terms of gameplay and especially technology, although it's ultimately a bit silly .
Directly above, you'll see the game's intro screen, which recreates the logo from Journey's 1983 album. frontier. It's not the best graphics ever, but it's well done for its time.
The image below from a promotional flyer for Bally's game highlights the game, including the fact that it features digitized black and white headshots of five members of the band at the time: Steve Perry and Ross. And you can see some of the other graphic elements. Valorie, Sean, Cain, and Smith are on the cartoon-like bodies of player-controlled characters.
© 1983 Artists & Friends/Nightmare, Inc./Internet Archive
You can flip through Bally Midway's Journey Arcade flyer in its entirety here.
The flyer also explains the premise of the game, and part of the game's intro screen also explains how “a wild alien groupoid has commandeered Journey's electric supercharger.”
Thus, through five mini-games (each game representing one member of the band) taking place on five different planets, players can direct a particular Journeyman through various obstacles to retrieve a particular object. must be guided to.
For example, singer Steve Perry has to go through a maze of swinging gates to get the microphone, which he can use as a gun to destroy the gates.
© 1983 Bally Midway Mfg. All rights reserved.
Each stage plays a different synthesized version of a Journey song.
On the first planet, Perry's mission involves “Don't Stop Believin'.” On another stage, Valorie must find the bass to “Keep on Runnin'.” When “Stone in Love” comes on, Kane has to get a keyboard. Sean is chasing the guitar with “Chain Reaction” in the background. And Smith fights for the drums to the accompaniment of “Wheel in the Sky” for his mission.
Additionally, an 8-bit version of “Lights” plays on the intro screen, and interestingly, a bit of “Who's Crying Now” can be heard when the player loses a life.
The band members who successfully cleared the five mini-games gather at Scarab, but…
© 1983 Bally Midway Mfg. All rights reserved.
…And then we're off to a performance that one intro screen describes as “a spectacular concert at Galaxy Stadium.” Here, players take control of tour manager/roadie/bouncer Harvey Herbert, who must prevent rabid fans from flooding the stage. If the fans pass Herbie, all of the band's instruments will be stolen again and the five mini-games will restart with increasing difficulty.
What's really cool about this concert stage is that the game uses an actual looped recording of Journey's “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),” which is played through the machine's built-in cassette deck.
© 1983 Bally Midway Mfg. All rights reserved.
Here are some examples of Journey gameplay, as well as samples of synthesized and recorded music used within the game.
According to Classic Arcade Gaming, the record score for the Bally's Journey game is 12,181,850, achieved by Chuck Cross in December 1983 at Aladdin's Castle in Steubenville, Ohio.
In the 40+ years since then, I don't think anyone has been interested enough in this game to try and beat it.
