Unreleased & Cancelled Video Games across many platforms.
Welcome to Games That Weren't!
We are an Unreleased and Cancelled 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 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 video game history since 1999.
Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice was released back in late 2007/early 2008 on the Sony PlayStation Portable to mixed reviews. However, also in production was a PS2 edition which would sadly never see the light of day.
Research carried out by Francesco Vujicevic revealed that the PS2 edition was postponed several times with the last release date being set as the 10th September 2008. According to an unnamed artist who worked on the project, a PS2 edition was started after significant progress had been made on the PSP edition. Continue reading →
Bushido Warrior (or potentially just Bushido) was a new oriental themed Gauntlet clone that was due out for a wide number of platforms, published by Ariolasoft/U.S. Gold. The Commodore 64 edition is already well documented via our GTW64 page.
Although a Gauntlet clone, it was more than just a clone – and it seems that the entire 16-bit editions may have been based off the Gauntlet conversion codebase. Computer and Video Games magazine spoke with the ST developers, Graham Lilley and Teoman Irmak in August 1987. Continue reading →
Yet another Ocean Software title goes into the GTW archive, and this time a conversion of Electronic Arts’ Skitchin’, which had been released on the SEGA Megadrive the same year, and was a sort of Road Rash on skates.
Ocean had been converting a number of Electronic Arts titles already, so this was just another in a line of titles being done at the time for the Amiga. Continue reading →
Platforms: PC DOS, Sony PlayStation and SEGA Saturn
Into the Shadows (ITS) was a 3D fighting game, originally scheduled for release in 1995, and was being programmed by Magnus Högdahl and Fredrik Huss, with graphics by Mikko Tähtinen and music by Magnus Högdahl.
The game originally came from the Swedish demo group Triton, who then were contracted by Scavenger to further develop the game. The basic plot according to this old webpage, was that an evil Wizard has kidnapped a baby and you must save them by killing the wizard, freeing the child, and saving the world. Continue reading →
Our next title was confusingly referred to under a number of different titles, including Captain Hook’s Revenge and Peter Pan’s Daring Journey. In a CES 1983 show, it was reported by Popular Computing Weekly (January 1984) that Atari that they had linked up with Walt Disney to produce a two-part game.
Portland Atari Club newsletter in October 1983 revealed that the game was to be an educational title, but little else about the game was really known about. Various sources online linked the game to Roklan as the developer. Continue reading →
Adventures of the MummyHead is a neat looking platformer that was due for release by Taito in 1991 for the PC Engine.
By the looks of things, you were in control of a body with a detachable mummy head, which has very strong vibes of Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken (or Decap Attack as it was known in Europe) for the SEGA Mega Drive. Continue reading →
Sometimes Games That Weren’t get tagged in social media onto certain posts where others highlight unreleased games, and this was the case with our next entry – an unnamed Psygnosis Soccer game for the Super Nintendo.
Nintendo Magazine System gave what seemed to be an exclusive preview in issue 14 of their magazine in November 1993, showing screenshots of the game running. The game seems to be played from a side-on viewpoint, but using Mode-7 to give a tilted 3D perspective and have the camera move up and down with the players.
At this point, there was no name given to the game, and according to the preview the game was still a little rough around the edges and nowhere near complete. However, it was reported to be very fast and playing rather smart and the magazine suggested that it could be one to watch for. Continue reading →
A slightly smaller update this month, as we focus efforts on preserving the rest of Archer Maclean’s disks and also the Micro-Antics collection for the VIC-20. However, still plenty of new content to take a look at – including the recovery of the lost Breakdown loading screen, a number of educational title findings, a strange Ocean Software game done for TV and more.
Breakdown loading screen found!
Missing for over 30 years, the lost loading screen for Breakdown that wasn’t included with the Zzap!64 covertape game, but shown in the magazine pages has been recovered thanks to Icon / The Preservers:
Platforms: Commodore Amiga, PC, SEGA Mega Drive and Super Nintendo
Our next entry into the archives is a bizarre title which seems to have got around in various magazines, and across a number of platforms – each showing the same set of screenshots.
Rocket Rescue was due for release from Colchester based Hot-Shot Entertainments, and was described as an “original concept” game where you have to control a rocket ship, negotiate forcefields and weather conditions, and destroy all enemy predators.
There were plans for 100 levels, keyboard or joystick controls, Parallax scrolling, power-ups and weapons, a game save feature and digitized sound effects. Continue reading →
It is surprising how emotions can run high, and the warm fuzzy memories flow when playing games from your childhood – and playing Chariot Race by Micro-Antics on the Commodore VIC-20 is no exception. I have always had a real soft spot for the Commodore VIC-20, and Chariot Race was a mind-blowing title for an unexpanded machine, but ferocious fun too.
Our article is a tribute to this wonderful game, but crucially its vastly talented, and sadly late, author Paul Hope. We also celebrate the completion and release of a fully preserved collection of Micro-Antics titles, after over a decade of trying to track down all the missing and unpreserved games, and reveal an unreleased game at the end too.
First of all, lets take a look at the game which put Micro-Antics firmly in people’s hearts and minds, followed by a brief history of the company from the Hope family, and how Paul Hope once conquered the Commodore VIC-20 during the early days of home computing.
If this is the first time you have heard of Chariot Race, then fear not – we have you covered. Featuring very large chariot racer characters, you control Sinister and Dexter, and must navigate your way through a sea of vertically scrolling chariot traffic. Although the game always starts as a simultaneous 2-player game, you can play on your own too – the second player just crashes out pretty quickly. allowing you to continue. Continue reading →
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Games That Weren't® is the registered trademark of Frank Gasking.