Games That Weren't^®

Our next entry is a text adventure from 1986, which may well have been released – but has yet to be found and fully preserved.

The game was released by Kalisti Enterprises for the C64, and the task was to try and get yourself out of a coma which you have been put into from a road accident.

It seemed to suggest there was some gory imagry within, thanks to Keith Campbell’s kind review – but overall it didn’t rate highly.

With a mail-order only approach to buying, and not many adverts – it could be that no-one really brought the game. Did any sneak out at all?

Certainly it is one that we can hopefully save some day!

Yet another Codemasters game to add to the pile – this time a conversion of an Oliver Twins game called Operation Gunship.

This game was a top down multi-directional scroller – actually very similiar to Firehawk, which was later being worked on. We don’t believe that it is the same game!

Adverts depict that a C64 version was scheduled, but just never surfaced. The Spectrum version did however surface … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4xo_7KAjsE

So what of the C64 conversion and who exactly was behind it? Early days, but hopefully the Oliver Twins will know more!

A short entry to confirm that there was another version of The Fall Guy in production for Elite Software in the early days.

The coder was Steven Green, who isn’t the same person who coded 1942 for Elite by the way.  So why was his conversion dropped in the end?

Well, Steven tells us that the game was never completed, as it didn’t seem to have good game play – so Elite did their own version internally. Steven recalls it being a sideways scrolling game, where you did stunts, and there was a level jumping over things on top of a moving train.

Sadly, Steven lost pretty much all his work in 1998 when he had a house fire, so its unlikely anything of the prototype will be saved – unless by some miracle someone else had a copy.

An interesting title for our next entry, which was part of what seemed to be a popular time for horse themed games that appeared in the early to mid 1980’s.

Show Jumping was advertised by Alligata Software in 1986, but it seems only very briefly before it completely disappeared. The Spectrum edition did however surface.

The reason the game has come mainly to our attention, is that the music that Rob Hubbard produced (now known as Mozart in HVSC) – originally thought to be the original tune for the Harvey Smith Showjumper game, but was in fact intended for the Alligata Show Jumping game. So it was not canned due to the licence issue it seems, especially when you see that the ZX Spectrum version does feature Rob’s music.

Stadium 64 has a page on the game, which indicates that it was actually a re-release of the 1984 CRL game potentially, but this doesn’t contain any of Rob’s music. There is a possibility that maybe the CRL was brought out instead due to an issue with the newly developed game perhaps? The CRL game doesn’t seem to look anything like what Code Monkeys produced on the Spectrum, so we’re not 100% certain the games are linked

When speaking to David Palmer back in 2007, he had this to say …

“Yes, Mike Mahoney was developing a Show Jumping game in 1986, I was just about to leave at the time and start Alternative Software. One of the reasons I left Alligata was because games such as this were very Niche market aimed at girls (who did not play video games, not in sufficient quantity to be financially worth while at least). Mike had all daughters and this was to me NOT a good reason to develop a game. I do know a tremendous amount of effort was put into the horse animations.”

Was Mike overseeing a new development, or was he coding? Very likely the former. Interestingly in 2007, Steven Green popped up and suggested that he had composed music for the game. Already Steven’s music for Commando (which was tightly packed for memory constraints) was dropped in favour of Rob Hubbard’s music and dropping some levels. Did the same happen for Show Jumping?

Seems like there are plenty of mysteries to try and solve with this game – hopefully time will tell what really happened! For now, check out Rob’s music intended for the game!

A short entry for a title which was revealed in a C64.com interview with Grant Harrison in 2015.

When asked about any titles worked on that never quite made it, Grant named Jet Boat Simulator, which was a sequel of sorts to Beach Buggy Simulator. Basically the same game, but just set on water – and no doubt a quick budget release to keep the money ticking over.

But as Gaz Spence (more awake than myself!) has found, isn’t this the same game as Turbo Boat Simulator? … http://www.gamebase64.com/game.php?id=8211&d=18&h=0

Seems like the same style, so could well be and Grant has forgot!

An interesting entry, which was a Game Creator game produced by Andrew Boosey of Hayes, Middlesex.

This seems to have been for a competition of some kind to prove that good games could be produced using Games Creator. The competition it seems was from Your 64, May 1985. Later the winner was mentioned in the Dec 1985 issue of Commodore Computing International.

We don’t know much about the title, apart from the fact that it was apparently called Pony Express. So we assume it contains ponies!

Although Andrew was paid for his efforts, the final game never made it out it seems. Does Andrew still have anything of the game which could be saved, and is there a story to tell about the game?

More soon we hope!

Advertised in the December 1985 issue of Commodore Computing International, Trigger Happy was a game to be released by Atlantis Software. Not the same Atlantis Software we all know, as they changed company name the next month to Satellite Software – probably as they realized there was a company already with the same name!

It is also not the same game as which is in Gamebase, or which is within the GTW64 archives already.

The game was described as going to have 20 levels of enthralling space action, with 3D effects and spectacular graphics. You were to test your reflexes against the might of the Zog Empire, featuring Snorgol, the evil ghost who haunts the deepest recesses of space.

It was a mail-order game by the looks of things, so we are not sure if the game ever did get sent out to anyone, or if for some reason the game was canned.

Do you know anything more about it?

A game which was advertised by The Learning Company in the manual for Bumble Plot, which was released.

Described as “A brand new type of colouring book for young artists – children learn about colours, hues and matching. Ages 3-6”

This educational game seems to be missing – but was it ever actually released, or did The Learning Company go under before it could make it?

It’s early days, but perhaps you could help?

A game which was advertised by The Learning Company in the manual for Bumble Plot, which was released.

Described as “In the electronic version of a classic 14th century game of chance, children learn to add and subtract and also develop abstract reasoning and strategic thinking skills. Ages 6-10.”

This educational game seems to be missing – but was it ever actually released, or did The Learning Company go under before it could make it?

Thanks to Anonymous Contributor, we learn that the game was advertised in Family Computing issue 16 in 1984, twice – and only mentioning Apple and IBM versions. The Apple version was released too. As a result, it could be that a C64 version was never on the cards – the original advert found may have just been a general advert for the game.

Could be a case closed very soon for this one!

A very short entry for a title which was being designed by Stephen Bedser in 1993 for the C64.

The game had a working title of Squat Bot, and was based around a small robot that could change its faceplate with different weapons.

Sadly it never got much further than the concept sketches, as Stephen was lured into a world of Virtual Reality work at IBM’s UK laboratories.

As a result, this interesting sounding C64 game was never to get started fully, let alone see the light of day.

Stephen very kindly passed on a concept sketch showing the main character. We’ll just now be left wondering what this game could have been like.