Welcome to Games That Weren't 64!
We cover Cancelled & Unreleased Video games for the Commodore 64 computer. A non-profit large archive dedicated to preserving lost games that were never released to the public, as well as prototypes and the odd preservation of released titles. Our aim to share 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 and have saved over the years.
Latest News and Posts
Ted Bear’s Rainy Day Game preserved!
It’s been on the Gamebase64 and GTW64 missing list for many years now and was unknown if it was released or not. Well, it can be confirmed that the game was indeed released and has been fully preserved.
The game is an educational game from 1987, and is yet another piece of C64 history now preserved.
Check it out at https://csdb.dk/release/?id=199870
With thanks to Chris Kraus and Simon Quernhorst for their preservation efforts!
GTW64 Jan/Feb 2021 update
First update of 2021, and hopefully first of many more this year with the following:
16 new entries added
After The Fire, Beyond the Infinite, Chinese Juggler V1, Daxis, Felix the Cat, Midwinter, Pyramids Of The Sun, Sorderon’s Shadow: The Legend of Elindor, Teacher Trouble, Terror Tunnels, The Legacy of Light, The Wooden Box, Trooper, Valley Of The Source, Winning Streak, Wrath of Magra
24 updates added
Bloo’s Magic Trip, Body Slam, C64GS cartridge titles, Chainsaw Warrior, CubeSim64, Dreamraider, Great Giana Sisters, Heavy Barrel, Italian pirated games, Katabatia, Mad Crash Racing, Magic Sword, Movie Monster, The, Mr. Pilic, Ooops Up, Operation Thunderbolt V1, Paku Paku, Restrictor, S.D.I, Space Hop, Spooky, The Reactor, The Soul Gem Of Martek, Touchlight
GTW64 Xmas update for 2020
The yearly tradition of a large GTW64 xmas site update continues, even if this year has been pretty shite overall. We kick off with the following updates for you:
41 new entries added
A ton of new entries, mostly with downloads for you to check out of various previews that have been floating around for some time but may have passed you by. Ultrabulb is worth a look – a previously unknown Gremlin Graphics game.
Bad, Brain Tumour, City Champ, Coloris, CubeSim64, Eelona – The Warrior Princess, Flex, FootMan, Immensity, Jagged Sword, Jump-Kid, Jumpy64, Katabatia, Lingo, Mad Crash Racing, Mad Ninja, Mario Clone, Mario Run, Minimus, Misfire, Motorman, Mr. Pilic, On Table, Oolong, Outbreak, Oxygen Racer, Pac Man Arcade, Paku Paku, Phantasm, Proxima, Rip Off, Space Ball, Squad Force Five, Squirm 2, Squost, Star Fighter, Star-Wars, The Last War Brains, The Lost Vikings, The Sixth Sense, Ultrabulb
17 entry updates added
Then the usual updates for a number of posts, including tidy ups and new scans.
3 Days In Carpathia, Alloyrun, Atlantian, Bubble Blaster, Defensive, Dux, Futureball, Great Giana Sisters, Klartz and the Dark Forces, Nightbreed RPG, Nuclear War, Outrage, Pipe Mania 2: Plumber’s World, Play and Learn series, Savage Platforms, Teladon, Total Recall V1
Not C64 related, but over the past few months we have been adding a plethora of new content, detailed write ups and assets for a number of different platforms. Most of these are in relation to articles covered in the book and assets that didn’t make it to print. There are also a number of multi-format posts which you may want to check out via the links below:
- https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/bonus/
- https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/features/
- https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/prototypes/
As you can see, we didn’t get to dig out any new big C64 findings in time for the update, which was mostly due to being tied up over the past few months with the release of the Games That Weren’t book and committing to adding bonus content to the site which was referenced in the book. Just hasn’t been time i’m afraid. The aim is to resume trying to find more lost C64 titles once more in the new year, now things are beginning to settle.
However, my good friend Vinny Mainolfi has come to the rescue this year and has two previously unreleased and complete games being released as part of his Xmas newsletter to subscribers to FREEZE64. These are in the shape of Trooper (by Barbarian 2 developer Rob Stevens) and Winning Streak with graphics by Jon Temples (artist for CJ’s Elephant Antics). This is along with some new titles as part of his Christmas pack to supporters. Well worth checking out at https://freeze64.com/
Finally – thank you to everyone for all their support during 2020 and for those especially who have brought the book and shared their love of it online and personally. It has meant a great deal seeing all the positive reviews and photos, and has been very humbling. Happy holidays to you all and here’s hoping for a more positive 2021!
Frank.
(Long suffering GTW webmaster!)
Nightbreed RPG
1990 Ocean Software
Platforms: Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, PC and Commodore 64
This was to be the last of a trilogy of Nightbreed games produced by Ocean Software in 1990 and produced by Imagitec, overseen by David Wightman. The game would utilize essentially the same engine as Times of Lore, which they developed on the Amiga. This means it is likely that Adrian Waterhouse and Julian Gardner were the developers, with Nigel Cook on graphics duty.
GTW64 update for November 2020
Almost the end of 2020, and continuing our regular GTW64 posts, here are the various additions and updates that have occurred over the past month.
5 new entries added
Gauntlet 3 V1, Heroes and Cowards, PP Hammer 2, Stratos, The Time Crystal
15 updates added
Babylon, Daffy Duck, Delphian, Jet Set Willy V1, Jonny Quest and the Splinter of Heaven, Kljuc, Last Ninja V1, Mindbending Aliens From Hyperspace, Mortal Kombat 2, Night Hunter, Phoenix Lair, Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, Who Dares Wins, X-Men, Zzap Italia homebrew
Halloween/horror themed games from the archive
Just seeing all the Halloween posts today, I wondered if there were that many Halloween/Horror related games in the GTW archive, so decided to have a bit of a delve and was quite surprised just how many cancelled titles there were.
So here is a quick post to share and highlight 25 Horror/Halloween themed games we have covered over the years:
Amiga/ST
C64
- A chance in hell
- Basket Case
- Brides Of Dracula
- Chiller V1
- Cloak Of Death
- Geister
- Halloween
- Horror Atoll
- Horror Hunter
- High Rise Horror
- Monster Museum
- Night Hunter
- Ooze
- Olli & Lissa II: Halloween
- Scooby Doo in the Castle Mystery
- Slightly Spooky
- Spooky
- The Rocky Horror Adventure Show
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Wolfman V2
- Zombies, Undead Or Alive
NES
- Hellraiser (Including Lynx + Mega Drive)
ZX Spectrum
Happy Halloween everyone!
Daffy Duck
1992 Hi-Tec Software
Platforms: Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga and ZX Spectrum 48/128K
As part of the launch and release of The Games That Weren’t book, we are adding assets and content that didn’t make it to print as bonus content to share with you.
Although the story of Daffy Duck is well documented on GTW for the Commodore 64, within the book is a detailed 12 page full story that covers all of the planned versions due. We speak to Ashley Routledge, Alan Benson, Ben Walshaw, Craig Wight, David A Palmer, David Saunders, Gary Antcliffe, Nigel Speight, Paul Tankard, Pete Frith and Richard Morton to tell as complete a story that we can about what happened to the game across all formats, not just the C64 edition.
Whilst doing research for the other versions, we were overwhelmed by the recovery of many assets for the Amiga version, thanks to graphic artist Richard Morton. However, it was the video footage of the Amiga version that was a big surprise in the absence of the game itself, recovered from an old VHS tape by David A Palmer.
GTW64 update for October 2020
Another month passing and time again for another GTW64 update, with various updates and additions that were added over the past month.
5 new entries added
Ms. Pac Man V1, Mutant Nerds, New Gods, Wingman, Wonder Woman
18 updates added
2400 A.D., All Terrain Gardener, Bee 52, Bleep Boy, Block Game, Blockman, Bobby Bounce Back, Bomb, Cargo, Cave Wizard, Cavefighter, Jetpac, Katakis, Murder!, Night Hunter, Race Drivin’, The Game With No Name, Zzap Italia homebrew
Starring Charlie Chaplin
1988 Canvas Software / U.S Gold
Platforms: Atari ST and Commodore 64
As part of the launch and release of The Games That Weren’t book, we are adding additional assets and content that didn’t make it to print as bonus content to share with you.
Within the book is a detailed 10 page full story about the unreleased Starring Charlie Chaplin for both the Atari ST and Commodore 64 platforms by U.S Gold. The book also includes a specially re-pixelled Atari ST screenshot from a grainy magazine scan.
Produced by Canvas Software in 1987, this was one of the hardest write ups to research, due to a number of key people no longer with us today. We however talk to as many people as we can to piece together what happened to both conversions – including Donald Campbell, Danielle Woodyatt, Dawn Hollywood (nee Drake), Jon Grimshaw, Paul Clansey, Richard Tidsall, Sean Townsend, Stephen Ward and Simon Butler. Giving as complete a picture of what happened exactly as we possibly can. Continue reading
Add & Subtract with ALF game found!
It hasn’t been a title that we’ve been actively looking for, but it has been missing for a long time – not known if it was actually released.
Well, thankfully it was released it seems in limited numbers and was preserved and released yesterday at long last thanks to the brilliant efforts of Black Beard/Genesis Project!
So its not a GTW as such, but we like to try and highlight recovered software that hasn’t been preserved until now as well. Check it out:
