One of the few Japanese anime hits that doesn’t have a video game adaptation is Akira. His feature film premiered in 1988 in Japan, and arrived a year later to the rest of the world. To this day, there has never been a game based on Katsuhiro Otomo’s creation. However, everything points to the fact that there was a project to Nintendo 64 inspired by the world of Akira that never saw the light.
Akira, a cult phenomenon
There was a before and after after the launch of Akira. The animated feature film was at the time the most expensive anime to produce in history, because it cost $5.5 million. The movie was a adaptation of the homonymous mangaalso created by Katsuhiro Otomo in 1982, and transported us to a dystopian future in the year 2019, to the city of Neo-Tokyo.
Akira told the story of a biker, Shotaro Kanedaleader of a gang who is present the day a friend of his, Shima Tetsuo, has an accident while doing the cafre through the city with his motorcycle, where he almost runs over a minor. They both survive, but Tetsuo and the boy are immediately captured by the Army, who seem to be experimenting with children with powers. At the same time, Neo-Tokyo is involved in a constant rebellion that floods the streets of the city.
Akira is currently considered a cult film, as well as an influence for many other later works. It is one of the basic works that make up the cyberpunk genreand is considered to have paved the way for adult animation and the expansion of Japanese culture beyond Japan’s borders.
The Akira-inspired game that was never born
Thanks to a leak, we have been able to know that, in 1996, there were plans to take the lore from Akira to video games. The title was going to be called Outsiderand it was going to be released for the already classic Nintendo 64. All this is known because a former game developer published a few months ago on Twitter some screenshots of the title. However, it is not known for sure which studio was behind the project, although it is known that the dev worked at Hudson Soft in the 90s, so it is possible that they were the ones behind the video game. (Valium)
ニンテンドウ６４企画「アウトサイダー」
１９９６年に企画していたフリーランニングバイクアクションゲームの企画書
今でこそ1つの街を自在に走るのは可能であったが
当時としては無謀な企画にもほどがあった ６４だし、、、、 pic.twitter.com/nPKefrZbIP— るら坊 (@rurabou_new) June 20, 2021
Outsider was going to be a open world motorcycle street racing game. The aesthetics of the city was going to be identical to that of Neo-Tokyo, and the characters and the revolution they were also going to be present in the title.
Why was it cancelled?
You are probably thinking that the project was added to the huge list of video games canceled due to its resemblance to Akira, which could have caused some legal problem. But that was not the reason. It seems that its cancellation was due to Felony 11-79 / Ronaboutdeveloped by Climax Entertainment and released in 1997 for consoles like the original PlayStation, a title too similar to said creation. Or it just wasn’t good enough to compete with that racing game.
