There are five stages, consisting of the ruins of a space colony, an underground concourse, the enemy's hideout, a flying spaceship, and a factory.

Jay McCray, the son of a scientist responsible for development of space colony #428 in the Silius Solar System (SSS), prepares to move there in order to follow in his father's footsteps, but the space station is obliterated in an explosion, killing the entire research team and destroying all data on board.

[2][3] Journey to Silius was originally conceived as a game based on the 1984 film The Terminator,[4] but Sunsoft lost the license during development and as a result the plot and graphics were altered before release.

[5] For the later-released Japanese and European versions, the player character design was changed, having his whole body covered in armor.

[citation needed] Rough World was re-released in Japan in a two-in-one compilation for the PlayStation titled Memorial Series: Sunsoft Vol.