Game in development for 22 years is finally out - on Game Boy Advance

Technology has moved on a fair bit since the Game Boy Advance was released in 2001, but that's not stopped a game from being released on the famous handheld console 22 years after it was announced.

In 2002, five Italians made the news as they wanted to be a part of the first Italian company to develop a game for the handheld console, reports The Telegraph.

They had no experience in developing games before and had saved up a few hundred Euros to make the project a reality.

The team worked tirelessly on Kien, an action-platformer game with RPG elements, for around two years. While several publishers were interested in it, it was deemed too risky because the game cartridges Game Boy Advance games were played on were expensive to make and it never saw the light of day.

Although the game was finished, it couldn't be released without a publisher.

All of the original team moved on except for Fabio Belsanti, the founder of AgeOfGames, who always believed in the project through thick and thin and has kept the company going ever since.

Now with retro gaming seeing a resurgence, the game can finally be bought and played on a Game Boy Advance cartridge after Incube8 agreed to publish it. It comes complete with a sealed box, a clear grey cartridge, a cartridge protective case, a stickers sheet, and (remember these?) an instruction booklet.

A Game Boy Advance being played / Koichi Kamashida, Getty Images

Belsanti said to The Telegraph: "On a romantic level, the thought of releasing the game on its original console is simply magical. To see Kien come to life on the very platform it was designed for is a dream come true.

"I believe we are in a phase similar to [the revival of] vinyl or cassettes for music, a return to previous, more primitive forms of the medium driven by nostalgia from the generations who lived those eras and curiosity by those who came after such technology."

AgeOfGames is working on a spiritual successor.

Kien holds the record for the most-delayed video game in history of 22 years, eclipsing the infamous Duke Nukem Forever by seven years.

The bio for Kien says: "Discover the Secret of Kien! For 7,000 years the planet of Malkut has been wisely ruled by the 7 Masters of the Absolute. But chaos has been reborn as evil corrupts the Land of Harmony. The 7 Masters have vanished, mystical warriors were slaughtered, and the temples are doomed in blood.

"The only hope that remains is imprisoned in the hearts and wills of two young apprentices. Their fate is to fight evil, reveal the truth, and discover the secret of Kien."

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