Hinotori Houou Hen: Gaou no Bouken

Hinotori Hououhen: Wagaou no Bouken is a side scrolling platformer developed for the Famicom and published by Konami at the start of 1987. The title is roughly translates as "The Phoenix Saga: Saruta's Adventure." The game is based on the manga series by Osamu Tezuka, creator of other famous anime icons such as Astroboy. Tezuka considered Phoenix his "life's work"; it consists of 12 books, each of which tells a separate, self-contained story and takes place in a different era.

The Famicom game is based primarily upon the first volume of the Saga, entitled Dawn, and focuses on the protagonist Saruta Hiko, the feudal general of Queen Himiko of the Yamataikoku. In the original story, the queen uses her army, led by Saruta, to invade Japan in search of the Phoenix and eternal youth. Saruta invades an island and enslaves a young boy named Nagi. Saruta trains the boy on the use of the bow and arrow, which the queen intends him to use to kill the Phoenix. Nagi instead uses the bow on the queen, but Saruta is convicted for the act. Saruta then attempts to be the first to claim the Phoenix, not for his queen, but for Nagi's dying sister, who happens to live on the island that is also the home of the Phoenix.

In the game, Saruta must travel through 16 different stages collecting a Hanafadu card from each stage which, when fully assembled, display the picture of the Phoenix. Many stages reference scenarios from other volumes of the Phoenix saga, and take place in the future as well as in the past. Some stages are linearly connected, while other stages from other time periods can only be accessed by finding the hidden warp that leads from one stage to another. At Saruta's disposal are his chisel (which he originally used to sculpt gargoyle head statues), and the gargoyle heads which he can deposit to form makeshift platforms. The game ends when all 16 Hanafadu cards are collected, and the Phoenix is released.