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 since 1999.

Please Browse our archive and discover the many entries that we host for many different platforms.

Latest News and Posts

Bertie’s Animal Kingdom

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

2000 Applaud

Platform: Commodore Amiga 1200

Our next entry is for a title which may well have been released, but in very low numbers, due to being quite late into the Amiga 1200’s life and an educational title (further limiting its potential audience).

Bertie’s Animal Kingdom was reviewed in a few places, including Amiga Format’s very last issue in 2000. The game consisted of a number of simple animal recognition games, and was released on both CD and Disk. The CD edition would contain a number of extra games and scenarios.

Unfortunately, it scored rather average marks, which may well have put off any potential users within an already shrinking market. For years, the game has been listed as Missing in Action on the Hall of Light, though there are instructions for the CD edition online, as well as screenshots of the inlay. We believe therefore that the game was released, but in very limited numbers – hence the lack of preservation.

bertie2 640

However, with a huge thanks to contributor Ivan S, GTW was put in touch with musician Darryl Sloan who still had a copy of the game on two disks. The CD version sadly was not in his possession.  Darryl kindly loaned the disks which still worked perfectly fine, and as a result have been fully preserved for you to check out below. Continue reading →

Posted in: Amiga | Tagged: | 4 Comments

GTW64 finds and more

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Thanks to the brilliant preservation work of Paladin of Genesis Project, and kindly passing his work over – we are proud to present a large list of educational game recoveries and preservations.

Some titles are listed within our GTW64 archives as missing, and others were not on anyone’s radar. Here is the complete list:

  • Alphabet Zoo (Floppy Disk Version)(Spinnaker) – Paladin found the floppy disk version which includes 2 other games not available on any other versions found online, including the version on GB64 (because those versions are cartridge dumps).
  • Dragon Games (Daybreak)
  • Math Baseball (Daybreak)
  • Keyboard Crazy (Waveform Corporation) – This one seems to require the Colortone keyboard or a keyboard overlay
  • Mastertype Training Grounds – The version on GB64 isn’t cracked and is a g64 so Genesis Project have cracked this one for the site.
  • Puzzle Mania (Readers Digest)
  • The Factory (Sunburst) – Differs from the HESWARE version on GB64 and has been listed on our wanted list.

The full archive can be downloaded below, and we will quickly update the relevant entries to point to this post. A huge thank you to Paladin of Genesis Project for recovering these titles and allowing them to be crossed off the preservation list.

Download

Preserved educational games

Posted in: Commodore 64, GTW64 news, News | Leave a comment

GTW64 January 2023 update

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Just missed posting in January I know, but we’ve been busy the past month or so just tidying up some of our pages and adding a few quick updates along the way. No new entries, but plenty of updates instead and hopefully highlighting some titles that you may not have read about before. Enjoy!

Rare C64 Screenshots added for The Black Onyx

The Black Onyx

44 other updates added

Arena, Armalyte V1, Billy Boulder, Bod Squad 2, The, Car Game, Chainsaw Warrior, Combat 2004, Delphian, Dungeons Of Death, Force Of The Vulcan, Gamma Strike, Gotcha Maths, Halloween, International Soccer Challenge, Italian pirated games, Kid Saviour, Kobayashi Naru 1994, Light Cycles 2004, Make My Day, Manhatten Dealers, Mutant Zone, Nimitz, Paranoid Pete, Pegasus, Populous, Primary Maths Tutor, Project Sparkk, Quark, Shard of Inovar 1994, Spellcast, Star Maze, Star of Africa, Starglider 2, The Godfather, The Seven Gates Of Jambala, Toddler Tutor, Tour De Force, Toyota Rally, Trailrunner, Viaje Al Centro, Video Images game, War Of The Worlds, Worron, Zorakk

Posted in: GTW64 news, News | Leave a comment

The Legend of Billy Boulder

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1990 U.S. Gold

Platform: C64, Atari 400/800, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST and PC

Our next entry into the archives was thought to have been both a C64 and Atari 800/400 development for Databyte back in the 1980s. Billy Boulder was flagged up to us by developer Ron Rosen in late 2022, a game that was in fact seemingly due for release on Amiga, ST and PC – but in a bizarre twist, it was indeed also an 8-bit title too after all.

bb shot11

The game was known in full as The Legend of Billy Boulder, and had artwork created by Art Huff, who worked on a number of Atari 8-bit and C64 titles during the 1980s. Previously, Art had worked on a game called Adam Caveman, which was also never released. Continue reading →

Posted in: Amiga, Atari 400/800, Atari ST, Commodore 64, GTW64 news, PC, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Astar: Land In Flammen

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1992 Linel

Platform: Commodore Amiga

Our next entry into the archives is a 2D strategy game for the Commodore Amiga that was due for release back in 1992 by Linel. The game was set in a medieval scenario, where you can loot, pillage and hoard treasure and try and prevent your opponent from doing the same thing.

astar1

According to a review by Amiga Games magazine, the game featured three sections, one where political decisions can be made in every castle that you own – such as repairing walls, build up armies and defence troops. A second section had a relief map, where you can give orders to your armies and observe the progress of the game as a whole. Commands are limited to only specifying the direction. Continue reading →

Posted in: Amiga, Reviews | Tagged: | 2 Comments

Outworld 2375 AD

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1993 HeartBeat Corporation

Platform: SEGA Mega Drive

Outworld 2375 AD is a racing game that was in development for the SEGA Mega Drive in 1993 as a title for use with a Heartbeat Catalyst device (a body-mounted fitness sensor) that hooked up to your console.

10 outworld

The device hooked up your Mega Drive to any exercycle (to record pedal revolutions) and to the player’s ear (to actively monitor the player’s heart-rate). Outworld would respond to the player, as long as they maintained their heart rate within a target threshold.

Only a single screenshot seemed to surface thanks to Sega Visions magazine, though in later years, promotional film shots showing more screens from the game (all except for one) surfaced (see gallery images). Continue reading →

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

Galactic Dance

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1989 Kingsoft

Platform: Commodore Amiga

A short entry for what looks like a superb little Galaga clone with a load of extra bells and whistles taking advantage of Amiga hardware.

Clipboard01

Just a small preview seems to have featured within a 1989 issue of Powerplay, before the game then disappeared for good. There was an advert with someone hopeful that they could get a copy of the game, but that was about it. Continue reading →

Posted in: Amiga, Reviews | Tagged: | 6 Comments

Tir Na Nog

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1995 Psygnosis

Platform: PC

Just over ten years after its original release on the ZX Spectrum, Psygnosis planned to release an update to the classic adventure game for PC users back in 1995.

TIRN 02

The gameplay would consist of hand-to-hand combat, puzzle solving and exploration, where the main protagonist, Cuchulainn, will encounter many strange beasts on their travels. Psygnosis described the game as a strategy role-playing title with a mixture of humour and atmosphere. Continue reading →

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

Hard Vacuum

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1993 Daniel Cook

Platform: PC

Inspired by the release of Dune 2 in 1992, artist Daniel Cook started creating his own RTS game design for a title called Hard Vacuum – intended for 386 and 486 computers of the time. The game was to be set in a science fiction world that is run by large corporations. You would be in control of a mercenary battle team, out for hire to the highest bidder and ready to go out and “kick ass”.

Test1 Large

There were elements of resource gathering from mineral deposits, base building and also fighting with a wide range of units that could be used to attack enemies and destroy bases. Continue reading →

Posted in: PC, Reviews | Tagged: | 1 Comment

GTW64 Christmas update 2022

Posted: by Frank Gasking

Time has come round quickly once more, with our yearly Christmas update – and as always, we have something for you in the shape of a previously unseen and unreleased C64 game (lost for 38 years), some recovered C128 titles and important new information on some key GTW entries.

Lordsfire – full game recovered after 38 years
Intended for release by Virgin Games, Jeremy Walker’s fully complete multi-part title has been recovered and released today by Games That Weren’t.

Lordsfire – entry and download

Ron Rosen confirms as developer of two long mysterious titles + a new one

Developer Ron Rosen has significantly confirmed his (and Art Huff’s) involvement on both Adam Caveman and Mumbles – Super Spy, as well as yet another title not known about until now: 

Adam Caveman, Billy Boulder, Mumbles – Super Spy

Mike Lyons sheds light on more important GTWs

We finally speak to the developer of Total Recall V1 about what happened + chances of recovery, along with input on a number of other titles he worked on. Two surprises as you will notice: 

19 Boot Camp – Part 2, Total Recall V1, Whirligig, Wreckers

2 C128 titles digitally preserved

Thanks to Csaba Virag, here are two German C128 titles that have been digitally preserved. 

B-1 Bomber and Spukschloss – page and download

9 brand new entries added

A number of other new entries have also been added to the site:

Aerial Arithmetic, Asteroids, Campaigns of Napoleon, Commando V1, Garden Wars, Spider Snare, Syntax tape, The Battle of the Bulge, Zany Golf

33 other entries also updated

Then finally a whole raft of other existing entries in the archive have been updated. Details of each update can be found in the “History” tab for each page.

4 Games, 48 Hours, 64 Tape Computing – Issue 14, Abandon Ship S.O.S., Arcadian, Cosmax, Diskovery titles, Double Dragon V1, Dungeons Of Death, Eye Of The Beholder, Flyspy, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Gamma Strike, Gem-X 2, Greenhouse (MAX edition), Heartbreaker, Lost Robot 2, M45, Magic, Nuclear Nick, Outrun Europe, Proteus, Race Drivin’, Scooter, Stratos, Sturmtruppen, Sword Of The Samurai, Terminus 2, The Magic Roundabout, Undead, Xane, Xermaid, Xoanon

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and wish you all the best into 2023!

Posted in: GTW64 news, News | Leave a comment