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
GTW64 update for July 2020
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, MegatanoÁ¯, 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
Make My Day game fully recovered
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!
Unreleased Mirage (C64) added to the site
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/
GTW64 update for June 2020
It’s that time of the month again, and another update, including some artwork added by Stoo Fotheringham that has been under our noses for some time.
Heebie Jeebies loading screen found
8 new entries added
Crypt of the Dragon, Orpheus in the Underworld, PHM Pegasus – Advanced Battle Disk, Stoo Fotheringham art assets, The Guild C64 conversions, The Magician’s Ball, Zambeezi, Zenulas
11 updates added
Atic Atac, Bailiff, Battle Ball, C64GS cartridge titles, Escape From Colditz, Flimbos Quest 2, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade V1, Inspector Gadget, Joust, Rockball, Sonic the Hedgehog
Good Old Games guest article
Recently, we were kindly invited to write a guest article for www.GOG.com on some of the PC/Mac games that we have covered in the book, as well as talk about the work involved in the writing of the book.
You can check out the article Good Old Games That Weren’t over at:
https://www.gog.com/news/good_old_games_that_werent
Many thanks to Good Old Games and @m_traczyk!
GTW book pre-orders now open!
I’m pleased to announce that pre-orders for our Games That Weren’t book are now open at https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/the-games-that-werent
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
Joust (C64) found!
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.
Cubic Maxi (C64)
Thanks to contributor Ken Knight, it has been highlighted that the preview of puzzler Cubic, called Cubic Maxi contains some differences in the game play compared to the final release. Otherwise it looks pretty much the same as the final game, but worth checking out:
Download Preview_cubicmaxi
GTW64 update for May 2020
Another month and another update, including some preservation work for some released titles and a number of new entries.
7 new entries added
Bailiff, Ophir, Raiders of the Valley of the Kings, Secrets of Science, Steam Powered Computer Company titles, Treasure Hunter, Vampyr Motel
13 updates added
Argonautica, Batman Returns, Breakdance 2, Devious Designs, Freddy Fish, G.I. Hero, Giana 2 – Arthur And Martha In Future World, Judge Death, Karnov V1, Legend Of Fairghad, Monster Museum, Piper Software games, Zone Of Darkness
Early version posts
V pre-release shots, Troll pre-release shot
Other general C64 presentation work
Various C64 preservations
Kevin Wilson has very kindly sent some obscure titles to be preserved fully for the C64, so here they are:
The Game (Simple early Pacman clone)
TAP files, DC2N dumps and Scans
Dinosaurs (Early BASIC educational title)
TAP files, DC2N dumps and Scans
Action Biker Sampler Only
TAP files, DC2N dumps and Scans
With Action Biker, there seems to be no real differences to the final retail version, but interesting to check out anyway.
