Hi no Tori Houou Hen ~Gao no Bouken~ is action/platformer developed by Konami for the NES. It was one of two games based on the fifth volume of the famous manga by Osamu Tezuka released in 1987 with the other being a shooter in the vein of Knightmare for the MSX. The NES game is not a literal adaptation of the manga and instead tries to forge its own path while trying to stay true to the themes of the manga. It was also made during a time when Konami could do no wrong. While that is up for debate here, at times the graphic design was some of the best on the system, the game design was deceptively non-linear and unlike anything else from the era, and the music was composed by the guy responsible for the "Konami Sound." On the surface, it might look like a bastardization of its source and just play like a terrible game, but it might actually be better than it seems.

Gao's Adventure is not a literal adaptation of the manga and really doesn't have any kind of story to speak of. Rather the premise of the game is laid out in the manual which is as follows:

Gao was once a merciless bandit who killed and plundered at a whim, but a single event changed him forever when he killed his wife out of a misunderstanding. To atone for his ways, he began to travel the land as a monk, crafting gargoyles. One day, the Emperor decrees: "find me one who can carve the Phoenix." And so Gao creates his masterpiece, but it is stolen by someone and shattered into 16 pieces. So Gao's quest is to get these 16 fragments back and reassemble the Phoenix.

For those that haven't read the manga, Gao never carved the Phoenix or was ordered to do any such thing. It's actually another character, Akanemaru, who carved the Phoenix and had more involvement with it than Gao. But that character isn't really suited for an action game because he's one of those weak artist types. So that's why a few things were embellished and transposed onto Gao as a basis for the game. Even though it's not a literal adaptation of the story, it still tries to be relatively faithful.

On that note, there is no text or story in the game itself. So there is no story to adapt per se and it's almost as if the developer's decided it was impossible to adapt the story. The Karma volume and all other Phoenix volumes are incredibly complex stories that span massive periods of time and feature a multitude of characters and events. It would be almost impossible to cram all that into one NES game given the limitations of the hardware and also the time factor. So they took a different approach. Instead of trying to focus on telling the story of the manga, the developers send you on an adventure through time and space where you travel back and forth through different eras in search of the Phoenix. 

You start off in Yamato for 6 stages, warp to Dawn for 3, warp to Future for 6, and warp back to Yamato for the final stage. You do get a life bar and start off with 3 continues and there's also a time limit, various enemies and obstacles, and power ups that can be found on each stage. At the end of each stage, there's usually a boss or puzzle awaiting you. Afterwards, you'll get a piece of the Phoenix and move onto the next stage. These are your typical hallmarks of platform games, but Gao's Adventure is all about going in circles. For example, once you beat the sixth stage of Yamato, you are sent back to the beginning of the game almost like it's a new game and can continue doing so until you get tired of going in circles. For those who have played a lot of older games, this feels quite normal. Typically, once you beat a game, the game just resets itself and you can start all over again. However, you haven't actually beaten the game yet. As it turns out, there's actually a number of hidden portals that will criss-cross back and forth between worlds until you reach the final stage. It's almost as if they created mini-universes, circles if you will, that all connect to each other and will eventually lead you to the Phoenix. Only then does the game truly restart for you to do it all over again. For a game that was made in 1987, this non-linear design seems kinda revolutionary.

No platformer is complete without a jump and attack command. Gao can throw spears by pressing B and jump with A. He can also do a ground stomp by jumping and then pressing down as you land, which can destroy various terrain and reveal hidden stuff like those portals. Gao can also sculpt gargoyles by pressing down + B, which you can use to platform your way across a stage and access remote areas. Unfortunately, the control scheme is a little awkward mostly due to the NES' 2 button controller and there being one too many things Gao can do. Because of this you can't throw spears while ducking, but you can throw spears vertically. Getting used to creating gargoyles can be quite tricky when you have materialize them in mid-air beneath a pit. If you mess up, which is likely, you'll die. Gao's movement is also awkward because when you stop pressing left or right, he doesn't come to complete and instead slides. It's very easy to run into enemies or fall into pits because of this. In the Dawn world, there's an ice stage that only exacerbates this issue. All said, gameplay isn't this game's strong suit and can be very awkward and annoying at times.

You only have a limited number of gargoyles at your disposal, but the game gives you a chance at gaining more gargoyles through fallen enemies. As they die, they become gargoyles that slide along the ground that you can grab. Though you'll lose your chance if they fall into a pit or hit a wall, which at that point, they turn to stone.

Each stage also has treasure chests with power ups that you can open by throwing spears at. Sometimes they are even falling from the sky and you need to hit them mid-air or else you'll lose them. There's also chests that are placed at ground level that can't be opened due to limitations in spear throwing. The power ups in the chests are as follows:

Gao Doll - 1-up
Rosary - Kills all enemies on screen
Onigiri - Recovers HP
Shell - Increases max HP
Gargoyle - Gives you 10 gargoyles
Purse - Awards you bonus points
Wing - Temporary invincibility
Magatama - Freezes all enemies on screen
Boots - Can walk on water
Mirror - Temporary invisibility

Graphically, the game has very little to do with the manga, but the game does recreate something from the manga. The end of each stage features a screen where a picture of the Phoenix is gradually completed as you gain more pieces. Once it's completed, it becomes a recreation on the NES of a painting of the Phoenix that was in the manga. It's actually a pretty good recreation. Some of the enemies like the bald monks and bandits also look closest to something in the manga. While the rest are mostly mythological creatures, which was something the manga was not known for at all aside from the actual Phoenix. The only exception to this was the last volume of the manga which took a more mythological approach to its story. The bosses are all nicely detailed and animated, but again, they have nothing to do with the manga. Similarly, the stage background and designs are also really well done and even though each world is named after one of the volumes, they don't appear to have taken inspiration from the manga. The early stages in Yamato look pretty odd and make you wonder if the game isn't bugged, but if you look closer, you might start to notice an artistic side to things or they still just look like crap. The design tends to get better and better as you progress though the game. The Future stages in particular looks quite striking with a wonderful range of darker colors, distant planets, twinkling stars and godly statues. Feels kind of cosmic. You end up battling a super computer, which when defeated reveals a Konami logo. Logo aside, that's actually somewhat faithful to the manga because in the Future volume, the world is destroyed by two opposing super computers. When do you finally find your way to the final stage, you're back to Yamato in the middle of a volcanic eruption. It's nicely detailed featuring lots of reds, earthy browns and a shaking screen to boot. In the manga, the Phoenix always appeared during a volcanic eruption. Often times it would be flying around, tempting someone to drink its blood for immortality. Other times it would be simply reborn in the eruption. The fact that the game ends during a volcanic eruption is quite fitting.

While not particularly striking, the music is also fairly good and typical of Konami during the time. A few of tracks sound asian, which is fitting since a lot of Phoenix took place in medieval Japan. One of the composers was Hidenori Maezawa, who was one Konami's most prolific composers and known as the man behind the "Konami sound."

When you take the time to look beyond the surface of the game, Gao's Adventure is actually kind of neat. Whether or not the game faithfully conveys the themes, essence and ideas of the manga is ultimately up to the player to decide and it's also up for debate if the game is any good, the awkward controls don't help its case. But the non-linear design is very different from any platformer of the era. It's that one twist on an old formula that completely changes the experience. 

Special thanks to Ryusui for translating part of the manual.