Thrice-canceled GBA game Kien is finally getting released 22 years after completion

Incube8 Games has announced that they’re going to be the ones to stamping AgeOfGames unreleased Game Boy Advance game, Kien, to cartridge this year. It will be released in Q2 2024 on GBA.

Kien was originally set to launch during the GBA’s heyday in 2002. As the story goes, the game made it as far as being sent to review publications at the time, only to be canceled before release. It got picked up and canceled again by other publishers but was never released. However, a prototype ROM did get leaked and made its rounds.

It’s a mix of action-platformer and RPG. The story involves two apprentices fighting evil in the wake of the disappearance of the 7 Masters of the Absolute.

One thing to keep in mind here is that Kien is maybe not great. Nintendo Power was among the publications at the time that reviewed it (issue 173, November 2003), and the five staff members who looked at it gave it an average of three out of five stars. That makes it slightly better than Power Rangers: Ninja Rescue by their sizing of it, but not as good as Ultimate Beach Soccer. Nintendo Power reviews were weird at that time.

In any case, the Incube8 release will come with a cartridge, protector, box, manual, and stickers. It’s great to see a game that never got a chance back in the day being given some life, and I’ve been enjoying the age of retro reproductions we’re currently living in.

Kien will be available for GBA sometime in the second quarter of 2024. Though, it would show real commitment if they canceled it at the last minute.