Hi no Tori Houou-hen: Gaou no Bouken

About

You play as Gaou, a sculptor cursed by his past who must leap through fractured timelines to reclaim shattered relics of a mythical phoenix. The game blends platforming challenges with a signature mechanic where you place blocks to build bridges or trigger switches. Levels shift between surreal settings, ancient ruins, futuristic cities, each guarding a piece of the phoenix sculpture. Your jumps and placed blocks determine progress, with limited continues to keep tension high. The story pulls from Osamu Tezuka's manga, tracing Gaou's redemption arc from vengeful outcast to penitent artist. While the plot threads are dense for an 80s platformer, the focus stays on nimble gameplay. As one of Konami’s earliest Famicom titles, it’s a rough but earnest experiment in puzzle-driven action. Nostalgic players note its raw charm, though modern standards reveal its clunky pacing.

Storyline

As a child, a young boy named Gaou lost an arm and an eye, and as a result, from a young age he was discriminated against and teased, unable to fit in with his peers. The constant ridicule and persecution caused Gaou to become bitter, and hardened, eventually turning to a life as a murderous bandit. In spite of his wicked and corrupt lifestyle, Gaou met a woman who saw goodness in him, and the two were married. However, one day, over nothing more than a trifling disagreement, Gaou lost control of himself, and killed his wife. Realization of what he had done caused Gaou to deeply regret his wicked deeds, and reform his behavior. Gaou encountered a Buddhist monk who helped him change his ways, and discover his passion for sculpting. Renouncing his previous life of violence, Gaou became a Buddhist sculptor, devoting himself to the creation of magnificent sculptures renowned for the raw and powerful emotions he was able to invoke in his work. One day, together with a fellow sculptor Akanemaru, Gaou encountered a mythical phoenix, who, according to legend, can bestow eternal life to those who drink its blood. Inspired, Gaou devotes himself to the creation of a magnificent phoenix sculpture. However, shortly after finishing the sculpture, it was stolen from him, broken into 16 pieces, and hidden in different time periods of the past and the future. In order to recover the 16 phoenix sculpture pieces, Gaou embarked on a perilous journey that would take him through space and time.