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

Outworld 2375 AD

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

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

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

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

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 CavemanBilly BoulderMumbles – 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 2Total Recall V1WhirligigWreckers

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 ArithmeticAsteroidsCampaigns of NapoleonCommando V1, Garden Wars, Spider SnareSyntax tapeThe Battle of the BulgeZany 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 Games48 Hours64 Tape Computing – Issue 14Abandon Ship S.O.S.ArcadianCosmaxDiskovery titlesDouble Dragon V1Dungeons Of DeathEye Of The BeholderFlyspyFuzzy WuzzyGamma StrikeGem-X 2Greenhouse (MAX edition)HeartbreakerLost Robot 2M45MagicNuclear NickOutrun EuropeProteusRace Drivin’ScooterStratosSturmtruppenSword Of The SamuraiTerminus 2The Magic RoundaboutUndeadXaneXermaidXoanon

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

New recovered C128 games

A little Christmas 2022 bonus thanks to Csaba Virag, who has found two BASIC German C128 titles that don’t seem to have yet been preserved. B-1 Bomber and Spukschloss.

C128 games are hard to find, and although these are probably personal efforts, we wanted to preserve and share them with you.

A huge thanks to Csaba Virag for saving them!

Downloads
Posted in: C128, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Ninja Quest

1992 Gremlin

Platform: Commodore Amiga, Atari ST

A short entry for a title that was due to be a Ninja-themed version of Hero Quest, building upon the successful Gremlin adaptation of the board game.

Mentioned in the news pages of The One magazine in June 1992 very briefly, nothing more was seen or heard of the supposed development. Continue reading

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

Outlander

1992 Mindscape

Platform: Commodore Amiga

Released on Super Nintendo and SEGA Mega Drive, Outlander was also once due for release on the Commodore Amiga too by Mindscape in 1992. The game is described by our very own Karl Kuras as a “Mad Max meets Technocop” game, where there are driving sections with horizontal scrolling beat-em-up sequences.

outlander1

The storyline for the game is set in the not to distant future, where the world has been ravaged by a biological weapons experiment gone wrong. Psychopathic megalomaniacs kidnap a scientist, intending to force them to build an even worse weapon to hold the planet to ransom. Your job as a mercenary is to crash into the wasteland and try and save the scientist. Continue reading

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

Super Ant Attack

1992 Sandy White

Platform: Commodore Amiga

Back in late 1991, Commodore User magazine reported that Sandy White was back on the scene and working on a plan to bring back Ant Attack as a new spruced up title for the Commodore Amiga.

Even CU suggested not to quote them on the title, and that details were virtually non-existant, with the exception of some initial ideas for a larger, more detailed play area and the title of Super Ant Attack.

When more was to come to light, then CU were to report it – but of course, nothing did come of it it seems. So the big question is whether anything was ever started? Continue reading

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