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
Two previews recovered + more
Thanks to Paul Clansey, we have fully preserved two of his unfinished games in the form of RPG game Freebooter and ambitious Elite style sim Exodus. Hoping for Paul to share more soon about how they both work, but check them out in the meantime here:
Also we have the following updates since our last news post…
2 new entries added
5 updates added
Black Hawk, Fantasy, Iron Hand, Legend Of Kyril, Play and Learn series
GTW September digest
Sorry it’s been a while! Currently working on other projects, but GTW64 has been ticking over in the background – and since our last major update – the following has been added and updated below.
Also, yesterday was a year since Daffy Duck was released to the world. Where did the time go? Sadly no “Murder!” just yet to follow things up, but keep the faith! :)
15 new entries added
Abyss Zone, Aliens, Blaster Twins, Bomb Mania 2, Bongo King, Commando Libya – part 2, Final Lap, Freebooter, Heroquest V1, Karate, Mythos, Pet Person, Race with the Devil, Scarabaeus 2, Space Invadaz
38 updates added
Armalyte V1, Astaroth: Angel Of Death, Attack On Centralis, Baja Buggies, Beavers, C64GS cartridge titles, Chicago, Custodian, Cyber Tank, Dork’s Dilemma, Dynablaster, Edward Randy, Enterprise, Escape From Colditz, Flashpoint, Forbidden Planet, Gargantuan, Graeme Souness Vector Soccer, Habitat, Hydrogenese, London Exchange, Maelstrom, Mag Max V1, Mario Bros, Paddle Mania, Piper Software games, Purple Saturn Day, Quadrillion, Quondam, Restrictor, Roadstar Xri, Robin Hood, Tangram, The City of Ehdollah, Tour De Force, Tycoon Tex, Up Up And Away, Zorro In Wonderland
Dragon’s Lair sample release
A massive thank you to Tom Roger Skauen, who passed on a copy of this very obscure and rare sample release of Dragon’s Lair – which he fully preserved in TAP format.
Tom cannot remember how he obtained the game, but was probably in some kind of package deal.
The tape data is different, so there was the possibility of differences to the final game – however, contributor Hank (see comments) has confirmed that apart from the loading screen – the game is identical. Possibly there are some minor bugs, but its essentially the same game. The only major difference is that the game ends at the Falling Disc 2 stage and has no further levels to load or ending. So it is really a unfinished sample like it says!
Check out this curiosity for yourself here:
Habitat sources released!
The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment have yesterday made Habitat Open Source, by releasing all of the code on GitHub.
Work has been going on since 2013 to try and preserve everything, and now the goal is to try and get the server running once more. Hopefully some day we may yet get to play this again on our C64’s and see something of the game running once more!
More details can be found at https://themade.org/posts/1701
GTW hosting costs and donations
Games That Weren’t is a freely ran project, 100% non-profitable and done in our own free time. To ensure minimum downtime, storing vast amounts of scans, downloads and information we have to pay for our hosting.
UPDATE! – We have raised all our funds for 2016/17 – many thanks to everyone who contributed. Full details of who contributed can be found on our Donation page.
Please note that donations only cover our hosting/domain costs, and that we remain a purely non-profit project. Each year we will try and raise money to cover our costs. Once we hit our target, no more donations will be accepted. If donations go slightly over the amount, then this will contribute towards our PC drive and Kyroflux purchase for the archive.
Thank you!
Evil Garden found and released + more!
Been a while, but here is a new update with a brand new game release, and a digest of updates that have happened since the 27th February.
Evil Garden fully recovered and released today
Thanks to Lenny Bronstein for highlighting originally and the coder Lutz Vieweg, we are proud to present the long lost C64 conversion of Evil Garden by Demonware. Intended for release in 1989, but the risk not taken due to possibly poor Amiga sales. It’s an interesting Centipede clone with some lovely samples and features worth checking out!
16 new entries added
Chelsea of the South Sea, Classroom Chaos, Gaplus V1, Geister, Hotline Quiz, ID, Juggernaut, Lauren of the 25th Century, Miami Cobra GT, Nemesis 2 – Armageddon, Quazatron, Super Mario Bros, Telecommando, Tronix 2, Wildfire, Wonderboy V1
25 updates added
Alternate Reality – Missing parts, Bloo’s Magic Trip, Boxing Game, Brecon Street, Custodian, Edward Randy, Flight Deck 2, Halo Jones, Hard Drivin’ V1, Heavy On The Magick, Here and there with the Mr Men, Killerplants, Mastertronic Loader 3, Monster Museum, Mumbles – Superspy, Proedoes, Red Arrows, Roadstar Xri, Shao Lin’s Road V1, Sleepwalker, Sophistry, Telecommando, Time Scanner V1, Wildfire, Worron
Sleepwalker (C64) being re-developed!
Some great news, but John Darnell (developer of the Kane series, Jet Set Willy 2, Dragon’s Lair and many others) has decided to resurrect his long lost Sleepwalker game that was originally meant for Software Projects.
The game was in development just before JSW2, and the latter game features elements from Sleepwalker – but never got to see the light of day as you can read in the above link to the original GTW64 entry. Sadly the original game is completely lost now, so John is starting again from scratch – with input from Trevor Storey (graphics) and Vanja Utne (music).
It’s looking promising, and hopefully this long lost game will make it in some shape or form at long last! You can follow developments and how John is getting on at the page below:
GTW64 new update + Captain Fizz V1 release
Below is a digest of recent additions and updates that have been made since the last update, including a new release game!
Captain Fizz V1 recovered and released!
A very odd entry into the GTW64 database, with what seems to be a practically complete conversion of Captain Fizz, but by a different coder. Scrapped likely due to the slow down issues and re-started by another dev. Enjoy!
8 new entries added
BooBer, Crowboy, Gemini Wing V1, Gung-Ho!, Star Goose, Starfighter One, Super Elite, Super Pinball
19 updates added
Armalyte 2, Charlie Chaplin, Chiller V1, Escape From Colditz, Fast “‘n Furious, Goremium, Little Beau, Murder!, Pipe Mania, Rex, Scooby Doo, Scooby Doo V1, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Space Ace, Super C, The 4th Dimension, The Punisher, Twin Ranger, Unknown tennis game
Tony Gibson – a tribute/obituary
Before and since the recovery of the infamous Sigue Sigue Sputnik from oblivion, we wanted to always learn more about the game via its creator, Tony (Gibbo) Gibson. Attempts had been in vain though sadly.
Mark Harrison popped up early this year though, and we both shared notes to try and find Tony. We both found a YouTube channel (with a number of music remixes) and other pages which Tony had created, which hadn’t been updated since around 2012. Sadly our initial fears were confirmed when Mark Harrison got hold of Tony’s son a few weeks ago. Tony very sadly passed away in 2013 after a battle with cancer.
First GTW64 update of 2016
Well, after an entertaining 2015 – the work continues. We begin 2016 with some quick new entries and a bunch of updates to some existing titles. Sadly nothing new to play, but that will change soon. Watch this space!
5 new entries added
Combo Racer, Dragonstone 2, Fists of fury, Nitro, The Horsekiller
14 updates added
Bryan Robson’s Super League, F-86 Sabre Strike, Final Command, Go Karts, Joan Of Arc: Siege And The Sword, Little Knight Arthur, Murder!, Nigel Mansell’s Grand Prix, Nighthunter, Quantarallax, Unnamed Game, Zamzara V1, Ziggurat, Zombies, Undead Or Alive
