I'm sure someone has mentioned it in the comments by now on this years-old video, but you actually do get bonus points for hitting the goal beanstalk while carrying enemies! It's what the "Enemy Bonus" is during the results screen.
The graphics really give me the impression of a supercharged Master System or TG-16 with the graphical style and color palettes used. Really stands out in the Neo Geo libray because it's very distinguishing compared to the more familiar "Neo Geo look".
I like Blue's Journey Alec. I mean personally, I'm into oddball and quirky titles with characters that standout to intrigued me. The game was detailed with nice colors with catchy music. As a 7-8 year old boy playing it when it debuted, it really put a smile on my face. I have this one in my AES collection and still play it when I have the chance. I don't believe he was SNK's mascot top choice written on him. I thought that possession should've been for Elta from Magician Lord. But Blue had the ability to become something big for children to become a popular character for him to expand onto other avenues to become a hit. Maybe the possibility of Anime or a Manga Other than that, Blues Journey is fun and brings back plenty of memories from my childhood Alec. Thank you for sharing this with us. It made my night for sure. 8^) Anthony..
Yeah, I agree, he's totally not a mascot, but he does represent that sort of character-driven platformer of the early 90's. I wasn't even going to include that whole mascot/Super Mario part in the video originally, until I noticed there were still people suggesting the game is like Mario online as recently as last month. So it's a misconception that somehow persists to this day. Also, I totally don't agree with the video thumbnail -- It's just clickbait. I'll revert it to a normal thumbnail in a couple of weeks.
When you stumbled on a new video/channel from someone retweeting it on Twitter. I cannot wait to go through your back catalogue! This is awesome stuff.
The way you described the 2P aspect of this game reminds me a lot of Gunstar Heroes. One of my favourite games, but if you decide to have a casual playthrough with a second player that has never played the game, or is rusty, you're in for a bad time. They either wind up stealing most of your lives, or feeling dejected in the corner after using their allotted stocks whilst you finish the rest (often the majority) of the stage. If you're both experienced at the game (and even moreso if you're experienced at playing the game *together*) it's a very fun experience that allows you to get into a "flow state" of compensating for the other player's mistakes or teaming up on a boss by simultaneously covering your own areas of the map. The many different weapon combinations and how different they work also complement the cooperative element; one player might favour the powerful but short-range weapons, whilst the other might use a long-range lock-on weapon that will catch any stray enemies the first player missed that would otherwise have hit them.
You do get a points bonus for clearing a stage while holding enemies. Once the stage clear screen comes up its listed as ENEMY BONUS. Excited for the next video!
Great review, thanks! I put this game in for my nieces, they were unimpressed, "this game is messed up!" I have a few chuckles due to the poor translation, and I really enjoy the animation. The part where Blue kills the two monsters having a conversation, reminds me of Lancelot attacking the wedding party in Monty Python.
It's interesting you mention the parallels to wonderboy. I think the "bug costume" thing is somehow related to the "Bikkuriman" franchise? Monsterland was rebranded as "Bikkuriman World" for the PC Engine and uses the same "aesthetic"/theme, as does Dynastic Hero on the Super CD - a re-skin of Monster World - which is all-in on the bug-costumes. I wonder what the connection is. Maybe Bikkuriman (famous for those collectible stickers back in the day) was just so big at the time that they borrowed as much as they could without getting sued for copy right infringement.
Fantastic video! I haven't really ever played Blue's Journey for any serious amount of time. After watching this video it's apparent I need to give it a play through.
13:59 I know the why, even if what you say is right. Clearly, it was not done by native speaker. But it is also more complex than that. I worked on an unofficial French translation of The Super Spy. I pretty much completed it but the person in charge lost interest and the project died by itself… What we found out back in the day is that the space is set for a dialog box. You can use a limited number of characters, which makes any translation difficult. The other thing we find out is that pieces of the sentences were scrambled in the code. The person in charge built a software that allows us to write a sentence as we would normally do, and then create the code. But what it means is that proof-reading is very difficult, you can’t just look at it… Not an excuse, I know…
Jamo forest had 4 stages. But stage 2 and 3 were cut right before the game was released to shorten the length. Both stages are in ROM but are not playable
Ironically enough the TurboGrafx CD version of Wonder Boy In Monster World which was reskinned into Dynastic Hero used the same bug motif as Blue's Journey 1 year later.
So the ocarina guarantees you getting a life orb if you get first place in the lottery? I didn't know that, all I knew was that if you stood still for a bit Blue will play the ocarina. There's also another first place prize, the blue lucky orb, gives a rather vague description of bringing good fortune, likely an increased chance for enemies to drop point items I thought Starge space was a weird name, it's a little too engrish to be a real word. The English translation omitted a portion of each location's name, like Quira, Shabarn, and Bakeen. If it wasn't for the travel agent you wouldn't even know it to begin with There's one thing you missed, after defeating Ret he gives you a torch, if you want to use it you have to go to mechanical city and in act 3 there will be a house with Princess Lim, by using the torch to free her she will cast a spell and make you immune to Nero's curse (a bit late for that but will at least ensure you don't end up with the curse ending) Of course, to go this route would mean you can't go to Empire Marsh and Starge Space, and you also can't continue as the torch will disappear if you do Clearly the English translation is done in house by ADK themselves, they were infamous for their Magician Lord's "Again changes to hell", they probably didn't realize at the time that literal translation of Japanese to English often doesn't work well
Most Neo Geo English translations seem to be done in-house in Japan. This one is particularly egregious. To account for all the weird spelling errors, I think they must have had someone write the translation out, and someone else typed it in.
Ocarina it's only a toy, there isn't influence on winning prize in lottery. Prize are totally random and is impossible control them. The legend that sees the ocarina influencing lottery prizes comes from the gamefaq faq written in 2010. It's all false.
Hilarious Colorful Great Sound Effects Just a fun game for the Neo Geo Really underrated Some things could have been fleshed out better It’s a Hidden Gem That’s not Hidden Ignore the flaws and love it for what it is
19:31 Actually, the CD-i DID have a mascot. Marvin from “The Apprentice” (not to be confused with the show that was hosted by Donald Trump, or Lord Sir Alan Sugar if you live in Europe). Marvin was going to get a sequel called “Marvin’s Revenge, but it ended up being canceled after the CD-i failed in the marketplace. 20:02 Called It!
Indeed. Hulk Hogan was the joke one. You get the credit for 20:02. I wasn't even going to broach the subject originally. Actually, damn you for making this video 2 minutes longer!
@@BasementBrothers at no GEXTRA charge! Oh and PS-when you get around to reviewing Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy, I would like to collaborate in the review... if you even do collaborations.
Aah, good ol' Blue's Journey... Along with Super Spy, the game everyone owns because it was so cheap to pick up 😛 It's like the John Madden/FIFA of the Neo Geo as in people bought it as it was cheaper to buy one for a replacment case, rather than to buy a new spare one. 😂 But it's overall look reminds me of Talmit's Adventure/Marvel Land on the Genesis/Mega Drive more than anything.
Yep. And Baseballs Star Professional. And Burning Fight. You can toss most of the launch and first year titles on that pile. At least Samurai Shodown II is a great game that's pretty cheap and common. At least Gamestop doesn't destroy extra copies of these Neo Geo games, unlike the EA Sports.
"you may have not played before".. I know you have to be prudent on the Internet but really.. I'm quite sure anybody not understanding Japanese never played it before... .. Well with the price of Neo Geo Cartridge i suppose maybe some have it just because it's cheap... For Blue Journey, the graphics makes me really think of very old anime otherwise. It's a curiosity indeed, i don't think there is that much platformer on the Neo Geo, that would be a plus for the game.
I can see completists having it in their collection, because as you said, the game is cheap. You at least get some unique SNK graphics and music if you can fumble your way through it.
@@BasementBrothers I think the neo geo has so much potential to make more plataformers but they insteand decided to center on figthing games (then again they rerely plan anything for the home console experience so there´s that)
@@marcofrattino1343 Oh, dint know that, speking of him, does anyonby know just how much he was use in promotianal content?, i know he was the mascot for a short while but i dont remeber him apearing in comercials of in magazine rips.
@@erugurara8235 G-Mantle was SNK's commercial mascot in all japanese advertisements (and even in some magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly) throughout 1990 and part of 1991.
I found the real problem with neo geo, it’s way overpriced and it’s not Sega, Nintendo or PlayStation. Who had many great titles that are still a real blast to play. Beyond happy I dumped all mine years ago at a huge profit. Not bad for mostly shit games I got for almost free from a rich friend who considered it all junk, they all seemed like boot leg VCR tapes from a shitty half ass warehouse liquidation outfit. Even decades later on emulation I’ve never been impressed honestly. Neo Geo always seemed like a distant 5th place or more in my honest opinion. Then you look at it’s prices, what a laughingstock for what you get. Overpriced off brand knock offs quite honestly. Sega Genesis had a seal of quality, Neo Geo sure as hell didn’t! At that price it should have been the best and it never was. Reminds me of dumbshit BMW & Land Rover owners
I'm sure someone has mentioned it in the comments by now on this years-old video, but you actually do get bonus points for hitting the goal beanstalk while carrying enemies! It's what the "Enemy Bonus" is during the results screen.
It's a shame we didn't see more of the master of the leaf dump.
The graphics really give me the impression of a supercharged Master System or TG-16 with the graphical style and color palettes used. Really stands out in the Neo Geo libray because it's very distinguishing compared to the more familiar "Neo Geo look".
I like Blue's Journey Alec. I mean personally, I'm into oddball and quirky titles with characters that standout to intrigued me. The game was detailed with nice colors with catchy music. As a 7-8 year old boy playing it when it debuted, it really put a smile on my face.
I have this one in my AES collection and still play it when I have the chance. I don't believe he was SNK's mascot top choice written on him. I thought that possession should've been for Elta from Magician Lord. But Blue had the ability to become something big for children to become a popular character for him to expand onto other avenues to become a hit. Maybe the possibility of Anime or a Manga
Other than that, Blues Journey is fun and brings back plenty of memories from my childhood Alec. Thank you for sharing this with us. It made my night for sure. 8^)
Anthony..
Yeah, I agree, he's totally not a mascot, but he does represent that sort of character-driven platformer of the early 90's. I wasn't even going to include that whole mascot/Super Mario part in the video originally, until I noticed there were still people suggesting the game is like Mario online as recently as last month. So it's a misconception that somehow persists to this day. Also, I totally don't agree with the video thumbnail -- It's just clickbait. I'll revert it to a normal thumbnail in a couple of weeks.
Always a pleasure to watch a new video about NG from you guys, thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
When you stumbled on a new video/channel from someone retweeting it on Twitter. I cannot wait to go through your back catalogue! This is awesome stuff.
Thanks! Glad you found me! I know there are a lot more folks interested in the Neo who haven't found the channel yet! Hope you enjoy!
Always thought this game looked a lot like the Time Bokan Anime.
It does!
@@BasementBrothers specially the bug theme.
The true insipration is "Microid S" and "Paul's Miraculous Adventure".
The way you described the 2P aspect of this game reminds me a lot of Gunstar Heroes. One of my favourite games, but if you decide to have a casual playthrough with a second player that has never played the game, or is rusty, you're in for a bad time. They either wind up stealing most of your lives, or feeling dejected in the corner after using their allotted stocks whilst you finish the rest (often the majority) of the stage. If you're both experienced at the game (and even moreso if you're experienced at playing the game *together*) it's a very fun experience that allows you to get into a "flow state" of compensating for the other player's mistakes or teaming up on a boss by simultaneously covering your own areas of the map. The many different weapon combinations and how different they work also complement the cooperative element; one player might favour the powerful but short-range weapons, whilst the other might use a long-range lock-on weapon that will catch any stray enemies the first player missed that would otherwise have hit them.
Yeah, Gunstar Heroes has the same problem as Contra on 2-players, but with more chaos.
You do get a points bonus for clearing a stage while holding enemies. Once the stage clear screen comes up its listed as ENEMY BONUS. Excited for the next video!
perfect timing. just finished marathoning all the other vids in this series last night.
Perfect! Hope you enjoy!
Great review, thanks! I put this game in for my nieces, they were unimpressed, "this game is messed up!" I have a few chuckles due to the poor translation, and I really enjoy the animation. The part where Blue kills the two monsters having a conversation, reminds me of Lancelot attacking the wedding party in Monty Python.
It's interesting you mention the parallels to wonderboy. I think the "bug costume" thing is somehow related to the "Bikkuriman" franchise? Monsterland was rebranded as "Bikkuriman World" for the PC Engine and uses the same "aesthetic"/theme, as does Dynastic Hero on the Super CD - a re-skin of Monster World - which is all-in on the bug-costumes. I wonder what the connection is. Maybe Bikkuriman (famous for those collectible stickers back in the day) was just so big at the time that they borrowed as much as they could without getting sued for copy right infringement.
We've been missing your videos but it was worth the wait : Excellent job again !
Fantastic video! I haven't really ever played Blue's Journey for any serious amount of time. After watching this video it's apparent I need to give it a play through.
13:59 I know the why, even if what you say is right. Clearly, it was not done by native speaker. But it is also more complex than that. I worked on an unofficial French translation of The Super Spy. I pretty much completed it but the person in charge lost interest and the project died by itself… What we found out back in the day is that the space is set for a dialog box. You can use a limited number of characters, which makes any translation difficult. The other thing we find out is that pieces of the sentences were scrambled in the code. The person in charge built a software that allows us to write a sentence as we would normally do, and then create the code. But what it means is that proof-reading is very difficult, you can’t just look at it… Not an excuse, I know…
Great review, thanks for all that interesting background infos and translations 👍
Hell yes! I was waiting impatiently for your next review!!
Hope you enjoyed it!
Jamo forest had 4 stages. But stage 2 and 3 were cut right before the game was released to shorten the length. Both stages are in ROM but are not playable
Wish this was documented somewhere
Another great review, Alec! Never played this game actually. Gotta get it while it's still on the "cheap side".
Great NG review as always.
The helmets on the charcters remind me a lot of the first Kamen Rider.
Ironically enough the TurboGrafx CD version of Wonder Boy In Monster World which was reskinned into Dynastic Hero used the same bug motif as Blue's Journey 1 year later.
So the ocarina guarantees you getting a life orb if you get first place in the lottery? I didn't know that, all I knew was that if you stood still for a bit Blue will play the ocarina. There's also another first place prize, the blue lucky orb, gives a rather vague description of bringing good fortune, likely an increased chance for enemies to drop point items
I thought Starge space was a weird name, it's a little too engrish to be a real word. The English translation omitted a portion of each location's name, like Quira, Shabarn, and Bakeen. If it wasn't for the travel agent you wouldn't even know it to begin with
There's one thing you missed, after defeating Ret he gives you a torch, if you want to use it you have to go to mechanical city and in act 3 there will be a house with Princess Lim, by using the torch to free her she will cast a spell and make you immune to Nero's curse (a bit late for that but will at least ensure you don't end up with the curse ending) Of course, to go this route would mean you can't go to Empire Marsh and Starge Space, and you also can't continue as the torch will disappear if you do
Clearly the English translation is done in house by ADK themselves, they were infamous for their Magician Lord's "Again changes to hell", they probably didn't realize at the time that literal translation of Japanese to English often doesn't work well
Most Neo Geo English translations seem to be done in-house in Japan. This one is particularly egregious. To account for all the weird spelling errors, I think they must have had someone write the translation out, and someone else typed it in.
Ocarina it's only a toy, there isn't influence on winning prize in lottery. Prize are totally random and is impossible control them.
The legend that sees the ocarina influencing lottery prizes comes from the gamefaq faq written in 2010. It's all false.
That's a neat story, never knew about this guy
Hilarious Colorful
Great Sound Effects
Just a fun game for the Neo Geo
Really underrated
Some things could have been fleshed out better
It’s a Hidden Gem
That’s not Hidden
Ignore the flaws and love it for what it is
19:31 Actually, the CD-i DID have a mascot. Marvin from “The Apprentice” (not to be confused with the show that was hosted by Donald Trump, or Lord Sir Alan Sugar if you live in Europe). Marvin was going to get a sequel called “Marvin’s Revenge, but it ended up being canceled after the CD-i failed in the marketplace.
20:02 Called It!
Indeed. Hulk Hogan was the joke one.
You get the credit for 20:02. I wasn't even going to broach the subject originally. Actually, damn you for making this video 2 minutes longer!
@@BasementBrothers at no GEXTRA charge!
Oh and PS-when you get around to reviewing Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy, I would like to collaborate in the review... if you even do collaborations.
@@Gecko1993HogheadIncOfficial Okay. You'll have to let me know what you have in mind when I get there. There's a long way to go.
@@BasementBrothers Alrighty. See you until that time comes. Until then, I look forward to that Japanese Quiz game! ;)
Another great review =D
Thank you! Cheers!
Aah, good ol' Blue's Journey... Along with Super Spy, the game everyone owns because it was so cheap to pick up 😛
It's like the John Madden/FIFA of the Neo Geo as in people bought it as it was cheaper to buy one for a replacment case, rather than to buy a new spare one. 😂
But it's overall look reminds me of Talmit's Adventure/Marvel Land on the Genesis/Mega Drive more than anything.
Yep. And Baseballs Star Professional. And Burning Fight. You can toss most of the launch and first year titles on that pile. At least Samurai Shodown II is a great game that's pretty cheap and common. At least Gamestop doesn't destroy extra copies of these Neo Geo games, unlike the EA Sports.
@@BasementBrothers Waiting for you to review the footbal SNK games they good to compare to other footbal games, they feel so much faster.
G Mantle is kind of a horrifying mascot in a similar vein to Sinister's Bagool.
Who’s the voice on your intro? Always makes me laugh 😂
I thought Athena was SNK’s mascot?
Sure, I guess she might be.
looks fun to me
Is this the same neo alec from back in the og days???
Yep. Hey Sam Hain! You'll even see me mention the old web site in some of the videos.
Holy shit!! Alec! The first neo geo site next to dolphinnlords..man, its been long time old man...great reviews! Good seeing ya still around!
Leaf dump eh? Isn't that what vegans do when they go to the bathroom?
Good review but i never play this games.
*L E A F D U M P*
ATHENA is/was the best mascot for SNK, imho.
Probably the best platformer on the NEO geo
Oh wait....
"you may have not played before".. I know you have to be prudent on the Internet but really.. I'm quite sure anybody not understanding Japanese never played it before...
.. Well with the price of Neo Geo Cartridge i suppose maybe some have it just because it's cheap...
For Blue Journey, the graphics makes me really think of very old anime otherwise. It's a curiosity indeed, i don't think there is that much platformer on the Neo Geo, that would be a plus for the game.
I can see completists having it in their collection, because as you said, the game is cheap. You at least get some unique SNK graphics and music if you can fumble your way through it.
Actually is not that hard to find cd dumps of the neo geo games in game conventions.
Someone should try to make an English patch with new questions.
@@BasementBrothers I think the neo geo has so much potential to make more plataformers but they insteand decided to center on figthing games (then again they rerely plan anything for the home console experience so there´s that)
Does anyone remenbers G-mantle (the early SNK mascot) he is no very know.
G-Mantle already appeared in Ninja Combat, the game released before Raguy from Adk.
@@marcofrattino1343 Oh, dint know that, speking of him, does anyonby know just how much he was use in promotianal content?, i know he was the mascot for a short while but i dont remeber him apearing in comercials of in magazine rips.
@@erugurara8235 G-Mantle was SNK's commercial mascot in all japanese advertisements (and even in some magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly) throughout 1990 and part of 1991.
@@marcofrattino1343 Hmm, ok, thanks.
New Super Mario Bros takes a lot from this game, it seems
First!
I found the real problem with neo geo, it’s way overpriced and it’s not Sega, Nintendo or PlayStation. Who had many great titles that are still a real blast to play. Beyond happy I dumped all mine years ago at a huge profit. Not bad for mostly shit games I got for almost free from a rich friend who considered it all junk, they all seemed like boot leg VCR tapes from a shitty half ass warehouse liquidation outfit. Even decades later on emulation I’ve never been impressed honestly. Neo Geo always seemed like a distant 5th place or more in my honest opinion. Then you look at it’s prices, what a laughingstock for what you get. Overpriced off brand knock offs quite honestly. Sega Genesis had a seal of quality, Neo Geo sure as hell didn’t! At that price it should have been the best and it never was. Reminds me of dumbshit BMW & Land Rover owners