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 online since 1999, and long before that offline.

Please Browse our archive and discover the many entries that we host for many different platforms.

Latest News and Posts

George A Sisyphean Drama

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1992 Marcus Hamilton

Platforms: Commodore Amiga, PC and Atari ST

A bizarre name for an intriguing puzzle game that was due for release on the Amiga, ST and PC platforms back in 1992. Not much is currently known about the game, and it was only seemingly previewed in Joystick magazine in October 1992.

Clipboard02 640

In the magazine article, the story goes that Sisyphus, who offended the Gods, was condemned for eternity eternity to roll stones up a mountain just to see them tumble and to start over and over again (a very severe punishment! ). Millennia have passed and men have forgotten Sisyphus and the warning he exemplified. The Gods are therefore again very angry and decide to appoint a new Sisyphus. Continue reading →

Posted in: Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, PC, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Return of the Tiger

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1992 Gremlin

Platforms: Commodore Amiga, Nintendo Game Boy (+ potentially others)

Tucked away in a news page in Commodore User magazine was a snippet that talks about Gremlin being set to update an old 8-bit classic – The Way Of The Tiger. Once again casting the player as a fighting hero who must participate in a number of events.

Nothing else was really mentioned and the line went dead at this point. Continue reading →

Posted in: Commodore Amiga, Nintendo Game Boy, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Hatchbacks of Doom

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

2001 Delsyd Software

Platform: AmigaOne

Initially there were big plans with Delsyd Software, with a team of 8 people, a hope to develop a host of new software for the Commodore Amiga during some dark days. When the team moved onto pastures new, Chris Kelley was left to try and keep things going himself.

In February 2001, Chris started rewriting a 3D engine he had been working on, and repurposed with creating a vehicular combat game. Chris and his friends were big Twisted Metal fans, and so Hatchbacks of Doom was born. The target platform was the AmigaOne.

hod 3

By April 2001, the engine was about half finished, and Chris was interviewed about the game in Amiga Active in May 2001. Here he tells readers that Hatchbacks of Doom was set in the very near future (scarily probably set today!), where there is a problem with cities are expanding all over the world and downtown areas are dying. Continue reading →

Posted in: AmigaOne, Commodore Amiga, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Impossible Mission 2025

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1994 Microprose

Platforms: Super Nintendo, SEGA Mega Drive

Also known as “Impossible Mission: The 90s Remix”, Impossible Mission 2025 was to be an enhanced version of the classic 1984 Commodore 64 platformer from Epyx. Not only featuring a whole new game, but the entire 8-bit original as a bonus extra.

feature image1

The new version would however feature the ability to select from 3 different characters, have power ups, multiple sub-games, end-of-level baddies and cut scenes. Continue reading →

Posted in: Mega Drive / Genesis, Reviews, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) | Tagged: | 4 Comments

Walker unused assets

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

A very short post to flag up some unused assets that were intended for the Psygnosis classic – Walker,  thanks to Karl Kuras for highlighting.

Tucked away in a Work In Progress feature within The One magazine (issue 47), screens are shown from the upcoming game that we all know and love. However, a number of screens show scenes where you actually leave the Walker cockpit and descend underground into the enemies’ secret base.

Walkershot2

Continue reading →

Posted in: Commodore Amiga, Unused materials | Tagged: | 1 Comment

Unreleased Spectrum Codemasters games

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Thanks to The Dizzy Fansite, we have learnt of three new unreleased ZX Spectrum games that were intended for release by Codemasters back in the day.

Two were complete, called Alea (created in 1987) and Hovercar Simulator (1989/91), with another called Eros (1988) which was not complete and in its early stages.

HovercarSimulator 2

The games were created by friends José Oliveira and Ricardo Silva (under the label of Computer Weekend), who wanted to get the titles released into the British market. Their confidence in publication saw the Codemasters logo within their loading screens, even though no deals had been signed. Continue reading →

Posted in: News, Reviews, ZX Spectrum | Leave a comment

GTW64 September 2022 update

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

As the summer draws to a close, we present 4 new entries, and 17 updates overall to various titles. We’ve added a new entry for Visualize’s Kung-Fu Warrior, which oddly we haven’t added until now. A strange C64 conversion of a C16 classic that had limited release in Spain and a number of tidy ups for many titles.

4 new entries added

Amphora of the Star God, Exorcist, Kung-Fu Warrior, Pepe’s Garden

17 updates added

Absolute Beginning, Andy Rixon Game, Aquablast, Autoguard, BrainBreak, Ice Age, Lethal Xcess, Liberation, Little Beau, Liverpool V1, Nigel Mansell’s Grand Prix, Quo Vadis, Quondam, Rastan V1, The Magic Roundabout, Tunes n Trivia, Xybots

Posted in: GTW64 news | Leave a comment

Aphasia

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1998 Digital Demons Software

Platform: Amiga (AGA only)

Yet another late Amiga game which was sadly never to be, and an interesting looking sideways scrolling shoot-em-up, which had a bit of a Menace/Blood Money feel to it. Details on the game are sketchy, and it seems only Amiga Computer Studio magazine covered it. Here it was revealed that the game would have six levels in total.

Aphasia 2

An old website revealed some digital screenshots, which indicated also that the game was still in very early development and was set to be released around the start of 1998. As well as confirming there would likely be six levels, it talks of levels which would be a mix of vertical and horizontal scrolling. Continue reading →

Posted in: Commodore Amiga, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Abducted

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1999 Aftertaste Productions

Platform: Commodore Amiga

Abducted was an adventure game in the style of the Monkey Island games, and was previewed in magazines such as Amiga Computer Studio and Amiga Fever back in 1999 and during a time when games were really drying up for the platform.

abduct01

The game was set in 1734, in a small village called Pomperville. The lead character is Slugbert Cramfish, who is walking around the house when a UFO appears in the sky. He is then abducted by aliens and spends the next 10 years in outer space. Continue reading →

Posted in: Commodore Amiga, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Rookies

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1992 Virgin

Platforms: Commodore Amiga, PC and Atari ST

Our next entry looks very much like an isometric version of Cannon Fodder, also released by Virgin, but this was around 1-2 years before that game. This particular title was in development by Perfect Set, and was to have plenty of missions (around 50) to play, where you can do whatever you want.

rookies14

You would control a group of soldiers, where you could upgrade their firearms from pistols to flame throwers and go against heavily armoured vehicles and other soldiers. Amiga Power described the game as being a “Paintball simulation”, which doesn’t seem to add up compared to the other previews of the game, who called it “Lemmings with missions” Continue reading →

Posted in: Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, PC, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment