In the game, you must lead all 5 members of Journey through waves of pesky characters and backstage obstacles to the Scarab Escape Vehicle before time runs out. You must also protect $50,000 in concert cash from grasping groupies, photographers, and promoters.
The game is notable in its use of the intro for "Don't Stop Believin'" during the cutscene that plays between rounds. Unfortunately, as with other games of that time period that were symptomatic of The Problem with Licensed Games, the game didn't help its publisher to avoid becoming one of the victims of The Great Video Game Crash of 1983.
Bally/Midway would obtain the license of the band to release their Journey arcade game based on the 1983 album Frontiers.
This game provides examples of
- Captain Ersatz: Mighty Manager bears an uncanny resemblance to Kool-Aid Man. But green.
- Celebrity Game
- Cool Ship: The Scarab Escape Vehicle, or at least it was trying to be in the game.
- Cutscene: An animated interpretation of the band's 1981 album cover is used as one.
- Endless Game: You play until time runs out.
- Gold Digger: Groupies in the game, as running into them causes you to lose cash.
- Invincibility Power-Up: Loyal Roadies (they resemble aliens) give you temporary invulnerability when you touch them. Mighty Manager gives you not only longer-lasting invulnerability, but also a cash boost. Invulnerability is indicated by a change to the background music (with different tunes for the two different types of invulnerability).
- It's Raining Men: Or rather, groupies, photographers, and promoters, with the occasional roadie, manager, and brick wall.
- Paparazzi: Photographers in the game, as running into them causes you to lose cash (from "buying the negatives", according to the manual).
- Scoring Points:
- Your main method of scoring points (in the form of money) is getting all five band members to the ship (for which you get another $50,000, plus a bonus of $100 per second of time remaining), and the Mighty Manager gives $9,900 if he appears.
- However, it's far easier to lose points than it is to gain them. You lose money every time you touch Love-Crazed Groupies ($300), Sneaky Photographers ($600), or Shifty-Eyed Promoters (a whopping $2000).
- Timed Mission: You only have a limited amount of time to get each member of the band into the Escape Vehicle.
