‘Akira’: video game collector finds unreleased Game Boy footage of hit anime classic

"Akira", one of the critically acclaimed anime wonder of the 20th century was recently discovered to have an unfinished video game adaptation. The unreleased game was found by a video game collector in four separate cartridges exclusively for the Nintendo Game Boy.

The four-part rough cut of the game came to surface after being found by Patrick Scott Patterson, a video game enthusiast who particularizes in collecting rare unreleased retro video games for the sake of preservation. The game features an opening series of cinematic cut-screens that summarize the story of "Akira" based on the anime film.  

The first level involves a side-scrolling, Excitebike-inspired driving level where the player controls Kaneda, the leader of the Capsules biking gang from the film. Beyond that, there are also platforming levels, sewer levels, mutant boss fights and other stages that cannot be beaten in their unfinished state, according to Nerdist.

A single soundtrack and few sound effects played in a constant loop provide the audio for the game. Level design, like the rest of the game, is incomplete. The control scheme of the unreleased game was also reported by Patterson to be left in an experimental state as the up button makes the player punch and the down button triggers kick based on his gameplay on the different levels of the game.

"Akira" by Katsuhiro Otomo is one of the defining works of modern pop culture, which set the bar for the anime industry since its release in '88. The anime feature film showcases technicolor at its finest with its stylized, graphic actions and picturesque cyberpunk scenery.

"Akira" was attempted to render in video games, hoping to capture the hype and brilliance of the film, but the attempts were proved to be elusive. Adaptations were released in Famicom, Commodore Amiga and PlayStation 2, but none of them made a significant impact. The Sega Game Gear and Super Nintendo in the 90s were also targeted to house the "Akira" video game, but little emerged from their production other than a handful of news pieces in magazines, according to Den of Geek.