Cancelled Game Boy Advance Game Similar to Pokemon Go Finally Getting Released

Throughout the history of the video game industry, countless games have been cancelled before they got a chance to be released. Most of these games never get to see the light of day, and sometimes titles even get cancelled before they get officially announced. Every once in a while though, a development team will get a chance to go back and finish what they started. It’s pretty rare, but it’s becoming a little more common than you’d think in the modern era. That’s exactly what’s happening soon with a game that was originally in development for the Game Boy Advance from the original Metal Slug team.

The game in question is called Navinosuke: The Yo-Kai Buster, and it’s coming to Nintendo Switch in 2026. Navinosuke was never announced officially, likely due to some of the complications that arose during the game’s development. In the early stages, the GBA game was going to use GPS technology, encouraging players to travel the world in order to encounter and befriend more than 150 Yo-Kai monsters. If that concept sounds familiar, it’s worth noting that this game would have come out 15 years prior to Pokemon Go. In a post on X/Twitter (translated by Google), artist Akio Oyabu couldn’t help but notice these similarities. However, he was quick to note that the game’s “creepy monsters” would have never found the same level of appeal as Pokemon.

Eventually, the development team realized that the GPS concept was too difficult to pull off, and the feature was removed from the game entirely. Instead, the team focused on a more traditional fantasy RPG with monster-catching elements. The team managed to complete development on Navinosuke, but the game still did not get released. Now after all these years, that’s finally getting rectified. A trailer for the game’s Nintendo Switch version can be found below.

Play video

The Switch release for Navinosuke: The Yo-Kai Buster is being handled by indie developer Kohachi Studio, with members of the original team being involved. Kohachi Studio has confirmed that the game will be a Nintendo Switch exclusive, which seems somewhat fitting, given the game’s roots on a past system for the company. However, the team did indicate that it’s “considering” a PC release for the game, so it’s possible we could see it on Steam at some point. However, for the time being, anyone interested will have to play it on Switch.

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Interestingly enough, this is not the only cancelled Game Boy Advance title getting a release in the modern era. Shantae: Risky Revolution was similarly announced recently, and will be released on modern platforms later this year. For fans of the GBA era and its pixel graphics, there should be a lot to look forward to between these two games. Nintendo’s handheld already played host to a lot of great games during its time on the market, and it will be interesting to see how these games rank with the system’s best.

Are you happy that this game is finally getting a release? Does this seem like the kind of RPG you’d be interested in playing? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

[H/T: Nintendo Everything]