One of the long-lost hidden gems of the Sega library has been found, as a prototype of the canceled Akira video game for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive has been discovered and dumped online. The Akira movie might not be happening anytime soon, but there was a time when a lot of companies were interested in adapting the original animated film into video games, most of which never saw the light of day.
One company which attempted to make Akira video games during the 16-bit era was Black Pearl Software, who was going to make Akira games for the Nintendo Game Boy, Super Nintendo, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, and the Sega CD. These games were never finished, but screenshots were available in the gaming magazines of the day and brief videos of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis Akira games were shown at trade shows. The 16-bit Akira games were originally meant to be released in 1995, but problems with publisher THQ caused the development to fizzle out.
It has taken almost twenty-five years. but a prototype of the Akira video game has been discovered and uploaded online by the people at the Hidden Palace. The game is in an incomplete state and cannot be played from start to finish, but individual stages can be selected. Akira’s Sega game was going to contain different genres, with a motorcycle racing stage which resembled Road Rash, a first-person stage set during Tetsuo’s escape from the hospital similar to Doom, a shooter/platformer stage in the sewers which resembles Flashback, a hoverbike stage in the sewers, an isometric shooter stage where Tetsuo has to fight off soldiers using his psychic powers, and an incomplete final stage that would have involved Kaneda fighting Tetsuo. The Hidden Palace YouTube channel has a full playthrough of the game, which is embedded below.
There have been some incredible finds over the past few years when it comes to video game history believed to be lost, especially when it comes to items from Nintendo and Sony. The prototype of the Nintendo Play Station (which is going up for auction) shows a pivotal moment when cooperation between two companies came close to taking over the industry, but is now just a living testament of their inability to work together. There has also been several incredible Pokémon finds, with the demos of Pokémon Gold & Silver showing never-before-seen Pokémon, as well as the recent sprite leaks from Pokémon Diamond & Pearl which showed the cut gender variations. This Akira prototype is just as important to some as those other finds, as there has been a lot of interest in finding the lost Akira games.
The Akira franchise has had many ups and downs over the years, especially in regard to its doomed live-action adaptation. All isn’t lost for Neo-Tokyo, as the creator of the manga is making a new Akira anime series, and a lost Akira video game, which looks like it could have been incredible, is finally in the hands of fans around the world.
Next: Akira Delayed (Again): Why Making A Live-Action Movie Is So Hard
Source Hidden Palace/YouTube
