Games That Weren't^®

A short entry for a title that we believe may have had a Commodore 64 conversion planned at somepoint. It seems to have been also planned for Amiga, Atari ST and Spectrum platforms too.

Enchantress was a title due for release by CRL, and written by Fergus McNeill. Thanks to CASA Solution archive, we learn that the game was set to feature RPG-like stats invisible to the player, and let them be affected by the weather.

A detailed preview was shown in C&VG magazine in October 1987, which seems to show ZX Spectrum screenshots.

Was the game ever started, why was it cancelled and could anything still exist of it today? Fergus spoke with CASA and suggested that it was just a proposed game that some mock-ups were done for and prelimary design work – but the project never really got going compared to Mindfighter that appeared later.

It’s unlikely that a C64 version exists in any form, but it would be great to see the ZX mockups one day!

Our next entry is for a title from the creators of Mindfighter by Activision, developed by Abstract Concepts and mentioned within the manual. We assume therefore that Activision were set to release the game around 1989 time.

Little is known so far, apart from that those behind the title were Fergus McNeill, Anna Popkess and John Popkess. However, within the Mindfighter manual, the following details were given:

“In the wake of the First World War, amid crumbling empires, economic depression swept the world. International tension eased but remained present as some countries sought refuge in the ideologies of Fascism and Communism.

It became and area of rebellion, civil war… and spies!

The story follows the progess of a French secret service agent, Monsieur Phillip Grouchy. Returning from a disastrous mission in London, Phillip is severly reprimanded by his superiors. Although certain that he was betrayed, he can show no evidence to excuse his failure. Subsequently, the success of his next mission is vital to regain lost credibility. However, as he discovers the ever-increasing dangers of his current assigments, he begins to suspect that he may be walking into a trap and that the traitor may be closer to him than he thought…”

December 1988 issue, page 103, of ST Action Magazine had a bit more to say about the game:

“Fergus has just finished assisting the Abstract Concepts company to create their latest adventure, ‘Parisian Knights’. This adventure is set in Paris between the two world wars and your part is that of a British secret agent who is set to foil the plans of the nasty German brown-shirts. Fergus also revealed that in addition to putting the finishing touches to a separate adventure from his Delta 4, company he has also found time to get engaged to Anna Popkess whom he helped co-write the Mindfighter game.”

There was a brief mention in Your Sinclair August 1988 page 79 as part of an article on Delta 4:

“Following soon after Anna’s game will be one written and designed by her brother, John, and that’ll be called Parisian Knights. This one deals with the adventures of a French secret service agent between the two world wars, named Monsieur Phillip Grouchy. He’s the star of this spy thriller which should be out before too long — provided Fergus can drag John away from playing Fighter Pilot for long enough to get on with it!”

Your Sinclair May 1989 issue, page 64 features a full-page preview of the game, which allegedly is 95% finished, but ends with this curious note:

“A final verdict on Parisian Knights will have to wait until the finished version arrives, but going by what I’ve seen so far there’s a long way to go to turn this into an enjoyable adventure.”

Then from the producer’s own mouth, Your Sinclair June 1991 revealed why the game never happened:

“Whatever happened to Delta 4/Fergus McNeill/Abstract Concepts?

Questions, questions… well the last time I saw Fergus was when I bumped into him at a computer show, at the time when the second Abstract Concepts adventure, Parisian Knights, was well overdue for release. You might remember that YS did an exclusive preview of this game – the only place you’ll get any details about it!

When I saw it the game wasn’t quite finished, and it never did get published. Fergus told me there was a disagreement with Activision, who were responsible for publishing the Abstract Concepts adventures, but obviously he couldn’t go into too many details. It seems that the first game, Mindfighter, didn’t do as well as had been hoped, and that was the end of that.”

Finally, this was all but confirmed by Swedish Magazine Datormagazin Jan 1990 issue, page 13 bottom of page:

“More negative news: ‘Parisian [K]nights’ will not be released. This is due to Activision having terminated the contract with Fergus McNeill’s Delta 4 gang, who were meant to make the game. We at the adventure department [a section of the magazine] are somewhat sympathetic to this decision after the horrible ‘Mindfighter’…Whether anyone else will make the game about the Parisian [k]nights is of course possible but not likely.”

Although its clear the ZX version was close to completion, was the C64 game ever started and could anything still exist of it today? (as well as the other versions?)

Our next entry is for a title from the creators of Mindfighter by Activision, developed by Abstract Concepts and mentioned within the manual. We assume therefore that Activision were set to release the game around 1989 time.

Little is known so far, apart from that those behind the title were Fergus McNeill, Anna Popkess and John Popkess. However, within the Mindfighter manual, the following details were given:

“By 1998, New York has become a violent police state. Ravaged by constant gang warfare and organised crime, the police have fallen back, leaving no-go areas in the control of the drug barons. Disease is rife and areas of the city are frequently sealed off to control an epidemic.

And yet, throughout all of this, life goes on as normally as possible for the people of Manhattan.

John Schulz is a computer operator for the Rosling Corporation. He lives with his girlfriend, Val, in a basement apartment in the Chinatown area.

One night after a row, Val leaves the apartment and vanishes. John’s worries turn to a nightmare when he learns that the police suspect him of foul play. Knowing the Justice Department’s ´Shoot First, Ask Questions Later´ policy, John goes into hiding.

His fugitive search for Val uncovers deeper crime and corruption than he ever imagined…”

Was the game ever started, why was it cancelled and could anything still exist of it today?

Often there were titles that had completely different US releases, such as Bionic Commando and Afterburner. Some were just NTSC fixed versions of the UK releases, such as Salamander.

Ajax (or A-Jax) was another title planned for release by Konami in the US, and was advertised in magazines in 1990. It was the world-wide name for Konami’s Typhoon, which Imagine/Ocean had converted to various platforms back in 1988. However, the US version of the game never surfaced at all (or at least hasn’t been seen).

What isn’t clear at this point in time is whether the game was an entirely new development done by a different team, or an NTSC conversion of Typhoon.

We hope to learn more soon, but if you know anything or maybe even have a copy – please get in touch!

A very short placeholder entry for yet another missing 1987 American Action title – an unnamed space shooter.

Mentioned in Svenska Hemdator Nytt No.4/1987, it is suggested that the game would be released soon by the company on the Commodore 64.

Was anything ever started, was it related to Goremium and can anything be found?

A very short placeholder entry for yet another missing 1987 American Action title – Warp One

Mentioned in Svenska Hemdator Nytt No.4/1987, it is suggested that the game would be released soon by the company on the Commodore 64 and 16-bit platforms.

Was anything ever started – was it anything related to The Super Can or an enhanced version of that game, and can anything be found?