Preserving Cancelled & Unreleased Video Game History Since 1999
Welcome to Games That Weren't!
We are an 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.
We’re not entirely sure if this actually got completed, but Accolade were still producing C64 games in 1990 (and even 1991), so its entirely feasible that Gunboat was being produced for the C64.
The game got fair reviews and even got a release on the ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC. Interestingly, an advert for the game misses out the C64 in the list of platforms, but a review of the game indicates a C64 version was due. Did the C64 hit any specific troubles compared to the others?
Another interesting point is that the Accolade version is missing in action, and only DroSoft released the game. Patrick Furlong suggests that he had an Accolade version on the Amstrad.
So what happened to the C64 version? Was it just considered too poor in comparison to the 16-bit versions to be released and possibly after poor Spectrum/Amstrad conversions?
Contributor Hank suggests that the Code Monkeys, who did the Spectrum version – also did C64 work too. However, Mark Kirkby confirmed that they did not do a C64 version, although it was considered. Was it therefore outsourced?
What is very strange is that Players Premier are linked to the game in the form of Vietnam Gunboat (of which we have a separate entry for) – which seems to be the very same game. Italian magazine MC Computer covers the Accolade game, but calls it Vietnam Gunboat.
So, did Accolade have their own C64 version in development, or did they approach Players Software to do the conversion for them and a special deal for them to release? We’ll keep this entry for now, but could well merge the two in the future.
Oriental Games could have possibly been one of the last Firebird games to see a release on the C64, but it was not to be.
Mentioned in a news item in Games Machine issue 27, Oriental Games was an average beat-em-up which did see release eventually via MicroStyle on the Amiga and ST Platforms. It even saw release on the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad platforms. So just what happened to the C64 conversion?
It’s a mystery which we are still looking to solve. It can’t really be that the game was lost as part of Firebird closing, as the others would have suffered too. It suggests that there must have been development woes with the C64 version.
Richard Hewison suggests that MicroProse had very little regard for the C64 and its likely that they just cancelled the C64 version without many qualms. But with a Spectrum version completed, surely a C64 one therefore was started?
A small entry for now on what was reported to be another C64 game from Thalamus in 1989.
Xenodrome we believe was a clone of Xenophobe being done by Thalamus, and was stated to be a C64 and 16-bit title being worked on. As expected, and why we are writing about the game – it never surfaced.
We did some digging, and it seems the 16-bit version also didn’t surface. Amiga coder Simon Cooke rewrote the game twice (working with Ian Harling), before leaving to finish Lost Patrol on the Amiga. We are not sure what happened to the C64 version though.
And that is all we currently know. Do you know any more about this game?
A very quick entry for a title which had a very quick mention in a PC Show 88 document given away with The Games Machine issue 10.
The game was to be released by Big Apple Entertainment in 1988, and was promised to be an epic shoot’em up for the Spectrum, C64, Amiga and ST.
Sadly the game never quite made it on any platform. The only Big Apple game to surface was Oops! Did the company go under before it could release anything else?
Well, Nick Fitzsimons who was working on the PC and ST ports of Oops said that his conversions never made it due to Big Appel getting taken over by a larger conglomerate, and getting closed down swiftly afterwards due to not making any profit.
Thanks to contributor Bugjam, we learn that Sarah Jane Avory was the developer and seems to still have the game in some form. It seems that it got quite far, and there is a possibility that it could even be finished for release in the future.
Fabrizio Bartoloni also highlighted that Sarah gave this update recently:
I’ve been thinking about Delphian, an old finished but unreleased #C64 game of mine, and how to make it work on a 512k cartridge. Can make it run much faster than the original by using lots of ROM tables: https://twitter.com/SarahJaneAvory/status/1248910376395247616
Original #C64 Delphian was a 3D space trader using large resizing sprites. You could land on planets and walk around, even entering shops to buy items. It’s on my #C64 to-do list.
Another game, and one which had a full colour advert – but never actually appearing.
Espionage looks like it should have been a spy adventure of some kind, but according to the Spectrum reviews of the game – it was more like a set of tests about chemistry and oils. It didn’t score very well at all.
As you can tell so far by the write up, the game was indeed released on the ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro, but the C64 version unfortunately.
Did Modular Resources go under before the C64 version could be completed? Did poor sales put them off from releasing the game? Or has the game just had a limited release and we are yet to find it?
More information needed – but hopefully some day we’ll find it!
Castle Fear was to be a sophisticated adventure with graphics and sound, as described by its advert in the December 1984 edition of Personal Computer Games.
The aim was to try and find the stolen Golden Crown and Seven Diamonds from deep within Castle Fear.
Unfortunately none of us got to do that, and the game doesn’t seem to have ever surfaced. The game was only advertised for the Commodore 64 and no other platforms.
The company only seemed to have games released in 1984, so it is possible that the company went under before those two games could be released.
It is possible that Peter Wood and David Rotor were also behind Castle Fear, as they were involved in Flame Island.
Flame Island was to be a sophisticated adventure with graphics and sound, as described by its advert in the December 1984 edition of Personal Computer Games.
The aim was to try and find an Emerald of Power within Flame Island and then escape.
Unfortunately none of us got to do that, and the game doesn’t seem to have ever surfaced. The game was only advertised for the Commodore 64 and no other platforms.
The company only seemed to have games released in 1984, so it is possible that the company went under before those two games could be released.
Peter Wood got in touch with GTW64 back in 2012, and has suggested that he still may have a copy of the game. We hope soon as a result that we may see the game fully preserved!
A quick entry to cover part of a series of games which DK’Tronics were looking to release in late 1984, early 1985.
A news item in the December 1984 edition of Personal Computer Games suggested that following on from a Popeye game, DK’Tronics were looking to do a series of Thames Television based games including Minder, The Sweeney, Benny Hill and Rainbow. There were also plans for a game starring Hagar The Horrible.
The games were to be released across the Spectrum, C64, MSX and Amstrad and sold at £5.95.
It is not quite known what happened to Benny Hill, but thanks to contributor Juganawt, we find that the Spectrum version was actually released under the name of Benny Hill’s Madcap Chase.
The game used the same engine pretty much as Popeye by Don Priestley, so it is entirely possible that the C64 conversion was being done by the same people who converted Don’s game to the C64…. Was it Five Ways Software?
It is possible that the game may never have been fully started on the C64 and could have just been at the planning stages when DK’Tronics went under. We’ll need to find out more!
A quick entry to cover part of a series of games which DK’Tronics were looking to release in late 1984, early 1985.
A news item in the December 1984 edition of Personal Computer Games suggested that following on from a Popeye game, DK’Tronics were looking to do a series of Thames Television based games including Minder, The Sweeney, Benny Hill and Rainbow. There were also plans for a game starring Hagar The Horrible.
The games were to be released across the Spectrum, C64, MSX and Amstrad and sold at £5.95.
It is not quite known what happened to The Sweeney with no mention of the game or release on any other platform. It is possible that the game may never have been fully started and could have just been at the planning stages when DK’Tronics went under.
Popular Computing Weekly 9-15 Aug 1984 had a news item which suggested that it was early days for the DK’Tronics deal. So it is possible that nothing was started, but we’ll see!
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