Akira

Akira is one of the most unusual licensed games ever released for the NES. Developed by TOSE and published by Taito, it was released exclusively in Japan on December 24, 1988, shortly after the animated film hit theaters. Rather than being a traditional action game, Akira is a text-driven adventure that follows the story and atmosphere of Katsuhiro Otomo's famous cyberpunk world.

The player takes control of Shotaro Kaneda, the leader of a teenage motorcycle gang in Neo-Tokyo. After his friend Tetsuo is taken into military custody, Kaneda becomes involved in a much larger mystery involving psychic powers, government experiments, and the mysterious Akira. The game follows the general storyline of the movie while presenting many scenes through static illustrations and text.

Instead of running through levels and fighting enemies, players progress by selecting actions from a list. Depending on the situation, you may investigate an area, talk to another character, examine something nearby, or choose how Kaneda should respond to an event. Making the right choices is important because the story can take different directions, and some decisions can lead to failure.

The presentation is heavily focused on atmosphere. Many of the locations and characters are represented with images inspired by the movie, giving the game a surprisingly cinematic feel despite the limitations of the Famicom hardware. Passwords allow players to save their progress and return to the adventure later.

Akira was never officially released outside Japan, although an English fan translation eventually made the game accessible to international players. For fans of the anime and retro adventure games, it is an especially interesting curiosity: slow-paced and text-heavy, but remarkably faithful to the dark, futuristic atmosphere of the original film.