Preserving Cancelled & Unreleased Video Game History Since 1999
Total results: 150
GTW Highlight No.10: No April Fools when we recovered a full game for a console that never was. Magician’s Apprentice (1993) was for the mythic Multi-System 2 (successor to the Konix Multi-system), and is now emulated + playable thanks to SavourySnaX !
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/04/magicians-apprentice/ Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.11: In May, we celebrated an incredible 25 years of Games That Weren’t, which was first born back in 1999. Covering the history of how the site first started and some of the key events and recoveries over … Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.11: Switching focus to the #SNES in April, we preserved the unfinished Mechanoids 2: The Final Conflict. An early side-scrolling mech fighter planned for 1993. We recovered two prototype builds you can check out and play:
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/04/mechanoids-2-the-final-conflict/ Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.12: June was certainly busy, and we did a huge investigation into The Godfather on the Sega Master System + others. It vanished after a rough first cut that wasn’t up to scratch. We made some big breakthroughs … Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.12: By April/May, we had recovery and release of Anco’s Tip-Off for #NES + #SNES. You can now experience early developments of the game, and also hear the long-lost David Whittaker NES music, compiled from source.
https://gamesthatwerent.com/2025/04/tip-off/
https://gamesthatwerent.com/2025/05/tip-off-2/ Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.13: Again in June, we took a look at an ambitious Alien VS Predator game for PC (possibly Amiga too) in 1993, where you had essentially three different games in one. It was tragically canned after licence issues. … Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.13: In May, we took a deep dive look at the SEGA Master System development of Tintin on the Moon. It nearly made it in 1992 but was sadly cancelled. Now after 32 years, lost Matt Furniss music & SFX intended was also recovered!
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/05/tintin-on-the-moon/ Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.14: In May, we uncovered a PC DOS-era prototype called ShelShock from Finlay Munro. Possibly a pitch for a game or just its engine. Think Damocles, but with mouse interaction and a village to explore. Now preserved at Games That Weren’t:
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/05/shelshock/ Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.14: July saw us covering the lost PC prototype of The Ravaging by Pukka Games from 1999-2000, where you control an angel from hell in a 3rd person action-adventure. Check out the demo and video here: https://gamesthatwerent.com/2024/07/the-ravaging/
GTW Highlight No.15: In August, we took a look at Die Hard 2 on the #SegaMasterSystem that was canned. We shed light on this version, its developer + how far it got. Could it be found? https://gamesthatwerent.com/2024/08/die-hard-2-die-harder/
GTW Highlight No.15: In May, we were honoured to give a talk at Zzap! Live about Games That Weren’t and 25 years of uncovering unreleased, cancelled, and forgotten games with a C64 focus. Here is a link to the full talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlOGKwrN7uk Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.16: In September, we recovered and saved the last build of The Last Job (aka The Heist) on the Sony Play Station 2. Missing for 20 years, and due for release back in 2004 by Acclaim: https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2024/09/the-last-job/
GTW Highlight No.16: In May, we uncovered 7 NES prototype builds of The Addams Family: Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt (1993 Ocean)- including an early version with cut content and different room layouts. A fascinating glimpse at the game in development.
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/05/the-addams-family-pugsleys-scavenger-hunt-nes-prototypes/ Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.17: In May, we recovered a very early 1992 #SNES prototype platformer called Chaos Drop. Developed by Enigma Variations, the game was dropped and eventually morphed into Magician’s Apprentice for PC/Konix. Check out early builds here:
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/05/chaos-drop/ Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.17: In September, we recovered and saved Matthew Smith’s long lost Commodore VIC-20 game Monster Muncher (missing 41 years). It was miraculously spotted in the Retro Computer Museum and was quite a recovery: https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2024/09/monster-muncher/ A fixed version was … Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.18: In early June, we released early builds of a cancelled and previously unknown Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes conversion for #GameBoyAdvance. Developed by DC Studios in 2000, scrapped before release. Full story:
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/06/army-men-sarges-heroes/ Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.18: September was busy, and also saw the recovery of AtariSoft’s Stargate on the Commodore 64 at GTW thanks to Ken Van Mersbergen. Check out Tom Griner’s long lost conversion for yourself at: https://gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/stargate/
GTW Highlight No.19: September finally saw the long lost Hydrogenese on the Commodore 64 recovered by CBA/SCS+TRC. A brilliant early look at what could have been an amazing space shooter! Read more about the title at:https://gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/hydrogenese/
GTW Highlight No.19: In June, we recovered an earlier 1992 NES build of Nigel Mansell’s World Championship Racing by Gremlin. Used as a reference for a conversion, this build featured title screen, credit and speed differences:
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/06/nigel-mansells-world-championship-racing/ Continue reading
GTW Highlight No.20: In October, we located the long lost PC technical demo of Engalus. An early game from Crytek that was cancelled. We did a series of hi-res videos and showcased parts never seen before until now: https://gamesthatwerent.com/2024/10/engalus/ That … Continue reading
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