Welcome to Games That Weren't!

We are a 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

Populous

Posted: by Frank Gasking

1992 Imagineer / Bullfrog

Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System

Hot on the heels of the recovery of Sensible Soccer for the NES comes yet another long-lost title for the platform – the legendary god game, Populous. It isn’t clear yet if the game was previewed in any magazines at the time, though there is reference to a conversion thanks to David Whittaker’s music credits online.

populous main large

The game was fully completed by the Enigma Variations team for Electronic Arts/Bullfrog, but Mark Greenshields tells us that the client just decided not to proceed with publishing the title. Darren Melbourne (who was producer for the game), informs us that Imagineer decided that the NES was probably past its prime and they wouldn’t achieve the necessary sales. Darren was pretty upset because they had put a lot of time and effort into creating the game. Continue reading →

Posted in: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Reviews | Tagged: | 5 Comments

P-47 II: The Freedom Star

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1990-2025 Jaleco / Retro Bit

Platform: SEGA Mega Drive

A short entry for a cancelled conversion of the Jaleco classic arcade. This is old news, but the cancelled P-47 II: The Freedom Star for the SEGA Mega Drive was recently finished off recently and properly released after being missing for 35 years!

P47 II Gameplay 14

In development by Jaleco, in what was to be their first title on the Mega Drive, but was cancelled for reasons unknown. It’s not really a sequel as such, but a conversion of the arcade title P-47: The Freedom Fighter. Continue reading →

Posted in: Mega Drive / Genesis, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Rare Cyberspace PC demo located and added to the site!

Posted: by Frank Gasking

A rare PC demo of the extremely ambitious 3D Amiga and PC title Cyberspace has been located thanks to Kusfo. Out there all along after release by a Spanish gaming magazine. Check it out for yourself, and could the non-playable segment be made playable?

cyber1

https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2020/10/cyberspace/

Full video (no sound sadly) at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTkyeQjswLM

Posted in: Commodore Amiga, News, PC | Leave a comment

Tetris V1

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

It’s been a little while since we last took a look a rather different looking version of a game that was released. Today we take a look at Mirrorsoft’s Tetris, which was reviewed in an issue of Happy Computer magazine.

tetris v1 shot pageshot

Reviewed in March 1988, the screenshot shown was of a rather different looking game to the one we eventually got. Basically the same layout and tile design as the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga versions, but with very different background graphics. Continue reading →

Posted in: Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, PC, Prototype, Unused materials | Tagged: | 3 Comments

Smarties: Adventure in Colourland

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

199X Nestle

Platform: PC

Also known as: Smarties: Colourland Adventure

Not to be confused with Smarties: Meltdown on the PS2, this was a game released in a promotional way where you likely had to save up smarties lids to send away for a free PC game. This is probably what happened to contributor Oli Payne, who has highlighted this title.

We think there is a very small chance the game was perhaps released around the same time as this Kit Kat promotional game: https://archive.org/details/kitkatdesktoppack .It’s unlikely, but was all we could find during our initial searches.

All we know thanks to Oli is that the game was released sometime in the late 1990s and players would engage in various mini-games and challenges, often involving the different coloured Smarties. The theme was around time travelling to particular time periods to solve various puzzles. The game was point and click, 2D, in a cartoonish design. Continue reading →

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

Sensible Soccer

Posted: by Frank Gasking

1993 Renegade

Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System

We all like (good) surprises, and hopefully our next entry into the Games That Weren’t archives will be just that. Back when Enigma Variations were porting Sensible Soccer to the original Game Boy, unbeknown to us all – Mark Greenshields was working on a NES conversion too, using the original Amiga code as reference.

sensible soccer large1

Although the conversion progressed very well after around 6 months of work, Mark reveals they didn’t feel that the conversion was good enough for the market and so work was abruptly stopped. By 1993, the platform was in the very early stages of decline (at least in the UK, even though as AmigaJay points out – it was still very popular), so that may have been a factor for not trying again to convert the title from scratch, but does seem odd. It can’t be recalled, though it is plausible that Renegade decided to drop the conversion completely and just focus on a Game Boy release. Continue reading →

Posted in: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Reviews | Tagged: | 4 Comments

The Agency: Covert Ops

Posted: , last updated: by Yassine Bakrim

2009 Sony Online Entertainment (Seattle)

Platforms: Sony PlayStation 3, PC

The fact that Microsoft just steamrolled through the online multiplayer domain with the original Xbox, left Sony at a very precarious junction. In an effort to finally give their fearsome rival a run for its money, Sony allied with big players like EA and Square Enix. Yet, even with these alliances, the company lacked a marquee IP – a behemoth that would shake the very foundations of Microsoft’s fiefdom.

the agency image article

With the coming of the PlayStation 3, Sony had begun entering new territories. They started creating fantastic titles that would cement their reputation as a creative powerhouse. Heavyweight blockbusters such as Heavenly Sword and Uncharted pushed technical and narrative boundaries to a new level, with more Hollywood-inspired offerings like Heavy Rain and high-octane shooters such as Killzone and Resistance showcasing the platform’s versatile collection. Continue reading →

Posted in: PC, Reviews, Sony PlayStation 3 | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Uridium 2

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1993 Renegade / Graftgold

Platform: Amiga CD32

Just a very short entry for now on Andrew Braybrook’s sequel to the classic Uridium, which was released on various Amiga platforms in late 1993. However, also on the cards was an Amiga CD32 version which had enhanced music and sound effects, as well as palette changes on some of the screens due to Andrew’s colour-blindness.

uridium 2

At this stage, we’re not sure what else would have featured – we assume there would have been additional levels and details in the graphics. However, Andrew mentioned the following snippet on his blog:

“The ill-fated Uridium 2 CD32 version also was getting a 4-button controller mode, but it was never completed. That game had a simpler control mode anyway.”

Continue reading →

Posted in: Amiga CD32, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Big Brother

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1996-1999 MediaX

Platform: PC

A short entry for a recently uncovered Big Brother game that was being developed by MediaX between 1996 and 1999. Thanks to Werta Best for highlighting its recovery. The game was a pseudo-sequel to George Orwell’s 1984 and was officially endorsed by Orwell’s estate. Development unfortunately stalled in late 1999, and MediaX was eventually shut down in 2005.

bro 2025 03 08 00 46 08 65

The recovered build is an alpha demo from January 4th 1999. Whilst it is an incomplete demo, additional levels and game logic from the planned full game are still present in the files. The game also runs using the BRender engine, but lacks NPCs at this stage – however, the player can walk around, interact with objects, and pick up items and weapons – though weapon functionality was not implemented in this version. Continue reading →

Posted in: PC, Reviews | Tagged: | 4 Comments

Mr. Magoo

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1994 Millenium

Platform: SEGA Mega Drive, Amiga 1200, Amiga CD32

I remember watching old episodes of Mr. Magoo as a kid, a hapless short-sighted old man who always seems to get into comical trouble, but everything always has a way of working itself out at the last minute. Millenium felt there was a game in the character and so obtained the licence for a series of games in 1994.

MrMagooShot6

In the game, you control the hero in various places where disasters and accidents are abound, with the aim of course to avoid them. Now the interesting bit is that some previews shown in magazine suggest that the game was going to be controlled with a mouse. Though Australian magazine MegaZone revealed that the game was due also for the SEGA Mega Drive. Continue reading →

Posted in: Amiga CD32, Commodore Amiga, Mega Drive / Genesis, Reviews | Tagged: | 5 Comments