"Akira" has been one of the critically-acclaimed anime in the 20th century, but who knew that there was actually an unreleased game exclusively for the Nintendo Game Boy?
The unreleased game of "Akira" was found by a video game collector named Patrick Scott Patterson in four separate cartridges. Patterson is video game enthusiast who specializes in collecting rare unreleased retro video games to preserve them. The unreleased game is said to feature the opening series of cinematic cut-screens that tell the story of "Akira" anime film in summarized form.
The first level of the "Akira" game is something akin to Nintendo's "ExciteBike," a motocross racing video game franchise, based on reports by Nerdist. Here, players can get to control Kaneda, the leader of the Capsules biking gang from the film. The game also features platforming, sewers, mutant monsters battles, and other unfinished stages.
The gameplay and design was best described as clunky at its unfinished state. Level design is incomplete, along with audio effects and a single soundtrack playing throughout the game. Patterson also reported that the control scheme has never left its experimental state as some buttons are a little off such the Up button triggering the Punch mechanic and the Down button triggering the Kicks at some levels.
"Akira" was one of the most revolutionary works in modern pop culture, redefining the anime industry since its release in 1988. The Japanese animated film by Katsuhiro Otomo features technicolor at its finest with its groundbreaking animation, graphic scenes and incredible artistic cyberpunk setting.
Attempts for a video game adaptation of "Akira" seemed promising but soon proved to be difficult. Development has begun in its earliest stages but progress seems to make it elusive.
There were also other attempts at the game for Famicom, Commodore Amiga and PlayStation 2 but neither of them had any bearing. There was also a Sega Game Gear and Super Nintendo version set for release in the 90s but only remained nothing more than a handful bit of news in magazine.
Here's the video of Patterson: