Akira: Games that Never Happened (Megadrive/Genesis)

[@bigshorty4855]

The game I missed the most growing up. All those magazine shots yet no game.

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

I can definitely relate! After it was announced I used to look for any detail I could find in the various magazines but it all just faded away sadly. It was such a surprise when this ROM surfaced and my excitement came rushing back and I couldn’t wait to try it out after so many years! Thanks so much for your comment and taking the time to check out our vid! - Dibbs

[@MrKingkz]

I hope someone will finish the rom it would be cool to play a full game of this

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

It would be amazing if somebody took on the task of finishing it! I’d really love to be able to play the levels without the glitches and get a feel for what the developers were going for, that would be very cool! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and comment, it’s very much appreciated! - Dibbs

[@somebody7270]

Great video. Thanks!

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

@@somebody7270 aah thank you for the comment!!

[@johnrockets5356]

would be nice if they finish it off

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

Yeah that would be very cool, I’d love to try a finished version! Thanks for the comment!

[@kri249]

Such a shame this was never finished and released. The amount of work that went into this, including the multiple frames, is spectacular. What a missed opportunity. Hope some dedicated indie game dev takes on the project.

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

Yes that would be pretty amazing if somebody did! With the quality that people in the community are achieving with their work it would be something I’d have high hopes for - maybe one day! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and comment!

[@TheRetroMartin]

Awesome stuff Dibbs. Wasn't aware of this one but love me some Akira and it's good to see what the game could have been like. So much lost potential in cancelled games back then that we all probably would have bought!

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

@@TheRetroMartin definitely mate! I’ve long been fascinated by these cancelled games as it’s an interesting glimpse into what could’ve been and for quite a few of them my imagination filled in the blanks. That’s one of the reasons I like having a look at these kinda things as I can finally see what they were actually really going to be like, for better or worse. Plus the fact it was Akira really added a touch more intrigue! If you’re interested in this there is actually video of the gameboy version from a dude who got some prototype carts of here on KZbin. I don’t think the ROM ever got dumped but it’s pretty interesting to see other versions that were being worked on. Thanks for watching and commenting again mate, the support is much appreciated! - Dibbs

[@tomfum]

Thats amazing, great find and video dude. i LOVE Akira so its nice to see that it had a game as well. love it

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

Thanks mate! Yeah I was totally into Akira so the prospect of getting to play through these scenarios was very appealing to me. After looking so hard for info over the years about it I was very glad I could get to try it out even all these years later, as unfinished as this ROM is it was cool to finally get a taste of what they had been working on! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and comment, that means a lot, cheers mate! - Dibbs

[@ArcadeAzrall]

Great video! Really loved watching this. It's a shame that this game was neve released , I believe it would have been so so good.

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

Thanks so much! Yes there certainly was some potential here, and some of the sections were very fun to play with some great touches. A great shame it never quite got over the finishing line but enjoyed diving into this ROM to get a good taste of what it was all about. Thanks so much for watching and commenting! - Dibbs

[@RavenSweets]

Great video, I had no idea that Akira even had a video game about it. I remember watching the video when I was young, and absolutely enthralled. Some movies just take you away to another place, and another time. Great music in the video too btw! Can you tell me what the band is? It reminds me of The Midnight, or even Lebrock.

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

Yes Akira was certainly a pretty mind blowing movie! I had seen the comic in Manga Mania and was very fascinated by it. I think it was sometime around 1992/93 BBC2 aired it on TV in the UK and I couldn’t believe how awesome it was - it really left a big impression on me! There were a couple of other Akira games that did come out. There was a graphic novel style game on the Famicom in Japan that has a fan translation you can play now, and there was a game on the Amiga but I heard there was a glitch in one of the levels that made it hard to finish. Oh, and rather oddly, there was a pinball Akira game on PS2, very strange! 😂 With these THQ versions outside of this Megadrive game some of the sprites for the SNES version were also found. There is video on KZbin of a guy who has the prototype for the gameboy version as well that is pretty interesting to see! The music is an instrumental cover we did of a band who are very similar to the Midnight. They are called Elevate the Sky and the song being covered is called We Are the Dreamers. Very good they are! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and comment, it’s much appreciated! - Dibbs

[@RavenSweets]

@@Gaming_For_Ages Wow you did the instrumental as a cover? It's really good! You should totally put it on YT just by itself. Thanks a bunch for all the information!

[@pigsymagic4741]

@@Gaming_For_AgesAkira is on the Amiga

[@bundjohn]

I’ve been meaning to check this out! It sounds like maybe they were trying to do too many gameplay types (commendable) and it caused the project to ballon? Maybe the fan community will finish the game off, we can dream!

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

@@bundjohn definitely, that would be very cool if somebody took that on! I think you’re right, they definitely were taking on a lot with the gameplay styles - plus all the versions of the game too across so many formats I can imagine for the various teams as they were not all going to be the same from what I’ve read. The Megadrive one must’ve been the most complete, but there is video of the gameboy prototypes on KZbin that a guy found several years back, and there are some sprites from the snes version that also got found on a disc I believe. I think hidden palace released them around the same time as the Megadrive Rom if my memory serves me correctly. Cheers so much for checking out the vid and leaving a comment again mate, you’re a true gent! - Dibbs

[@bundjohn]

@ maybe we’ll get complete versions of all the ports one day….. I would love to see a Mega CD port with scenes/music from the film 😁

[@swaggerblonde]

Another very cool video, Dibbs! Such a shame Akira was never released in any official capacity on the good old MegaDrive. It certainly looks like it had potential and I liked the dedication to trying to replicate the source material as much as possible. It also shows there was a lot of level variety too. I'm sure with a bit of fitness, this one could have been a massive hit. Really enjoyed the video as always! It was great to learn more about this one!

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

Thanks so much dude! Yeah it was so cool to play it. I’d imagined for years what it was all like in motion based off of the few magazine screenshots from back in the day, and when the trade show video hit the net I really thought it was awesome. I never thought this ROM would finally be discovered, let alone released for anyone to play so this was a real treat! Akira was such a huge thing to me that I was itching to get my hands on the game and even though I had to wait a bit… well, 26 years, at least it’s better late than never! 😂 Yes the variety in levels was certainly interesting, like you say with a bit of polish it could’ve really been something. Thanks so much for watching and commenting dude, nice one!

[@tristramcox4615]

What a shame this never came out. This looks like so much work went in. Instead on the 16 bits we got the Amiga version which is absolutely awful

[@Gaming_For_Ages]

Yeah I’ve watched videos of that version, didn’t really inspire me to give it a go I must say! I even saw somebody say one of the levels has a glitch that makes it tough to finish the stage so it pretty much sounds like one to avoid. The Megadrive one certainly seems to have had some promise, as other people have commented it would be cool if someone in the community took it on to fix up and give us a glimpse of what the finished product could’ve been like. Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and comment! - Dibbs