In 2002, a group of friends in Italy started developing an action platformer with RPG elements for Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance Then 22 years passed and now, in 2024, It was is finally coming to the GBA, ending one of the longest delays in video game history.
Over the decades, there have been numerous games with lengthy development cycles and delayed releases. One of the most famous is Duke Nukem Foreverwhich was first announced in 1997 but was never delivered until 2011almost 15 years later. But It was took even longer until it finally arrived.
As reported by The guard and Patricia Hernandez (former EIC of My city), It was was developed in 2002 by a small group of friends in Italy. None of them had any experience in game development. But over the next two years, the friends worked extremely hard to develop It wastook few breaks and worked hard. After several years of development, the game was finished and ready for release. However, the high cost of shipping the game on Game Boy cartridges and the risk that It was was possibly unsuccessful, resulted in no publisher wanting to publish the game.
Eventually, only one member of the original development team remained: game designer Fabio Belsanti. Although he believed in the unreleased game, he continued living his life, founded a new development company and started developing educational games for children and teenagers. Despite everything, Belsanti never gave up hope. It was. When he recently noticed that retro games and consoles were popular again, he decided to return to It was and give him another chance.
“I think we are in a phase similar [the revival of] Vinyl or cassettes for music,” said Belsanti The guard“a return to earlier, more primitive forms of the medium, driven by the nostalgia of the generations who lived through those eras and the curiosity of those who came after the technology was developed.”
Belsanti has partnered with Incube8, a publisher that focuses on releasing and supporting new games for classic consoles like the GBA. Incube8 was a perfect fit for It was and in June it finally hit the market, 22 years after development of the action platformer began.
“On a romantic level, the thought of releasing the game on its original console is just magical,” said Belsanti. “To see It was to life on the platform it was designed for is a dream come true.”
It was is now out. You can purchase a physical version of the game for Game Boy Advance, or buy a digital version that you can play on an emulator.
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