Preserving Cancelled & Unreleased Video Game History Since 1999
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.
Fulltime Soccer is an interesting budget football title that was eventually released by Datel Electronics for the Color Gameboy. It got a very limited release and can be hard to find. But these prototypes recently recovered, reveal that the game was seemingly built over the top of Super Kick Off.
There are two builds in total, plus a 3rd unknown prototype by the same developer which may not be related. The first build from 23-08-00 is titled “Football Crazy, Football Mad” with some temporary titles and a digitized picture not found in the final game. Continue reading →
Next up to be added to the Games That Weren’t archives is a car engine prototype by Tuna Technologies, which was created in 1999 and added to into 2000. This impressive racing engine was pitched around to various places in the hope that it would get picked up.
You may notice the rather striking similarity to VRally on the Game Boy Color – which is because the graphics were temporarily ripped and used for the engine demo being produced. The aim was to produce an engine which was much faster and had more features than the VRally version to then ship around.
In the end, Electronic Arts would get the team to use it to produce Road Rash on the platform. And you can see why – the engine is quite cool, especially the early 2000 build which features a car that you can control with the road. The routine is extremely fast, and feels a little like the Lotus Turbo Challenge road routine on the Commodore Amiga. Continue reading →
Way back in Commodore User issue 25 (October 1985) is how far we’re travelling for our latest preservation work – a board game tie-in that blurred the lines between digital and physical play: Bryan Robson’s Super League, published by Paul Lamond Games. And that is the key thing, at first on our C64 entry we wasn’t sure if it was published or not, but turns out it was.
The game sees players building a football team and battling their way to the top of the league, facing random hazards like weather, injuries, and bank managers. These events play out across a physical game board that was bundled with the software – merging board game mechanics with home computer interactivity. Continue reading →
Our next entry was due for release on the Game Boy Color around 1999-2000, and has a working title of F19 Stealth Air. We’re not sure if it was a homebrew development or intended as a commercial release, though it seems to be leaning towards the prior.
Searching through some of the online homebrew archives, we haven’t been able to find anything that matches its description. There has been a suggestion that the game was a competition entry for BUNG, but we haven’t found it yet.
Additionally – it has been flagged that the game is a demake/conversion of Raptor: Call of the Shadows. The question is whether it was a proper intended conversion or riffed for the competition. If you know anything more about the title, please do get in touch. Continue reading →
Pure was a fun, stylish trick-racing game originally released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. But unlike most off-road racers lost in the mud of their competitors, Pure stood out thanks to its exhilarating stunts and the clever twist of rewarding style as much as speed.
Vehicle concept work by Young Ko.
Upon release, the game was met with glowing reviews. Critics praised its responsive controls, thrilling mechanics, and visual flair. But as is often the case, critical acclaim didn’t guarantee commercial success—Pure only managed to sell around 300,000 copies back then. Continue reading →
Next up into the ever-growing prototype archive at Games That Weren’t are a set of prototype builds for Mia Hamm Soccer for the Nintendo 64, dated 1st August and 1st September 2000. The game was a hastily reskinned version of Michael Owen’s WLS 2000 game, done in 12 weeks by DC Studios.
Comparing to the released version, we haven’t noticed any major differences – so its likely that any differences are for missing bug fixes and glitches and the game is pretty much the final game. Text in the released version seems to be encrypted slightly, where as it can be read clearly in a text editor for these builds. Continue reading →
Our next entry is a very early start of an isometric engine for the Game Boy Color, and for a BMX game that was being created by Charles Doty. The idea was to develop into a sort of R.C. Pro-Am clone with BMX bikes and jumps.
Charles was then asked to turn it into something similar to Skate and Destroy, which ironically was cancelled on the Color Game Boy. Basically, DC Studios were looking to do the conversion of Dave Mirra’s Freestyle BMX on the platform for Acclaim and put in a pitch to get the rights to develop it. Continue reading →
A short entry now for an unknown and early game engine that was created during the very early days of DC Studios. It has a working title of “Some Metal Head”, which was set in the game’s header and seems to be the start of a sort of Metal Slug/Turrican style game.
It is extremely early days with the engine, with a main army character who can jump around and walk along sloped platforms. There are no guns or anything at this stage, though graphical assets found suggest that an explosion was included. There are what seem to be springs/lifts which don’t do anything yet, so there are parts of the map which are inaccessible. Continue reading →
More GameBoy Color Prototypes for you, with two for Road Rash which was released in 2000 by Electronic Arts. These two builds are from the 7th and 10th August, around 2 months or so before the final release.
However, there seems to be very little different compared to the final version – the main difference we spotted was with the opening credit screen, with a large Nintendo logo compared to the final version which is just text.
The rest of the game seems to be the same, but we assume that there are a few bugs and minor glitches present which would have been ironed out in the final game. If you spot anything which is majorly different between these and the final game, please let us know.
After more than 40 years lost to time, Stairway to the Stars (the third game in Mike Taylor’s Magic Mirror Commodore VIC-20 adventure series) has finally been saved! And it’s been a long journey…
Stairway to the Stars – finally saved!
Back in 2009, Mike found a tape of his lost works and passed it over to Games That Weren’t in the hope it could all be recovered. Two of the games were saved (thanks to combined efforts of Mat Allen, Luigi Di Fraia and Bo Goeran Kvamme), but Stairway to the Stars was sadly thought to be unrecoverable due to severe tape degradation. After several attempts, it was eventually passed to Tom Roger Skauen around 2020 — whose initial recovery efforts also hit a brick wall.
But after a few years’ break and one last shot, the impossible has finally happened. This long-lost title has now been rescued thanks to the phenomenal work of both Tommi Lempinen and Tom Roger Skauen.
Mike himself hasn’t seen the game since the early ’80s (intended for release by Terminal Software) – and now, for the first time in over four decades, it’s playable again. We hope to hear more from Mike soon, once he’s had time to become reacquainted with his lost creation.
Read the full detailed story about the lost Magic Mirror series — and download all the games (now including Stairway to the Stars) here:
DISCLAIMER: We are a non-profit digitisation project, aiming to digitally preserve software and history which would otherwise be lost for good. If for any reason there is anything that you do not wish to be on the website, please contact us for removal.
Games That Weren't® is the registered trademark of Frank Gasking.
