1993 Microprose
Platforms: Commodore Amiga, Super Nintendo, Atari Jaguar
Tinhead is best known as a Sega Mega Drive platformer released in 1993, though it received little attention at the time. A Super Nintendo port was completed but never officially released back in the day (but got a physical release by Piko Interactive in 2019). A Jaguar version was also in development but never surfaced. The lost Amiga version however is particularly intriguing due to the discovery of early development materials that suggest a very different origin for the game.
As contributor Murnjendoof explains: “In May of 2025, I reached out to the game’s project manager Stuart Whyte via an email address that I found on his now-defunct Angelfire page, asking about the game’s development. He kindly sent me a bunch of development materials pertaining to the game, which included some internal documents confirming that an Amiga port of the game was planned.”
“Curiously, while the files he sent me did contain source code for an Amiga game, it wasn’t a port of Tinhead; instead, it was a strange, very unfinished platformer demo starring a character with a vague resemblance to Tinhead. Other than the vaguely similar main character and some shared level graphics, it has nothing in common with the final versions of Tinhead.”
The mystery title appears to have been the original concept for Tinhead, known as ‘Waldo’. Murnjendoof notes: “The aforementioned Angelfire page mentions that Tinhead was ‘originally known as Waldo’, and Tinhead’s credits contain an entry for ‘original game and map design’, which is attributed to Richard Lemarchand. From this, it seems that this Amiga demo is Waldo, developed by this Richard Lemarchand fellow, and either MicroProse or Spectrum Holobyte made the decision to pick it up and turn it into a Genesis game before porting it back to the Amiga (which in the end seemingly never materialised…).”
While it is technically possible the demo is an early prototype for an Amiga port of Tinhead, it is very different from the Genesis and SNES versions in nearly every way. As Murnjendoof explains: “The aforementioned documents which lay out the budget and specs for the Amiga port specify that the port should aim to be as close to the original game as possible, so this seems very unlikely.”
Murnjendoof also shared details on the preservation of development material. “Before sending me the files, he [Stuart Whyte] removed certain documents which contained financial and contract information; however, two files containing such information seemingly slipped through the cracks, and were sent to me along with everything else. When I brought this to his attention, he asked me to remove the offending files before publicly archiving them, so I removed the files and re-zipped everything else.”
The preserved files over at the archive.org repository include PDFs derived from the original DOC files, covering design and programming specifications for the Amiga, SNES, and other versions, as well as a game proposal document identified as Tinhead: A Game Proposal. While the Amiga demo (Waldo) remains distinct and unfinished, the SNES and Jaguar ports had their own histories. The SNES version was completed but unreleased, and the ROM has circulated online – see SNES Central for more details on this version.
A Jaguar port was also reportedly in development, but never released and no prototype has ever surfaced. Stuart Whyte’s old Angelfire page, doesn’t mention anything about a Jaguar version at all, suggesting initially at first sight that any conversion may not have got any further beyond initial plans. However, Steve Goss (who used to work at Microprose) revealed on the AtariAge forums in 2001 that the game was ported to the Jaguar from the Mega Drive code in a few weeks.
No further info surfaced, and certainly no prototype has either. At this stage its not clear why the Jaguar edition never got released – but its possibly because Jaguar were keen to get more 3D titles on the platform to compete with the likes of the PlayStation.
The Amiga version of Tinhead, likely originating as the game Waldo, provides a fascinating glimpse into the game’s early conceptual stages and which you can download here, as well as within the wonderful archive made thanks to Murnjendoof’s archival work and Stuart Whyte’s generosity in sharing development materials. Once we have any more information, we’ll be sure to update this page.
With thanks to Murnjendoof and Stuart Whyte for their preservation work and information.
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