Blue's Journey

About Blue's Journey

Blue's Journey (1990) is Alpha Denshi's colourful Neo Geo platformer in which the hero Blue saves the insect people of planet Raguy from the polluting Daruma Empire.

Blue's Journey in Depth

The peaceful planet of Raguy, home to insect people called Insectarians, has been invaded by the evil Daruma Empire, which plans to consume its resources and pollute it. Princess Fa, whom Blue loves, sends the heroic young man to save the planet. Blue can stun enemies, then pick them up and throw them as projectiles, and he can shrink himself to reach hidden areas. A second player can join as an unnamed green palette swap of Blue, and the game has several endings depending on events such as whether the player defeats their rival.

Its bright graphics were the most consistent point of praise. AllGame's Kyle Knight called them "cutesy" and colourful next to the NES and Genesis of the time and liked the multiple pathways, but rated the play as average and lacking difficulty. Consoles Plus praised the varied presentation, simple controls and multiple paths while finding the music repetitive, and Hobby Consolas praised its technical presentation, samba-style soundtrack, many secrets, bosses and two-player co-operative play. French magazine Tilt saw it as a cross between Marvel Land and Sonic the Hedgehog, an original and varied adventure platformer, and Génération 4 compared it to Super Mario Bros., while Consolemania found its graphics simplistic, its sound bland and its play frustrating.

Making Blue's Journey

Alpha Denshi developed it and SNK published it in 1990 for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms, early in the system's life. Contemporary reviews were generally positive, though several critics, including Joypad and Joystick, noted its low difficulty and GameFan its short length. Later reception was more mixed: on the Virtual Console, Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead called its visuals "crude and blotchy" and recommended Super Mario Bros. 3 instead, GameSpot praised its sound but criticised its graphics and play, and IGN found it a passable platformer. The Neo Geo and Switch versions average around 50 per cent on GameRankings.