Covering unreleased and cancelled games and prototypes for the Commodore 64 computer. We are a large archive dedicated to preserving games that were never released to the public. Sharing history and stories from the developers, assets and more before it is too late.

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.

Latest news

Ocean C64 assets

Posted on by fgasking

Just a quick post to share some odd Ocean related C64 assets I found as I was tidying through some archived disks from Dawn Hollywood (Nee Drake) and Paul Hughes when backing up some old CDs:

These “Time Out” and “Game Over” screens I don’t recognise from anywhere and they were on an unlabelled disk, recovered as deleted files. Not fully sure what format they are, so its possible they may have colour data not showing.

UPDATE: Contributor Hank (see comments) has confirmed that the screens are from Pang!  Added how it should look to the above gallery. Mystery solved, though they are slightly different overall, so earlier screens or possibly even from another build.

Then on one of Dawn’s disks is an unfinished/unused loading screen for Vindicators, which attempts to do some hires colouring. In the end it was kept to just a monochrome screen for the final release.

A set of curiosities which we hope you find interesting. Hopefully we’ll find out soon what the Timeout and Game Over graphics were intended for.

Download disk

Posted in Commodore 64, GTW64 news | 3 Comments

Super Barbarian

Posted on by fgasking

1992 Palace Software

Platforms: Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, PC, C64

Note: This is heavily based on the original C64 archive entry.

Originally starting off and named as Barbarian 3, this was originally to be a straightforward sequel to Barbarian 2, following a very similar structure. This was an early period of development when both Steve Brown and Richard Leinfellner were involved in the development.

Basically whilst the sequel was in development, Steve had already decided that the game would benefit being turned into a trilogy. So the once planned ending to number 2 was changed so that Drax escaped through a mirror at the end of the game to leave it open for a 3rd title.

The main major change was that the 3rd game would now scroll instead of being flick screen based. When an action sequence occurred, then the game would switch to a larger and zoomed in fight view for the 16-bit editions. The C64 would keep the characters the same size throughout.

Continue reading →

Posted in Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Features, GTW64 news, PC, Reviews | Leave a comment

Joust full game released today after over 30 years

Posted on by fgasking

Games That Weren’t is proud to present the long lost AtariSoft conversion of Joust, which was due for release back in 1984. You can now download and play the game as originally intended.

It is with massive thanks to Ken Van Mersbergen for the amazing discovery of the source code and compiling the game into a form that can be played. Originally Ken had planned to first show the game at the VCFMW event in September, but unfortunately it has been cancelled – hence the earlier release on Games That Weren’t today. You can read more about how Ken came to find the game and preserve everything within the main page itself:

Enjoy!

https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/joust/

Posted in Commodore 64, GTW64 news | Leave a comment

GTW64 update for July 2020

Posted on by fgasking

This year has certainly flown already (and the sooner its over the better), and it is time for another GTW64 update with a number of new entries and various page updates that have been added over the past month. Enjoy!

6 new entries added

Apocalypse, Early Days, Mad Mission, Mirage, Molar Madness, Sidewinder

28 updates added

Advanced Soccer Simulator, Alliance, C64GS cartridge titles, Catacombs, Circuit Man, Earth Mover, Escape From Colditz, Findit, Forestland, Habitat, Iron Hand, Living Dead, Make My Day, Mastertronic Loader 3, Mega Games, Megatanoï, Miner Willy Meets The Taxman, Mishun, Nighthunter, Orpheus in the Underworld, PHM Pegasus – Advanced Battle Disk, Race Drivin’, Rainbow Educational Software, Red Arrows, Shoot Out!, Slap Fighter, Thunder Hawk, Unknown Tony Crowther game

Posted in Commodore 64, GTW64 news | Leave a comment

Make My Day game fully recovered

Posted on by fgasking

Following on from the release of Mirage, we are pleased to announce the preservation and recovery of yet another title in the form of Make My Day. A full diagonal scrolling Western game which was intended for Power House back in 1988.

After providing a copy of Mirage for the site, Mark Clements very kindly sent a copy of Make My Day down via post the other day. Thankfully the disk preserved first time without any issues at all.

The additional bonus of the recovery is the inclusion of a previously unheard Matt Gray tune on the title screen. Enjoy!

https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/make-my-day-2/

Posted in Commodore 64, GTW64 news | Leave a comment

Unreleased Mirage (C64) added to the site

Posted on by fgasking

A surprise to kick off the weekend for you all, with the full and unreleased Mirage game that was never released by Mark Clements.  Mark was better known for his Summer and Winter Camp music, but also did a lot of coding work too, including a few games.

Not seen for over 30 years, this is a neat single screen shooter with some cool end of game bosses to shoot.

Check it out at: https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/mirage/

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

GTW book pre-orders now open!

Posted on by fgasking

I’m pleased to announce that pre-orders for our Games That Weren’t book are now open at http://www.gtwbook.co.uk

To give a bit of background to regulars of the site (as well as new visitors)… Primarily my aim was to produce something special to mark 20+ years of the Games That Weren’t archive. Originally I thought it may only take a year to write such a book way back in 2013, but I had completely underestimated. It was really important throughout the creation to try and make something special and enjoyable to others, and not just rush it out for the sake of it – so 7 years later here we are today. Continue reading →

Posted in GTW64 news, News | Leave a comment

Joust (C64) found!

Posted on by fgasking

Great news, but collector Ken Van Mersbergen (known to many as Dutchman2000) has found and preserved the long lost AtariSoft conversion of Joust, which we have had an entry on for some time here.

Ken got in touch with GTW yesterday and informed us that the game was recovered from the archive of a retired programmer who used to work for Roklan.  It was found on an 8-inch CP/M disk that was labelled “Popeye” and had the full source code and hex image to be able to create a CRT image.

We learn that the game was coded by Joe Hellesen at Roklan Corporation, and Ken plans to show the game in public for the first time since 1984, at the VCFMW/ECCC show in September (if it goes ahead).  The CRT will be released after the show, or earlier if the show doesn’t happen and will be added to the GTW64 site.

For now, enjoy the screenshots and a massive thank you to Ken for preserving another piece of gaming history.

Posted in Commodore 64, Features, GTW64 news, News, Reviews | 19 Comments