The popular 1988 cyberpunk anime filmAkira(based on a manga of the same name) depicted a post-apocalyptic 2019 rife with biker gangs, political turmoil, and teenagers with psychic abilities. Though 2019 has come and gone without this vision of the future coming to fruition, frequenters of The Hidden Palace celebrated Christmas by getting to see a previously unreleased prototype for anAkiraadaptation being developed forthe SEGA Mega Drive(or Genesis in North America) in the early 90s.
The Hidden Palace is an online media preservation community focused on video game development that has been active since 2006. User drx released theAkiraprototype file to the site Wednesday alongside a number of screenshots and a hour-long video showcasing different levels within the game.
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Akirafor the Mega Drive was planned to be released in 1995 by Black Pearl Software, a Chicago-based developer that was acquired byTHQ Inc.in 1993. This newly published build of the game is reportedly older than what was shown at the Summer Consumer Electronic Show in 1994. The footage video published by The Hidden Palace’s YouTube channel suggestsAkirawould have let fans live out the film through detailed pixelated cutscenes and many different game genres.
There are behind-the-back motorcycle riding sections similar toElectronic Arts' 1991 Mega Drive titleRoad Rage, first-person exploration sections akin to FTL Games' 1987Dungeon Masterfor the Atari ST (or a grid-based version of the originalDoom, given the visible hand of the player’s character), 2D platforming like 3D Realms' (then Apogee Software) originalDuke Nukemon the MS-DOS, and overhead combat with sprites reminiscent ofLucasArt’s1993Zombies Ate My Neighborson the Super NES and Mega Drive.
Notes on The Hidden Palace’s page where the prototype can be downloaded discuss a number of limitations present in the unfinished game. Over 35 percent of the game’s content are “unused sprites and other data” that cannot be accessed, music and sound cues present in the sound test are not used within the game, and the game crashes or freezes when the player arrives at certain levels.
Despite being over 30 years old,Akirais still a cornerstone of popular culture.A live-action version of the storyis being created for Warner Bros. byThor: RagnarokandJojo Rabbitdirector Taika Waititi, and the property has been referenced in recent shows likeStranger ThingsandRick and Morty.
The Mega Drive game being developed by Black Pearl Software appears to have been incredibly ambitious. Because it was cancelled, it is impossible to know whether the finished product would have been a flagship game forSEGA’s hardware or collapsed in on itself under the weight of that ambition.
But it does seem fitting thatAkirawould follow in its manga predecessor’s footsteps by trying to be a bombastic production, and being able to access this missing piece of gaming history is a wonderful Christmas present.
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