Games That Weren't

FREEZE issue 89 arrived just in time for a bit of train travel tomorrow thanks to @freeze64.bsky.social . Had a quick flick already, and the Shaun Southern interview and P.O.D feature looks great. For more details and pre-ordering, check out: freeze64.com/freeze64-iss...

Hidden in some development files was an unmasked version of Kabal (kabal_nomask.dff).

Firefighter Mario on the Commodore 64... yes, really. An early unofficial Mario game from before Nintendo stepped in. Reportedly released — but no physical copy has ever been found.

We're today adding Vaderz to the Games That Weren't archives. A nice PC Space Invaders clone, developed in DirectX way back in 2000 as a showcase to potential employers. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/vade...

To finish up the week, we're adding a very early prototype of what is believed to be a horizontal scrolling shooter, and a possible sequel to Sci-Fi. We're sharing the source code which seems to have been abandoned early on. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/sola...

A lost Rieko Kodama illustration of the original Phantasy Star cast is kind of a big deal, all we have are magazine photographs of the trade show demo ROM. I hope the real thing is sitting in an attic somewhere and surfaces!

What, these old things? Already got 'em 🥱

AI personalities were removed from Mortal Kombat: Deception some time before release.

One thing most people haven't seen in the cut Katakombs level from MK: Deception is snow. Apparently it would have had it!

Half-Life on the Dreamcast, but never released. Here's footage from the cancelled port that was practically complete.

We take a look at the lost Tiger Game-com title: Small Soldiers - based on the DreamWorks film. A beat-em-up, choosing alliance with the Commando Elite or the Gorgonites with a range of fighting/weapon moves. Thanks to @fangames.bsky.social for the heads up. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/smal...

New GTW entry: Springclean, an unreleased 1989 title for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Both versions were completed and mastered before being shelved, and developer Rich Stevenson reveals that the original source and master disks still survive today. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/10/spri...

In the year of turmoil for coin-op, 1983, the game Bouncer was seen as the next stage in evolution for traditional video game graphics. Emphasizing big and bold animated characters, the game never properly launched and is an infamous lost game to this day. www.turbosub.com/bouncermain....

This Canyon Test found in the Volition files at The Strong looks to be an early test for Red Faction: Guerrilla, from around 2004.

A new week, and another recovered Amiga prototype today with Maximum Overdrive. A racing game based off the ShockWave engine and was used to obtain a few contracts. A nice technical demo that sadly didn't get too far and had plenty of promise. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/maxi...

New GTW release: Pro Tennis, a very early Amstrad CPC prototype by David Bradley at Clockwize. There's not much to play, but it offers a glimpse of the game taking shape before development stopped. Thanks to Dean Hickingbottom for preserving the prototype. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/10/pro-...

The Games That Weren’t Delves into the mysteries of video games that never saw the light of day. Out now: www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/... #bitmapbooks #booksky #fyp #retrogaming @gamesthatwerent.com

From VGHF's William Volk collection, here's a design doc for Dinosaurs, an unrealized 1990 idea planned as a point 'n click CD-ROM game with a 'Han Solo-like' dino sidekick: https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/89fdaa09-4c1c-4362-921b-915ed327674e

Resident Evil - Featured in our book - The Games That Weren’t Discover more than 80 unreleased gems from the annals of gaming. Out now: www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/... #bitmapbooks #booksky #fyp #retrogaming @gamesthatwerent.com

Unreleased Newgrounds Game for the Nintendo Gameboy Advance -2d run and gun sidescroller -Based on popular Newgrounds franchise character -Original engine was made by Tom Fulp The game is Alloy by "Black Hammer Games" Check out the YT Video to support the channel

"A Stellar Talent" - Legendary Duke Nukem 3D & SiN Level Designer Richard "Levelord" Gray Has Passed Away, Aged 68

Razorwing was a cancelled battle game for the PlayStation developed by N-Space, but it was on display at E3 1995! https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/92b1039b-bed4-4454-a312-d25bc6b88958 #PSOne #PlayStation #PS1 #Razorwing

Knowing that it was finished and had been reviewed, @gamesthatwerent.com started searching for the game as early as in 1997, but it proved very elusive, and as the years passed, it became less and less likely that it would ever be rescued. But all the effort finally paid off in 2015! Read more here:

Daffy Duck (1992/2015) A pretty neat action/adventure game that was supposed to be released back in 1992. Just before the game's release, the publisher (Hi-Tec Software) went into liquidation, and the game disappeared almost without a trace despite getting rave reviews in the C64 magazines.

Myst released on plenty of platforms - but a SEGA CD version was also planned! Here it is being shown at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show back in 1995. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/c9adc7ca-554b-44ea-bac5-c0998c3e1888 #SEGACD #SEGA #Myst

The Amstrad CPC6128 edition of New York Warriors was released with both disk sides containing the first side, losing a whole side of levels! Lost for 36 years, author Fred Williams has kindly allowed Games That Weren't to release the lost full version: www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/new-...

Thanks to Bertrand/AtariMania, we have added an entry for a set of Merlin Enterprises games from 1982-83 - intended for release for Atari 8-bit, Apple 2, Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore 64. All are currently missing. Can you help us recover them? www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/merl...

Thanks to Brandon Cobb, we've added some much better and clearer screenshots of three of the Super A'Can games that we added entries for recently: Dinosaur War, City Escape and Quick Fighting Attack. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/four...

Mortal Kombat 3 on the Atari Jaguar was officially announced, funded and actively worked on - yet never released. We take a look at how far it got, who was involved and why it was likely cancelled. Can anything of the development be found? www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/mort...

After initial investigations, it's now confirmed that Street Fighter 2 on the Amstrad CPC WAS developed by Nick Vincent (who did Final Fight CPC), along with graphics by Adam Steele. A breakthrough - though Nick remains elusive. More twists & turns due? www.gamesthatwerent.com/2024/11/stre...

Carbie Tech Demo (GBA, 2003, Delirium Entertainment)

While I would like to think of myself as an expert in cancelled games, I don't think I've seen many cases like Kwanzah. An action/adventure by the same developers of the cult Dangerous Streets, this game has been previewed, reviewed and even seen in a box but... HAS NEVER BEEN RELEASED.

Tricks 'N' Treasures was a colourful action/platform game in development at Hammerhead for the PlayStation around 1999-2000. We take a look at what was planned, along with rare footage found by @tazonhusky.bsky.social on a press kit disc. Video via Tazon. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/10/tric...

New Footage From Xbox's Cancelled Perfect Dark Reboot Surfaces Online (Repost)

According to MIT News, Margaret Hamilton died at the age of 90. "A profoundly influential computer scientist best known for leading the software engineering team at MIT’s Instrumentation Lab during NASA’s Apollo program". This famous photo 🔽 inspired the For All Mankind character Margo Madison.

Quake Advance, Randy Linden's impressive 2002 Game Boy Advance experiment, featuring fully 3D environments, enemies, lighting effects and more. The prototype was eventually recovered from Randy's own flash cartridge and preserved in 2022. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/10/quake/

New Footage From Xbox's Cancelled Perfect Dark Reboot Surfaces Online

Excited to see the early Cyber Storm logo working, from an earlier field test prototype.

Interview: "In Ten Years' Time, Half the People in the Book May No Longer Be Alive" - Paul Drury on Why 'The Arcade 1971-1999' Is So Important

Scrubbing through this video made me really sad. Imagine missing a storage unit payment and suddenly your entire career is stripped naked and splayed out butt naked for a few YouTube views before being parceled out. I'm not saying they did anything wrong, it's just deeply unsettling to think about.

A brilliant finding from @tazonhusky.bsky.social with some very rare footage of Tricks and Treasure on the PS1 - developed by Hammerhead and due for publication by Psygnosis:

We're today releasing a Commodore 64 curiosity: Bomb Race - an earlier version of Bomb Uzal, originally due for release under the old Mirrorsoft label (before ImageWorks was born). A few visual differences already spotted, and may be more to discover. www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/bomb-r...

We're today adding an early Amiga prototype of a game called Aftershock - a multi-directional scrolling game, with a cool zoom feature and neat intro due for release in 1990. Sadly it didn't get very far, but you check out the early promise here: www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/afte...

We take a look at what may have been a SEGA Mega Drive conversion of Konami's Aliens, which was first flagged by Jaz Rignall to a reader in Mean Machines magazine. Sadly it was never to be - so was a conversion ever started, and if so - can it be saved? www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/alie...

Thanks to Louise Herd, further recovered graphical assets have been added for the unreleased versions of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes (Gameboy Advance) and F1-X (Gameboy Advance and Gameboy Color). www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/addi...

Today we're taking a look thanks to Yassine Bakrim at four lost titles for the obscure Super A'Can console: Dinosaur War, City Escape, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Quick Fighting Attack: www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/four...

Our second Commodore 64 update of 2026 with the release of Cavey/Caveman Capers, new entries for Az alkohol szelleme and Warlocks and Warriors – Quest of the Dark Orb and 6 other pre-existing entry updates for the likes of Nightbreed RPG. More next month! www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/02/gtw6...

NES Wizards and Warriors was originally titled 'The Tale'. I took this screengrab from an early build of the game from Paul Proctor's original development disk which I was preserving.