Hoshi wo Sagashite...

The story of Mio begins as you, finally having gone on holidays, arrive on the planet Ilm to see your sweetheart Laila again. Before going to her house, you decide to buy a present for her. You visit a shady foreign man's shop and buy an egg that he promises will hatch a cute pet. When Laila sees the egg, she recognizes it as a Mio egg, Mios being a rare animal that is thought to be extinct. Since you gave her the egg, it is your responsibility to find out how you keep a Mio. Still, the fact that you have a Mio egg should not be known to everyone, since scientists will be very keen to take the animal from you for purposes of their studies.

Your quest for the well-being, and eventual mystery, of the Mio animal takes you on a quest across several planets, not too far from the planet system of Phantasy Star. The game is controlled using an interface popular in Japanese adventures of the eighties, mostly identical with ICOM's interface used in adventures from the same era, such as Shadowgate or Déjà vu. You can talk to people in the game by deciding whom to talk to and the topic, but these interrogations have little in common with the more interactive LucasArts adventures. Finding out things is often a matter of repeatedly asking, asking at the right moment or in the right order. Battery-backed up RAM is not used for saving, instead you are given a password when quitting.

The game revolves around a dog and his family. Being one of the earliest adventure games for an 8-bit console system, the game tends to be simplistic compared to today's adventure games. As a Japan exclusive video game, literacy is required in the Japanese language in order to play the game. The character seems to have an anime-like influence as the people are watching out for the dog that is sitting on a log. Among the human beings, however, is an alien-like creature. While the literal translation would be Searching the Stars..., the actual alternative title is The Story of Mio.