journey to silius gameplay

Journey to Silius

Posted by Michael Plasket on October 4, 2017

Journey to Silius / [rʌf] World (ラフワールド) - NES, PlayStation (1990)

Sunsoft is one of many underappreciated developers who rose to prominence during the reign of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Somewhere in the middle of their original and licensed releases lies  Journey to Silius , an unassuming run-and-gun game released around the mid-to-late portion of the NES’s lifespan. It’s easy to just take a quick glance at it and write it off as a  Contra  clone, adding to the glut of games which fall under the “shoot things in 2D with a gun that contains infinite ammo” genre which was quite popular at the time. To be fair,  Journey to Silius  doesn’t do anything incredibly original, but it is nonetheless a well-rounded game that has a modest cult following and an interesting development history.

Journey to Silius  begins on a dire note that is actually illustrated in a bold cutscene at the beginning of the game, though the manual further elaborates on the backstory. In the year 0373 of the new space age, world overpopulation beckons the creation of space colonies so people can emigrate to them. Jay McCray is the son of a scientist working on colony #428 in the Silius Solar System (SSS), and Jay aspires to someday become a scientist like his dear old dad. Unfortunately, the SSS colony is obliterated in a cataclysmic explosion, and all known research is lost along with the lives of many, including Jay’s father. A grieving Jay finds a disk in his father’s room which tells him about terrorists who are likely behind the horrible destruction of the SSS colony. Full of solemnity and anger, Jay decides to take the fight to the terrorists and see to it that the SSS colony can be rebuilt after all opposing forces have been crushed.

Perhaps the premise of a teenager taking the fight to a bunch of “terrorists” may be unorthodox, particularly as all of said terrorists are robots. Of course, this was the sort of logical detail that didn’t amount to a hill of beans back in the in the glory days of 8-bit technology, where single-entity armies were commonplace. (There is an explanation for the enemy forces to consist entirely of mechanical marauders rooted in the game’s origin, which will be elaborated upon later.) The game itself requires the player to guide Jay through war-torn landscapes, subterranean bunkers, and fearsome techno-bases to destroy the massive bosses at the end of each level. The action is carried out akin to most 2D platformers, as Jay runs, jumps, shoots, and avoids being killed despite the improbable odds against him.

You start out with a basic handgun and a three-way shotgun to wreck the enemy opposition. Before each big boss fight stands a sub-boss which, if conquered, drops a new weapon, eventually amounting to a total of six strong guns. This includes a quick-firing machine gun, a versatile homing missile launcher, a penetrating laser gun, and a giga-powerful grenade launcher. One could potentially just fight a way through the game with the default handgun, as it fires about as fast as the player can push “B”, but the extra firepower can be very useful in the many tight situations that ensue as the game rolls on. Each use of any weapon that isn’t the handgun consumes a bit of a blue special weapon gauge, which is naturally located below the pink lifebar. The only power-ups you ever normally find increase your weapon and life gauges, while life pick-ups unfortunately tend to be a bit on the scarcer side. Even weapon pick-ups aren’t handed out liberally, so you’ll have to be careful with your ammo.

It’s too bad that booster items are somewhat uncommon, as according to the norm for much of Sunsoft’s output,  Journey to Silius  is a danged tough game to beat. Jay’s quest is only five levels long, but while it’s short by technical definition, a good deal more time will be spent figuring out how to get through certain segments while taking the absolute minimum of damage or avoiding nefarious pitfalls which can instantly screw your game. The first stage is a bit tougher than the beginning of most games, where missiles fall down pits and can drag Jay down with them if not careful, and laser turrets that can only be hit when they pop out of the ground to attack. Later levels bring in some more painful enemies, like wall turrets that constantly spray off bullets in a clockwise pattern, domed ceiling guns that might make one rue the inability to fire upward, and intimidating jetpack robots who swoop down on the player in a manner reminiscent of the infamous Red Arremer from the  Ghosts ‘n Goblins  series.

In between the destructible enemies lies a number of increasingly fatal traps, which the latter levels pour on thick. Mechanical presses, steel claws that drop down when getting too close to them, and blocks that plunge into a void the instant they’re stepped on; these are all jeopardies to watch out for. The final stage is impressive for having no actual enemies but bombarding you with many environmental hazards instead, all while the level keeps on auto-scrolling, forcing you to react quickly. If you think the levels are murderous, just wait until you get a load of the bosses, all of which are massive and quite impressively designed. Heck, even the sub-bosses fought before the big ones can be annoying, like an iron golem, which can only be hit in its head before it walks all over Jay, or a trigger-happy mech reminiscent of ED-209 from  Robocop .

The end bosses are all really vicious affairs; a helicopter drops annoying leaping robots before facing you directly, a tank with a humanoid upper body and an extending claw to strike with, and a bizarre laser cannon that looks more like it belongs in the  Alien franchise. Checkpoints are stringent and losing all lives will send you back to the start of the level, even if it’s during one of the boss fights. You only get three continues total to beat the game and three lives for each continue with no way to earn any extras. Running out of continues stings a lot less than it does in Blaster Master, but with how brutal the final stage is, seeing the end of the game will require a lot of effort and persistence.

Now while the bosses are the most impressive-looking parts on the whole, the overall quality of the graphics cannot be denied. Journey to Silius is one of the finest looking games on the NES, just as most of Sunsoft’s other titles from  Blaster Master  onward looked marvelous. The backgrounds are usually rendered in different hues of the same color to create a monochromatic landscape, but they always fit the atmosphere and never feel bland. Enemies have neat technological designs with a few even appearing more akin to aliens, and as mentioned before, it’s hard to believe the game’s bosses fit into 8-bit design. While not the most outwardly colorful game, it never looks garish with its consistent dark science-fiction design.

In addition to looking grimly gorgeous, the music is some of the best ever created with the NES’s sound capabilities. Composed by Naoki Kodaka, the same musician behind many of Sunsoft’s other NES titles, it strikes the right balance between intense action and dramatic fervor, producing a memorable tone that isn’t quite like any other game on the NES, even compared to Sunsoft’s other releases. The real standout piece is the second-level music, a low-key tune that resonates with a hint of sorrow to create an oppressive atmosphere for the stage in question, which just so happens to be an underground bunker.

Journey to Silius  has incredible production values, and the gameplay itself is pretty solid too, if nothing too groundbreaking at the time. It’s a tough game that feels rather imposing at times, but never completely impossible as one learns when to jump and what to shoot. The addition of new weapons for beating nearly every stage is also a cool mechanic, even if it’s not too different from how the  Mega Man  series rewards players for beating the bosses. While the game has a good amount of substance, the style is what really sets  Journey to Silius  above much of its ilk. It could even be said that the game looks and feels like an action movie, and such a sentiment would be closer to the truth than one would think. It’s a fact that this game was initially planned as Sunsoft’s adaptation of James Cameron’s classic 1984 sci-fi action thriller,  The Terminator . While Sunsoft lost the licensing rights during development, the overall appearance to the game gives sufficient evidence to what it could have been as a movie tie-in.

It’s not hard to imagine Jay as Kyle Reese fighting his war against the machines in the future, though perhaps his sprite could do with a bit more stubble to better resemble Michael Biehn. The first level is ripped right out of the scenes which depict the future with Terminators and Hunter-Killers having laid waste to all around them, and the second level is familiar to the underground bunkers where T-600s hunt down humans in hiding. While the third and fourth stages don’t really bear much parity to any known scene, the final level takes place in a factory akin to the setpiece for the showdown against the T-800. The biggest evidence is the final boss, a tall mechanical humanoid that bears a significant semblance to the T-800’s metal exoskeleton. Furthermore, an early set of screenshots in a  Nintendo Power  exclusive show what the game was going to be like, naturally with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the eponymous Terminator at the title screen. The other screens show the first level with the background clad in a hushed dark blue shade, which makes it appear even more grave than its final incarnation.

Journey to Silius  had the potential to join up with  Batman  as one of the few NES games that would have defied the notion that all licensed games had to be crap. As it stands, even without the approval of the Hemdale Film Corporation, it’s nonetheless one of the best action games on the NES, standing head and shoulders above the games that actually received the Terminator license on the system.

In Japan, it was given the bizarre title  [rʌf] World , but with the exact same gameplay as its Western counterpart. The only notable difference besides the title screen is the sprite of the main character: Here the protagonist’s head is obscured by a helmet and his bodysuit looks slightly different. [rʌf] World  was released in Japan in a PlayStation compilation titled  Memorial Series: Sunsoft Vol. 5 , which also featured  Hebereke .

Nintendo Power

As for how  The Terminator  fared for games after  Journey to Silius , two years later appeared an actual  Terminator  game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Mindscape. Lamentably, its muddy graphics and infuriating controls dropped it into the typical licensed dreck cesspit where most tie-in games at the time were trapped. Perhaps it was an unwise move to revoke the license from Sunsoft in retrospect, but a slightly less embarrassing (albeit still terrible) title based on the then-recent  T2: Judgment Day  was developed by Software Creations and published by LJN. While that game at least had decent music, its level structure was awful and it was often horribly unfair. An actually okay game based on the first  Terminator  was released to the Genesis with a much expanded version for the Sega CD, and much later there were some genuinely good games in the franchise, even if not based on any specific film installment, like  Terminator: Future Shock  and  Robocop vs. The Terminator . But when it comes to the NES,  Journey to Silius  is easily the best  Terminator  game on the platform without even the license.

Related Articles at HG101:

• Tag: Action: Side-Scrolling , Awesome Music , NES Cult Classic , Nintendo Entertainment System , Science Fiction , Sunsoft
• All Reviews
• Game Series
• Anime / Film Review
• 500-Word Indies
• Dark Age of JRPGs
• Your Weekly Kusoge
• Japanese Obscurities
• Trivia Tidbits
• Submission Guidelines

• Rated A by CERO
• Rated 12 by USK
• Rated Parental Guidance by ACB
• Articles in need of expanding
• 1990 video games
• Nintendo Entertainment System games
• Sunsoft games
• Mattel games
• Run and gun games
• Platformer games

Journey to Silius

• View history

Journey to Silius was originally based on the movie The Terminator , but the licensing rights to the film were lost during development. The graphics and storyline were altered to accommodate this change.

• 3 Development
• 4 Reception
• 5 External links

In the year 0373 of the new space age calendar, overpopulation of Earth has led to increased demand for emigration to space colonies. Jay McCray, the son of a scientist responsible for development of space colony #428 in the Silius Solar System, prepares to move there in order to follow in his father's footsteps. However, the space station is obliterated in an explosion, killing the entire research team and destroying all data on board.

In his father's home, Jay discovers a floppy disk containing not only the complete SSS colony plans, but a personal message from his father asking that he complete the projects should terrorists succeed in destroying the colony. To protect the colony plans and to avenge his father's death, Jay sets out to fight the terrorists responsible for the space colony's destruction.

Gameplay [ ]

The player controls Jay McCray, as he goes on a mission to defeat the terrorist group responsible for his father's death. There are five stages, consisting of the ruins of a space colony, an underground concourse, the enemy's hideout, a flying spaceship, and a factory. The player must fight his way through an assortment of robotic enemies and security systems in order to reach the end of each stage and fight the stage's boss.

The controls follow the standard conventions of other side-scrolling action games for the NES. The character can lie down, but he can only aim his gun left or right. In addition to the default handgun weapon, the player can switch to one of five additional weapons that can be procured throughout the course of the game - which are a shotgun, a machine gun, a homing gun, a laser rifle, and a grenade launcher. Each of these special weapons consumes the player's Gun Energy gauge and once it runs out, the player would automatically revert to the default handgun. The player can replenish Jay's health and ammo by retrieving energy capsules dropped by defeated enemies. After the fifth and final stage is completed, the credits are shown, and the player would restart the game on the first stage.

Development [ ]

Reception [ ], external links [ ].

• Journey to Silius at Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia
• Journey to Silius at GameFAQs
• Journey to Silius at MobyGames
• 1 List of Pokémon games
• 2 List of Sonic the Hedgehog characters
• 3 List of Mario games

• The Inventory

Journey to Silius

Journey to Silius Screenshots and Videos

All the Latest Game Footage and Images from Journey to Silius

Discover Games

Journey to Silius, known in Japan as RAF World, is a side-scrolling run and gun video game developed by Tokai Engineering and published by Sunsoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990. Journey to Silius was originally based on the 1984 film The Terminator, but the licensing rights to the film were lost during development. As a result, the graphics and storyline were altered to accommodate this change, but remnants of the earlier version still remain in the game. For example, the final boss has a striking resemblance to the titular terminator in the film.

More from Tokai Engineering

Advertisement

Journey to Silius

Table of contents.

This page is a stub . Help us expand it , and you get a cookie.

Japanese box

Journey to Silius/Table of Contents

• Nintendo Switch
• Guides at completion stage 0
• Tokai Engineering
• Run and gun
• Single player

Navigation menu

• Show Spoilers
• Night Vision
• Sticky Header
• Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/JourneyToSilius

Video Game / Journey to Silius

Edit locked.

Tropes of this game:

• American Kirby Is Hardcore : In an inverse example, Jay in the US-release was given a more cartoonish appearance with his face shown.
• Auto-Scrolling Level : The final stage scrolls at medium pace.
• Book Ends : The stage 1 theme is also used for the final stage.
• Boss-Only Level : Played with in the final stage; the final battle is preceded by a relatively brief auto-scrolling segment with no enemies, but plenty of hazards.
• Bottomless Pits : Bottomless pits are here and there and make the player lose a life when fallen into.
• Conspicuous Electric Obstacle : Final stage has some alcoves that have electric currents going through them.
• Cores-and-Turrets Boss : The third boss consists of a core and several turrets.
• Down the Drain : Stage 2 takes place in the sewers.
• Eternal Engine : The last two stages take place inside a factory, which include most of the stock deathtraps.
• Excuse Plot : The game has an opening about Jay taking revenge on terrorists for the death of his father in their plans to stop a space colony from being made, but gets no more development beyond that, not even in the manual. With the first stage being a clear leftover of the The Terminator 's opening war prologue between the Resistance and Skynet, Jay looking like an Expy of Kyle Reese in a space suit, and all of those "terrorists" being androids and occasionally Contra -looking aliens, it becomes obvious the story was a last-minute addition to cover the loss of the license.
• Flash of Pain : Enemies flash in pink color when hit.
• Inconveniently-Placed Conveyor Belt : Conveyor belts appear in the final stage. Some carry items to bottomless pits, others have no purpose than to hinder the player.
• Japanese Ranguage : You're most likely supposed to be journeying to Si r ius.
• King Mook : The sub-bosses of Stage 3 and 4 are upgrades of the missile batteries and the "HumpBots", respectively, and the Final Boss is a giant version of the tall Mecha-Mooks from Stage 3.
• Lava Pit : Stage 5 has pools of lava.
• Market-Based Title : Known as Rough World in Japan. Often mistakenly called "Raf World" since "Rough" is spelled rʌf (the middle letter being a turned v). Jay also has a more normally-proportioned head and wears futuristic armor in this version (like he does in the European release).
• New Game Plus : A very backhanded example. The only things that carry over are your health and ammo, which remain at whatever levels they were when you defeated the final boss. So if you beat the game with one hit-point left and no firepower, you start over at Level 1 with one hit-point and no firepower.

• No OSHA Compliance : The final stage is a factory requires player to navigate very hazardous factory.
• Ratchet Scrolling : Once you go right, you can't go back. One of the last NES games to have this.
• Sentry Gun : Some of the turrets are capable of shooting at you as soon as you approach. They can even increase their own elevation to shoot you, requiring you to jump or crouch to avoid being hit.
• Sequential Boss : The final battle consists of two separate bosses to destroy.
• Slow Laser : Sentry Guns fire lasers that move at visible speed.
• Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom : Crushers make an appearance in the fourth stage and fifth stage.
• Stalactite Spite : Large blocks in stage 4 start to fall when the player is under them.
• Stealth Sequel : To Chō Wakusei Senki Metafight , the Japanese version of Blaster Master . Rough World is set in the year 2373 of the space calendar, while Metafight is set in 2052 of the same calendar.
• Temporary Platform : Fourth stage has blocks that fall when stood on.
• Creator/Sunsoft
• Jones in the Fast Lane
• Video Games of 1990–1994
• Kabuki Quantum Fighter
• Joe & Mac
• Platform/Nintendo Entertainment System
• Jewel Master
• Run-and-Gun
• Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues

Important Links

• Action Adventure
• Commercials
• Crime & Punishment
• Professional Wrestling
• Speculative Fiction
• Sports Story
• Animation (Western)
• Music And Sound Effects
• Print Media
• Sequential Art
• Tabletop Games
• Applied Phlebotinum
• Characterization
• Characters As Device
• Narrative Devices
• British Telly
• The Contributors
• Creator Speak
• Derivative Works
• Laws And Formulas
• Show Business
• Split Personality
• Truth And Lies
• Truth In Television
• Fate And Prophecy
• Edit Reasons
• Isolated Pages
• Images List
• Recent Videos
• Crowner Activity
• Un-typed Pages
• Recent Page Type Changes
• Trope Entry
• Character Sheet
• Playing With
• Creating New Redirects
• Cross Wicking
• Tips for Editing
• Text Formatting Rules
• Handling Spoilers
• Administrivia
• Trope Repair Shop
• Image Pickin'

Advertisement:

• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation 4
• PlayStation 5
• Xbox Series
• More Systems

Journey to Silius – Guides and FAQs

Full game guides.

• Guide and Walkthrough by  DJosef v.1.25, 12KB, 2001
• Guide and Walkthrough by  antseezee v.Final, 34KB, 2011
• Guide and Walkthrough by  WalkerBoh 10KB, 2003
• Guide and Walkthrough by  snazzyhoppy v.1.0, 56KB, 2012

Foreign Language Guides

• Guide and Walkthrough (Spanish) by  Silius v.1.0, 18KB, 2004

Want to Write Your Own Guide?

You can write and submit your own guide for this game using either our full-featured online editor or our basic text editor . We also accept maps and charts as well.

Pat Handy Dot COM

Pat handy information technology utilities.

• Video Games
•     Contact Me
•     Only Fans
•     Citrix
•     Exchange
•     Fortigate
•     Linux
•     Windows

Journey to Silius

Journey to Silius for the NES is a hidden gem that often goes unnoticed in discussions of retro gaming. Developed by Sunsoft and released in 1990, this side-scrolling action platformer showcases the best of what the NES had to offer. With its memorable soundtrack, challenging gameplay, and impressive visuals, Journey to Silius deserves recognition as one of the NES era's hidden treasures.

Year: 1988 Manufacturer: Konami Genre: Action Rating: HSRS - GA (General Audience)

Graphics and Sound: Visually, Journey to Silius pushes the boundaries of what the NES was capable of. The environments are detailed and varied, from futuristic cities to underground caverns, each filled with enemies and obstacles that bring the world to life. The character sprites are well-designed and smoothly animated, showcasing the attention to detail put into this game.

What truly stands out, however, is the game's exceptional soundtrack composed by Naoki Kodaka. The music perfectly captures the futuristic atmosphere and complements the gameplay experience. The tunes are catchy and memorable, and you'll find yourself humming them long after you've turned off the console. The sound effects are also satisfying, from the booming explosions to the crisp gunfire.

Gameplay: Journey to Silius follows the story of Jay McCray, a young man seeking revenge against a terrorist organization responsible for his father's death. As Jay, you'll navigate through eight challenging stages, battling enemies and bosses along the way.

The gameplay mechanics are tight and responsive, allowing for precise platforming and shooting. You'll acquire different weapons and power-ups as you progress, adding depth to the gameplay. The difficulty level ramps up steadily, providing a fair challenge that keeps you engaged throughout the adventure. Be prepared for some intense moments and demanding boss fights that will test your skills.

One of the game's unique features is the ability to shoot in multiple directions, a rarity for NES games. This adds an extra layer of strategy, as you'll need to position yourself carefully to take out enemies approaching from all angles.

Replay Value: Journey to Silius may be a relatively short game, but its replay value lies in its challenging nature. With the tight controls and a variety of weapons to experiment with, mastering the game becomes a rewarding experience. Additionally, the branching paths within some stages add replayability, encouraging players to explore different routes and uncover hidden secrets.

Conclusion: Journey to Silius for the NES is an underrated gem that deserves more recognition. Its impressive graphics, exceptional soundtrack, and tight gameplay mechanics combine to create an enjoyable and challenging experience. While it may not be as well-known as some of its contemporaries, it stands as a testament to the quality of games released during the NES era. If you're a fan of classic platformers or are simply looking for an NES game that offers a memorable journey, be sure to give Journey to Silius a chance. You won't be disappointed.

Explore in-depth reviews and analyses of classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games, including gameplay mechanics, graphics, sound, and overall nostalgic experience.