Cancelled, Unreleased and Lost Video Games for the Commodore 64 Since 1999
Games That Weren't 64 is a dedicated archive of cancelled and unreleased Commodore 64 games, prototypes and lost C64 titles. Since 1999, we have been preserving rare development history, unseen builds and developer insights from the Commodore 64 scene.
Explore a growing collection of unreleased C64 games, cancelled projects and recovered prototypes, alongside developer stories, assets and preservation work. Our non-profit archive aims to document and save Commodore 64 games that were never released, before they disappear completely.
Browse the Commodore 64 archive and discover thousands of lost and unreleased C64 titles.
A more advanced preview of the unreleased Commodore 64 shoot-em-up Trigger Happy has surfaced! Featuring improved graphics and much more developed attack waves than the previously known build, it’s a fascinating glimpse at what might have been.
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/trigger-happy/
Huge thanks to Hedning/Genesis Project for the heads up.
A huge digest update to the Commodore 64 archive this month with some major recoveries for you that you may have missed.
Missing for almost 40 years, and one we’ve been hunting for 22 – the obscure Pinball game from U.S. Gold has been recovered, and its much more advanced than you might think!
As part of the above recovery, Tony Smales has shared his unreleased budget shooter, which is a sort of sideways scrolling Xevious clone. Very close to release, but sadly not to be. But here it is for you to now enjoy after 39 years being locked away:
The game never got a proper full European release, and an extra twist is to now present you with remains of the unreleased Australian edition. This may feature missing scenes, different content (especially the bottle shooting level) and bugs not yet fixed. A great curiosity to explore:
Aussie Games (Australian release prototype)
Just before the above were recovered, Games That Weren’t preserved some released software that hadn’t yet been preserved. An American Football game, and a prototype of a flight simulator with some minor differences:
IFR (Flight Simulator) and Co Pro Football
Then we have our usual set of additions and new entries:
Bad Max, Danger – High Surf, Zorro
Followed by updates to the following 14 titles with scans added and new info. Please check the history tab for details of what has changed.
City Warriors, Dungeons and Magic, Hagar The Horrible, International Karate V1, Mindbending Aliens From Hyperspace, Nimitz, Ninjanimal, Parasol Stars, The Sanctuary, Thunder Light, Trazers, Tycoon Tex, Universal Military Simulator, Virus
Might be a bit quieter next month, but we’ll see. We’ll see you again next month for the next digest!
Our friend Allan Pinkerton, who has preserved many released C64 titles over the years and helped us (see ALA Software titles), has preserved a batch of Expert Software titles for the Commodore 64 which include:
We weren’t searching for the titles, but have done this post to flag up Allan’s work which you can check out here at his Archive.org area:
Leisure LINC went online as a Tymnet/Telenet-hosted service in September 1986, offering game matchmaking, news, member chat and mail. It was especially known for its chess focus, including an official partnership with the U.S. Chess Federation, but it also supported other classic games such as checkers and backgammon.
What helped set it apart from similar services was the dedicated client software, LINCware, which was intended to give users a more graphical experience. It apparently had a lot in common with QuantumLink, even if the audience and direction were a little different.
There is interest in finding the original client software and learning more about how the Leisure LINC experience worked in practice. Contributor David Hinson is hoping to track down anything that can help with that search, with the long term goal of reverse engineering a server to bring Leisure LINC back to life for its 40th anniversary. If that effort is successful, the plan is to submit the work to the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment so it can be preserved for the future. Continue reading
A lovely surprise for the weekend for you all! Today we are very pleased to add not one, but three significant Commodore 64 recoveries to the archives thanks to former Beam Software developer Tony Smales.
First up is Arcade Wizzard, a long-lost U.S. Gold pinball game that GTW has been trying to solve for over 22 years. Thanks to Tony, we can finally confirm its Beam Software origins and present a playable prototype.
Joining it is an Australian prototype of Aussie Games, containing a number of interesting differences from the released editions, plus Tony’s own unreleased game Void – a complete commercial title that sadly fell victim to publishing changes before release.
These updates have been published to coincide with Tony’s appearance on This Week In Retro, where he discusses the discoveries, his time at Beam Software and much more:
A huge thank you to Tony Smales for preserving the disks (via Dr Ed Young) all these years and kindly allowing everything to be shared and to This Week In Retro and Neil Thomas from The Retro Collective for putting Tony in touch with us.
Arcade Wizzard
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/arcade-wizzard/
Australian Games
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/australian-games/
Thanks to the generosity of Mat Allen and Håvar Bruvold Hojem, Games That Weren’t has preserved two pieces of unpreserved software in the form of Co Pro Football by Tepe Enterprises in 1984, and also an earlier prototype of IFR (Flight Simulator) by Ron Wanttaja in 1983.
The IFR prototype is particularly interesting, as it has some variations in the title screen and main game panel, and there could be other differences too compared to the final release version of the game. As well as the games themselves, we’re adding scans and the RAW Kryoflux files for posterity. Continue reading
Bad Max was a rather unusual French graphic adventure by Transoft, released in 1985 for the Amstrad CPC. Inspired heavily by the Mad Max universe, the game attempted something quite ambitious for its time by presenting its world using a 3D effect, requiring players to wear red and blue 3D glasses included in the box.
Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, players took on the role of “Bad Max”, struggling to survive amongst violent gangs, heavily armed police forces and many hazards. The game combined illustrated scenes with traditional text adventure commands, whilst offering two different paths to victory depending on whether the player chose to act fairly or embrace corruption. Continue reading
Almost half way through the year already, and we have more Commodore 64 goodness for you, with 4 brand-new entries added to the site, and 22 existing entries updated. Some new recoveries coming very soon, so watch this space! Little bit late with May due to a holiday, so we’ll be back again in less than a month with June’s update. Enjoy!
![Thunder Light [Preview]](https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/wp-content/uploads/gtw64/t/thunder-light/Thunder_Light_Preview.png)
Dungeons and Magic, The Sanctuary, Thunder Light, Trap Mission
4 Soccer Sims V1, 7 Minutes To Midnight, Ala Software, Barbarian 3, Car Game, Chess, Dark Sceptre, Escape From Colditz, Games Compendium, Motorcross Mania, Murder!, Orbyte Software titles, Paddle Mania, Quest for Cyrus, Rebelstar 2, Super Thief, Titan Find, Tour De Force, Turbo Cup Challenge, Turner Software Games, Two On Two Sports, Tycoon Tex
A short entry for a title called Danger – High Surf, which was mentioned in Electronic Games in December 1984 and was to be released on the Apple 2, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 and IBM PC platforms. The game was in 3D, with waves, mermaids, sharks and also land-lubbers. Continue reading
A lost Palace Software title from 1986 is not something you hear about every day. Stuntman appears to have been an ambitious project for its time, likely targeting emerging 16-bit platforms, but ultimately never seeing the light of day.
Gaming historian Kate Willært has done a fantastic job researching and documenting the story behind the game, pulling together a detailed and insightful look at what might have been. We highly recommend giving the article a read here:
A huge thanks to Kate for sharing!
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