What Ever Happened To... Last King of Africa?

As gamers, we should be used to changing release dates and game delays by now, but occasionally one stumbles across a game which never actually makes it onto the shelves at all. This is the case with the imaginative Action-Adventure RPG title called Last King of Africa.

The game, which was adapted from the PC title Paradise by a company called White Bird Productions and then developed by Focus Home Interactive, was first announced in June 2008.

Last King of Africa tells the story of a mysterious young woman who has lost her memory after a plane crash and who had been sent to the palace of a fictional African dictator known as King Rodon to recover and eventually join his harem of wives. The young woman must explore the palace and discover clues about the King and his servants - Only then will she find out the truth about her own true identity.

The DS version of the game was originally hailed as a graphics masterpiece, with beautiful 3D characters and fully-animated cutscenes designed by Belgian comic artist and writer, Benoît Sokal. However, dispite heavy marketing and the promises of an October/November 2008 release date, the game failed to reach official release in the UK or America.

Two years on, the game has managed to find its way into certain online retail spots such as Amazon MarketPlace, despite the fact that most mainstream retailers either claim that the game is still a pre-order item, or simply refuse to acknowledge the game's existence in their product lists.

Now, a new version of  Last King of Africa has been adapted for the Apple iPod, iPhone and iPad by a company called BulkyPix, but no further word has been given about the Nintendo DS version.  

It is a mystery why a game with so much promise was seemingly abandoned. Perhaps the truth of what happened lies in this statement from the White Birds Productions website:

"The company always has four to six projects in progress, of which certain see the light of day while others are abandoned..." [White Birds Productions] 

However, the idea of Last King of Africa being an abandoned project just doesn't hold true when you consider that the game is actually available in small quantities online. Maybe what really happened to this game will always be a mystery.

Nevertheless, for those DS owners who are interested in knowing what could have been, the Last King Of Africa trailer provides clear evidence of the type of breath-taking visuals and innovative storyline that the game's producers had originally planned, and may give iPod, iPhone and iPad users an idea of the type of game that they can expect:

LAST KING OF AFRICA DEBUT DS TRAILER 2008

The mobile version of this game was announced last month. Apple iPod, iPhone and iPad users can download the Last King Of Africa App from the iTunes store. Click here to go to the store now.