Journey to Silius
Reviewed 5/29/00

Most players have heard of Journey to Silius at one time or another, and for one reason: It has a reputation for having the best music on the NES. I'm not sure if I'd say that (it has a lot of competition) but it does have some kickin' tunes, so good they can warrant your purchase of this game.

You play the part of Jay (who looks like a dork when you're playing), Jay's father, the head of a space colonization project, passes away, presumably by an accident, and then a couple days later Jay finds a floppy disk in his fathers room outlining a plot by terrorists to overthrow the project. Jay doesn't call the national guard, or even the police, oh no, that just wouldn't be very logical for a Nintendo game. He gets a gun and sets out to kill all the "terrorists" himself (even though all enemies are robots and can't possibly be terrorists). The game itself plays a little bit like Mega Man, only not nearly as polished. Jay can use his default gun an infinite number of times or pick up bigger and better weapons at various points in the game, with a very limited meter of firepower (ala Mega Man) The game would have been a lot better if the controls were anything like Contra's, but Jay can only shoot in straight lines, which is limiting in this game. You get 3 continues, 3 lives, then it's game over. But don't worry because this game has only 5 levels, all pretty linear and straightforward. The learning curve is pretty steep, and it's not a game you will breeze through, but it's not all too challenging.

With only 5 levels and fairly basic gameplay, what does the game have to offer? Like I said before, some of the best music you will ever hear on NES. Every track is done with a high degree of quality, and a sound test is accessible by pressing B 33 times at the title screen. Don't get me wrong, the game is fun too, but it's not great, or original, and is cut a little short at 5 levels.

Graphics 7
Really cool looking enemies and robot bosses, awesome intro
Jay looks like a dork, simplistic level design
Sound 10
Some of the best sound ever in any videogame, all very polished, hail the composer at Sunsoft!
Gotta love that opening intro music. Creepy.
Innovation 4
Basic sidescroller
And it copies heavily from Mega Man to boot
Gameplay 7
It's a lot of fun, while it lasts
Very linear, and uninspiring
Replay Value 6
Worth a play every now and then, if only for the music
Much too short, and once you beat it there's nothing left to do

72%
Overall Score

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