The movie Akira is an influential masterpiece of anime. But did you know that they made video games based on the animated film?Let’s take a look at the first Akira video game, Akira for the Famicom (Japanese NES).

About Akira on Famicom

The anime film Akira came out in 1988. It’s a loose adaptation of the dystopian, post-apocalyptic science-fiction manga of the same name. The film is also bloody, trippy, and dark.

Nonetheless, TOSE (developer) and Taito (publisher) released a video game version of Akira for Nintendo’s Famicom in December 1988.

The game never received an official English localization, although fan translations exist.

In the game, you play as Kaneda, the defiant biker gang leader who is also the film’s primary protagonist. Unlike some movie-based game adaptations which trade accuracy for video game action, this game faithfully follows the plot of the movie.

It does this by playing like a visual novel. You watch and read long cutscenes while characters provide exposition and dialogue. In many scenes, Kaneda can take a variety of actions to move the plot along. However, the wrong decisions can lead to a game over.

There are also a couple of places where you can shoot or dodge enemies.

According to reports, other Akira-based video games do exist, such as Akira for Amiga, and the digital pinball game Akira Psycho Ball for PlayStation 2. Video game fans have also dug up cancelled and unreleased games, such as an Akira game intended for the Sega Genesis.

Akira Family Computer Game Product Details & Images

The game comes with the following:

Plastic Cartridge Case (uncommon for Famicom which normally has cardboard boxes)

Artwork sleeve in covering the case

Color Manual

Game Cartridge

We’ll now detail each item in the box with images below.

Case:

The case is made of sturdy black plastic, similar to the Sega Genesis cases in North America:

It opens from left to right, with the spine on the right, opposite to the way we have cases in North America. This is similar to the manga that reads right to left.

Artwork:

The artwork like most game covers has a front, back, and spine. It measures 23 cm length in length and 15 cm in height.

The front has an amazing scene from the anime and honestly, I bought this game for that artwork alone which looks awesome on a shelf. It reads

31 Years After World War III AD 2019 Neo Tokyo Psychic Adventure Game

The spine’s Japanese Reads “Catch the Heart” which was one of Taito’s slogans.

Back of Artwork

The back of the artwork shows scenes from the game, which is essentially a visual novel. And the Japanese text reads:

Finally, Akira has awakened. A magnificent story unfolds with ultra-realistic graphics. And the original scenario with multiple endings will bring new excitement. This is a stimulating ROM that will awaken the player’s visual and auditory senses to the fullest.

Ultra-realistic images using a newly developed digitizing method

Multi-window that inserts cuts according to the development

Dialogue, sound effects, and background music are all synchronized with the movement of the graphics.

Game Manual

The game features a full-color manual, which was a great added touch by the developers. I’ll now show you scans of each page of the manual along with their translations.

Game Cartridge

The cartridge itself is the standard size of a famicom cartridge, and it is made with black plastic.

The text on the cartridge in the top left reads Akira is Here.

The bottom reads Taito Family Computer Cassette

And the text along the top says Unpredictable Story 360 Multi-Screen

The back of the cassette reads:

● Always turn off the power when changing cassettes.

●This is a precision instrument, so do not use or store it under extreme temperature conditions, do not subject it to strong shocks, etc. Also, do not disassemble it under any circumstances.

●Do not touch the terminals directly or get them wet.

Family Computer is a trademark of Nintendo.

TAITO CORPORATION

Reviews and Sales

Unfortunately due to the age of the game, I wasn’t able to find any sales numbers for Akira. (A list of more than 200 games didn’t mention it.)

However, reviewers generally disliked the game. One person liked the graphics, but found the game to be unfair, and difficult to control. A Famitsu reviewer complained about sudden game overs.

In my opinion, a visual novel on the Famicom will never hold up today. However, I applaud the ingenuity and the attempt to make it work on such a pixel-based, slow system. I tried playing the game on an emulator and the speed up function makes it slightly more bearable, but it’s not really a game you’ll have fun playing unless your a die-hard Akira fan that needs to see every piece of content from the series. I wouldn’t recommend playing it, but I do recommend it as a piece on your shelf!