Welcome to Games That Weren't!

We are an Cancelled & Unreleased Video games archive with prototypes, developer history and assets for many computers and consoles of all ages. A non-profit large archive dedicated to preserving lost games that were never released to the public. Sharing history and stories from the developers, assets and more before it is too late. GTW has been preserving lost video game history online since 1999, and long before that offline.

Please Browse our archive and discover the many entries that we host for many different platforms.

Latest News and Posts

LEGO The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies

Posted: by Patrick Furlong

2014 Travellers Tales / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment

Platforms: Sony PlayStation 3 and 4, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Xbox One, PC, Mac and Nintendo 3DS

Following the success of Lego Lord of the Rings, based on/inspired by Peter Jackson’s Oscar winning film trilogy based on the works by JRR Tolkien, Warner Interactive Entertainment and Traveller’s Tales (developer of previous Lego games) began work in 2013 on Lego The Hobbit. Again based on/inspired by Peter Jackson’s films, based on Tolkien’s novel.

The game was released in April 2014 but only featured the story from the first two films – An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug – finishing with Smaug heading to destroy Lake Town. The final instalment in the film trilogy – The Battle of the Five Armies was due for release in December 2014 and it was reported at the London Toy Fair in January 2014 that DLC of the final film would be released following the release of the film. Continue reading →

Posted in: 3DS, Apple iOS, Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Xbox 360, Microsoft Xbox One, PC, Reviews, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation 4 | Tagged: | Leave a comment

World Heroes

Posted: by Frank Gasking

1994 Working Designs / SNK

Platform: PC Engine

In the early 1990s, World Heroes (a popular Neo Geo fighting game developed by ADK and SNK) was being ported to the PC Engine Super CD-ROM by Working Designs. Known for their quality localisations and close collaborations with Japanese developers, Working Designs were said to have had a good working relationship with SNK, which included this unreleased port.

WorldHeroes

According to direct conversations with one of the Shirley brothers at Working Designs (likely Don Shirley), the PC Engine version of World Heroes was reportedly fully complete. The port was being developed with direct involvement from the original Neo Geo development team, ensuring arcade-accurate gameplay and visuals within the limits of NEC’s hardware. Continue reading →

Posted in: PC Engine, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Splitz Game Boy prototypes

Posted: by Frank Gasking

I loved Split Personalities on the Commodore 64, and I was massively surprised to learn that a Game Boy version was produced in later years called Splitz. It had completely passed me by, and I first discovered the game when finding a series of prototypes in relation to the title.

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The game works incredibly well on the platform, so if you haven’t played it before – I recommend checking it out. In the meantime, we have a series of prototypes of the game from various stages of development, and thankfully with dates for most. Continue reading →

Posted in: Nintendo Game Boy, Prototype, Unused materials | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Micro Machines 1 and 2 Twin Turbo GBC prototypes

Posted: by Frank Gasking

More prototypes added to the Games That Weren’t archive, where today we’re adding a series of Micro Machines 1 and 2 Twin Turbo prototypes for the Nintendo Color Game Boy. These all vary a lot, though we were unable to attribute accurate dates for all of them.

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MM2DEMO.gbc is one of the most interesting, as this seems to be a very early iteration where the Game Boy original game was being converted over and re-colourized. The music map is quite glitchy and the sprites are not yet reworked, but you can have a race and even see remains of the original title. There is likely more tucked away, though we think just the one level has been re-done. Continue reading →

Posted in: Game Boy Color, Prototype, Unused materials | Tagged: , | Leave a comment

Trax

Posted: by Frank Gasking

1993 Enigma Variations

Platform: Nintendo Gameboy

Our next entry into the archives is a very brief racing car game development that was being done by Roo Bowen for Enigma Variations back in 1993, and may have been based off their work for Nigel Mansell’s Grand Prix for the Commodore 64.

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This is an extremely early prototype for a first person perspective racing game and a neat track routine which you can accelerate and brake and move around a bit – but nothing else at this stage. It is possible that the prototype was just produced as a proof of concept and not taken any further. There is no evidence that a proper game was under way. Continue reading →

Posted in: Nintendo Game Boy, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

ShockWave

Posted: by Frank Gasking

1991 Digital Magic Software

Platform: SEGA Mega Drive

Described as a sort of strategic Space Harrier game, ShockWave sent enough shockwaves to impress magazines of the day for the Amiga, but did you know that a SEGA Mega Drive edition was later on the cards in 1991?

Thanks to an article with Digital Magic Software in June 1991 (published July 1991 in Games X magazine), they reveal that the group were bringing in equipment to do Mega Drive games, and Shockwave was being lined up as the first title. Continue reading →

Posted in: Mega Drive / Genesis, Reviews | Tagged: | 2 Comments

The Addams Family: Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt (Gameboy) Prototypes

Posted: by Frank Gasking

Following on from the NES Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt prototypes, we bring you two more this time for the Nintendo Gameboy. One is dated from the 22nd April 1993, though the other prototype is unknown – but we believe it is slightly earlier.

pugslarge

When comparing the April build, there doesn’t seem to be any noticeable differences compared to the final retail version apart from the header. We have very likely missed something, so if anyone spots anything different between the April edition and the final retail version, please let us know. There are noticeable differences in the code – but we’re not quite sure what they are without more in-depth digging. Continue reading →

Posted in: Nintendo Game Boy, Prototype | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Croc (Gameboy Color) prototypes

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Today we are bringing you a very early test build of Croc on the Colour Gameboy which is of part of the first level map, but with a lot of content and presentation missing at this stage and no enemies or collectables. Score panel isn’t finished and contains junk characters.

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Here you can move Croc around the slopes and up on the platforms, before hitting a dead-end. However, if you keep pausing and unpausing whilst jumping, I found that you will essentially “jump climb” up past the dead-end to be able to see a bit more of the map. Continue reading →

Posted in: Game Boy Color, Prototype | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Nigel Mansell’s World Championship lost Commodore 64 conversion recovered after 33 years!

Posted: by Frank Gasking

Missing for 33 years, and eluding GTW for 26 – we are at long last proud to present one of our holy grail titles with the release of Nigel Mansell World Championship on the Commodore 64 by Gremlin! Check out this very advanced preview and full story:

https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/nigel-mansell-world-championship/

Full video of recovery can also be found here:

It is with a huge thank you to both Mark Greenshields and Darren Melbourne for making this recovery possible!

Posted in: Reviews | Leave a comment