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List of cancelled NES games

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This is a list of cancelled Family Computer and Nintendo Entertainment System video games. The Family Computer, nicknamed the Famicom for short, is a 1983 video game console produced by Nintendo. The system would be redesigned and brought to Western markets as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985. Both systems proved very successful and had several games released for them, until being succeeded by the Super Famicom and Super NES in 1990. This list documents all known games that were confirmed to be announced or in development for the Famicom or NES at some point but did not end up being released for them.

Games

[edit]

There are currently 33 games on this list.[a]

Title(s) Notes/Reasons Developer Publisher
The Addams Family 2 A video game adaptation of Addams Family Values was announced for release in 1993 alongside the film, but never materialized.[1] Ocean Ocean
The Adventures of Dr. Franken Ports of Dr. Franken (1992) were developed for NES, Game Boy, and SNES, but the NES version was never released.[2] Elite Systems
Animal Exchange Originally conceived for NES, production later shifted to the SNES, where it released under the new title Claymates (1993).[3] Visual Concepts Interplay Entertainment
Battle Choice A humorous take on Shogi that featured real time combat when pieces came into contact with one another, the game was cancelled without ever being announced. A prototype of the game surfaced in an online auction in 2022.[4] Konami Konami
BC Games A sports game in which cavemen compete in Olympics-style competitions, such as dinosaur racing, was prototyped for the NES, but the project was never greenlit.[5] Rareware Unknown
Bio Force Ape A sidescrolling platformer in which the player controls a mutant ape was announced in 1991, with early previews noting the high speed of the gameplay compared to other NES games. The game was never released, though a prototype of the game surfaced online in 2010.[6][7] SETA Corporation SETA Corporation
Black Tiger A port of the arcade game Black Tiger (1987) was announced but never released.[8] Capcom Capcom
The California Raisins: The Grape Escape A video game based on the California Raisins was planned for release in 1990, but was cancelled due to the characters' dwindling popularity.[9][10] Radiance Capcom
Cheetahmen II A sequel to The Cheetahmen, one of the games featured in the unlicensed compilation Action 52 (1991), was set for release as part of plans to expand the property into a multimedia franchise. While the game was never officially released, several cartridges were found in a warehouse in 1996 and became collector's items on the secondary market.[11] Active Enterprises Active Enterprises
Days of Thunder A video game based on the film Days of Thunder was developed by programmer Chris Oberth. For unknown reasons, the project was cancelled and Beam Software released their own Days of Thunder game for NES in 1990. Following Oberth's death in 2012, the Video Game History Foundation obtained several development materials from his estate in 2020, including the source code for Days of Thunder spread across several floppy disks, and used them to reconstruct Oberth's original version of the game.[12] Mindscape
Deja Vu II: Lost in Las Vegas An NES port of Deja Vu II: Lost in Las Vegas (1988) was announced in 1991, with screenshots appearing in the February 1993 issue of Nintendo Power. However, the game was never released, presumably due to the NES having already been succeeded by the SNES at that point.[13] Kemco
Dino-Hockey A hockey game featuring dinosaurs was said to be planned for a 1991 release, but failed to materialize. An early prototype later surfaced online.[2]
Drac's Night Out A 2D platformer starring Dracula and prominently featuring Reebok Pump shoes as part of a sponsorship deal, the game was never officially released, though a prototype later surfaced online.[14][15] Microsmiths Parker Brothers
Final Fantasy IV Though initially planned for release on NES, no actual work was done before the decision was made to shift development to the SNES.[14] Squaresoft Squaresoft
Glug In 1986, Rareware programmer Paul Proctor developed Glug, a shooting game in which players controlled a slime on a cylinder that would rotate when the player moved, causing enemy positions to shift. While approximately 60–70% complete, the project was ultimately abandoned.[16] Rareware
Golden Empire: The Legend of Scheherazade A sequel to The Magic of Scheherazade (1987) was mentioned by GamePro in the magazine's September 1990 issue for its coverage of the Summer CES, and by Nintendo Power in its November/December 1990 issue. At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1992, GamePro reported that an SNES game titled Golden Empire was officially announced by Culture Brain as a follow-up to The Magic of Scheherazade. The magazine made further mention of the game in their coverage of the following year's Winter CES, now titled Golden Empire: The Legend of Scheherazade. As late as 1996, the Japanese publication Family Computer Magazine listed the game for Super Famicom as Scheherazade Densetsu - The Prelude, with an unknown release date. Ultimately, the game never materialized.[17][18][19][20][21][22] Culture Brain Culture Brain
Hellraiser A video game adaptation of the 1987 film Hellraiser entered into development, but was never released.[23] Color Dreams Color Dreams
Hit the Ice Taito intended to port the arcade game Hit the Ice (1990) to the NES with additional features, including a single-player campaign with RPG elements, but decided to cancel the port due to it being very late in the console's life cycle. A complete prototype was later discovered as part of the 2020 Nintendo data leak.[24] Taito
John Madden Football Ports of John Madden Football '93 (1992) for Game Boy and NES were scheduled for release by the end of 1993, to be published by Ubi Soft. However, both versions were ultimately cancelled.[25][26] NMS Software Ubi Soft
Minnesota State Lottery In the early 1990s, the Minnesota State Lottery partnered with a technology company to develop a lottery cartridge for a modem-equipped NES, hoping it would lead to increased ticket sales. However, the organization received substantial opposition by advocates worried that use of an in-home video game console would encourage youth gambling, leading the project to be cancelled.[27][28] Control Data Control Data
Police Academy An NES game based on the Police Academy film series was set for a 1990 release, but the game experienced multiple delays and at one point restarted development before eventually being cancelled.[2] Tengen Tengen
Pyross A NES port of the arcade game Wardner (1987) was planned for release in North America under the name Pyross. Though demonstrated at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1990, the port was never released.[29] Sammy Corporation Sammy Corporation
SimCity A port of SimCity for NES, developed concurrently with the game's 1991 SNES port and including many of the same features, was demonstrated at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show, but was never released. A prototype of the NES version was discovered in 2018 and released online by the Video Game History Foundation.[30][31][32] Maxis Nintendo
Space Ace A version of Space Ace (1984) was developed for NES, redesigned as a side-scrolling platformer instead of a FMV game, similar to the 1990 NES port of Dragon's Lair. However, the game was never released.[33]
Street Fighter A port of Street Fighter (1989) for NES entered development, but was never released. Only one screenshot from the port is known to exist, which was rediscovered during development of the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection.[34][35] Pacific Dataworks International Capcom
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior In response to a reader question about an unlicensed NES port of Street Fighter II (1991), Electronic Gaming Monthly claimed stated that they had heard from a Capcom representative at the Consumer Electronics Show that an official NES port would be released later in 1993. However, no such port was ever released.[36] Capcom Capcom
Sunman In the early 1990s, Sunsoft began developing a video game based on DC Comics' Superman. However, the company later lost the license, prompting them to change the protagonist into an original character, "Sunman", to salvage the work that had already been done. Ultimately, the game went unreleased, though a complete prototype of the Sunman version and an earlier prototype of the Superman version both surfaced online years later.[37][38] EIM Sunsoft
Super Sushi Pinball A localization of Super Pinball (1988), which replaced the game's original Mahjong theming with new graphics and cutscenes related to sushi, was demonstrated at the 1989 Consumer Electronics Show and planned for a 1990 release, but failed to materialize. A finished prototype of the game was later discovered and released online by the Video Game History Foundation.[39] Soft Machine CSG Imagesoft
Time Diver: Eon Man The action game Time Diver: Eon Man had been completed and received a walkthrough and review in Nintendo Power, but went unreleased for unknown reasons.[40] A.I. Taito
Titan Warriors Capcom intended to release a sequel to their very first arcade game, Vulgus (1984), but the game was cancelled during development. A prototype of the game later surfaced in 2024.[41] Capcom Capcom
Ultimate Journey An action game starring a Native American warrior capable of transforming into different animals was near enough to completion that it received a review in Electronic Gaming Monthly, but was cancelled for unknown reasons.[42] Bandai Bandai
UWC A wrestling game based on the Universal Wrestling Company license was in development, but was cancelled before ever being announced. A private collector later obtained a prototype of the game and released it online.[43][44][45][46] Thinking Rabbit Seta Corporation
The Wizard of Oz A video game adaptation of The Wizard of Oz was announced for NES and SNES, but only the latter version was released.[47] SETA Corporation SETA Corporation

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ This number is always up to date by this script.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "ProReview: Addams Family 2 (NES)". GamePro. No. 47. IDG. June 1993. p. 157.
  2. ^ a b c Wilds, Stephen (July 26, 2022). "8 NES Games That Were Never Officially Released". Paste Magazine. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  3. ^ Ceccola, Russ (March 1993). "A Hundred Pounds of Clay". Electronic Games. Vol. 1, no. 6. Decker Publications, Inc. pp. 36–7. ISSN 0730-6687. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  4. ^ McFerran, Damien (November 12, 2023). "Prototype For Canned Konami NES Game 'Battle Choice' Sells For $16,000". Time Extension. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  5. ^ Yarwood, Jack (March 31, 2023). "Rare Co-Founder Tim Stamper Posts Art For Cancelled NES Game". Time Extension. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  6. ^ Ponce, Tony (April 3, 2011). "Unreleased NES game Bio Force Ape is f#@king beast". Destructoid. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  7. ^ Plasket, Michael. "Bio Force Ape". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  8. ^ "Coming Soon... Aug. Black Tiger (Capcom/NES)". Electronic Game Player. No. 4. July 1988. p. 9.
  9. ^ "The Hot 100". Game Players. No. 21. Signal Research. March 1991. p. 83.
  10. ^ Claiborn, Samuel (October 13, 2022). "Two Never-Before-Seen NES Games Are Up for Auction: 'This Has Literally Never Happened Before'". IGN. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  11. ^ "Action 52". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  12. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (June 1, 2020). "Video game preservationists reconstruct decades-lost, never-released NES game". Polygon. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  13. ^ "Ace Harding: Lost in Last Vegas". Nintendo Power. No. 45. February 1993. p. 110.
  14. ^ a b "The lost Nintendo games". GamesRadar+. May 30, 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  15. ^ "Drac's Night Out". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  16. ^ Yarwood, Jack (July 29, 2024). "Lost NES Game From Ex-Rare Developer Rescued After 38 Years". Time Extension. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  17. ^ GamePro staff (September 1990). "ProNews Report". GamePro. No. 14. IDG. p. 35. ISSN 1042-8658.
  18. ^ Nintendo Power staff (November–December 1990). "Gossip Galore". Nintendo Power. Vol. 18. Nintendo of America. p. 92. ISSN 1041-9551.
  19. ^ GamePro staff (April 1992). "CES Special Report: Genesis & SNES Games for 1992". GamePro. No. 33. IDG. p. 26. ISSN 1042-8658.
  20. ^ GamePro staff (April 1993). "CES '93 Report: Gaming on the Horizon". GamePro. No. 45. IDG. p. 127. ISSN 1042-8658.
  21. ^ Family Computer Magazine staff (July 14, 1995). "New Game Calendar". Family Computer Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 14. Tokuma Shoten. p. 175.
  22. ^ Family Computer Magazine staff (February 23, 1996). "New Game Calendar". Family Computer Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 4. Tokuma Shoten. p. 161.
  23. ^ Jarrett, Petra (October 9, 2022). "Why You'll Never Get To Play The Only Hellraiser Game That Ever Existed". ScreenRant. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  24. ^ Plunkett, Luke (2020-07-28). "One Of The Leaked Nintendo Games Is A...Hockey RPG". Kotaku. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  25. ^ Cifaldi, Frank (7 March 2018). "From the Game Informer Archives: Lost NES Games!". Video Game History Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  26. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (16 September 2020). "Ubisoft's Madden for Game Boy just arrived from an alternate universe". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  27. ^ Plunkett, Luke (2011-09-08). "When Nintendo Wanted to Bring Gambling Into American Homes". Kotaku.
  28. ^ Shapiro, Eben (1991-09-27). "Nintendo and Minnesota Set A Living-Room Lottery Test (Published 1991)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  29. ^ "Nintendo Player - Pyross (American Sammy)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 13. Sendai Publishing. August 1990. p. 75.
  30. ^ "Nintendo News - SimCity". Game Players. No. 22. Future Publishing. April 1991. pp. 26–27.
  31. ^ Schreier, Jason (December 25, 2018). "Lost NES Version Of SimCity Emerges After 27 Years". Kotaku. Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  32. ^ Cifaldi, Frank (December 25, 2018). "Recovering Nintendo's Lost SimCity for the NES". The Video Game History Foundation. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  33. ^ "Giochi Laser Per NES?". Consolemania [it] (in Italian). Vol. 1, no. 3. Xenia Edizioni. December 1991. p. 10. {{cite magazine}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  34. ^ Craddock, Ryan (May 30, 2018). "We Almost Had Street Fighter On The NES But The Project Was Cancelled". Nintendo Life. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  35. ^ Gach, Ethan (May 30, 2018). "Street Fighter Was Almost Released For The 8-Bit NES". Kotaku. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  36. ^ "Street Fighter 2 for NES". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 5, no. 49. Sendai Publishing. March 1993. p. 14.
  37. ^ Bettenhausen, Shane; Mielke, James (2008-08-07). "Kenji Eno: Reclusive Japanese Game Creator Breaks His Silence from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. 1UP.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  38. ^ Spencer (2009-04-27). "Unreleased Superman Game For NES Finds Life On The Internet - Siliconera". Siliconera. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  39. ^ McFerran, Damien (January 3, 2024). "Sony's Lost NES Game, Super Sushi Pinball, Has Been Found And Preserved". Time Extension. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  40. ^ "Time Diver: Eon Man". Nintendo Power. No. 45. February 1993. pp. 44–47.
  41. ^ McFerran, Damien (June 5, 2024). "Check Out Capcom's Bizarre Unreleased Vulgus Sequel, Titan Warriors". Time Extension. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  42. ^ "Fact File - Ultimate Journey". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 3, no. 23. Sendai Publishing. June 1991. p. 102.
  43. ^ Keane, Sean (2019-03-08). "Lost NES wrestling game surfaces after 30 years". CNET. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  44. ^ Orland, Kyle (2019-03-12). "Unknown NES wrestling game discovered, beaten 30 years later". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  45. ^ Good, Owen S. (2019-03-08). "Unreleased NES game's discovery spotlights 1980s pro wrestling". Polygon. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  46. ^ "Man who owns every North American Nintendo game discovers never-released game". ABC13 Houston. 2019-03-15. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  47. ^ "New Soft News". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 5, no. 38. September 1992. p. 78.
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