Wii

Clay Fighter: Call of Putty [Cancelled – Wii / DS]

Clay Fighter: Call of Putty is a cancelled fighting game in the ClayFighter series, started for the Super NES in 1993. On September 2009 Interplay announced a return of ClayFighter for WiiWare and DSiWare, with a new project named “Clay Fighter: Call of Putty”, a joke with Call of Duty. This game was suppose to be an updated version of ClayFighter: Sculptor’s Cut and was planned to be released in 2011 for Wii and DS but it soon vanished in limbo and in the end it was never released.

Some info were published in Nintendo Power, November 2010 issue:

– Updated version of Clay Fighter 63 1/3 for the N64
– 16 fighters
– Bad Mr. Frosty, Kung Pow, High Five, Bonker, Lady Liberty, and Sumo Santa, Boogerman, Earthworm Jim included and i have heard rummors about hobo cop coming back
– Standard punches and kicks (3 strengths each)
– Powerful meter-based supermoves
– Finishing moves (Claytalities)
– Training mode
– Single-player story mode available
– Exhibition matches and 2-player versus mode as well
– Late 2010/early 2011 release

If you have more info in this lost project, please let us know!

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Cosmic Walker [Wii – Cancelled]

Cosmic Walker is a cancelled adventure / action game that was in development for the Wii. At Nintendo Fall Conference 2008 the manufacturer shared a movie reel full of upcoming Wii games that were in development, like Punch Out Wii, Sin & Punishment 2 and Another Code R. Another game shown for the first time was a curious space simulation developed by Gaia, the studio created by former Atlus employee Kouji Okada, but no info was shared about it.

In the Supplementary Information documents released by Nintendo from January 2010 onward the title disappeared from the list of the upcoming games aimed for the japanese market and in October 2010 a news spread that Gaia official site ceased activity thus we can conclude that the project was likely quietly terminated by the publisher.

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Xenoblade [Wii – Beta]

Xenoblade, originally known as Monado: The beginning of the world, is a jrpg developed by Monolith and released for Wii in 2010 after four years of work.  In the first beta trailer and in the gallery below, we can see an early version of the battle HUD. Also, in the final version treasure chests are different looking and they can obtained only by defeating enemies, while in the beta they could be found in the overworld too.

However, the most interesting thing about this beta is a large unused map, originally located between Makna Forest and Eruyt Sea, that can be briefly seen in one of the final build cutscenes and which it was removed from the final game, even if it is still possibile to explore it by modifying some internal files. It is largely incomplete and deserted, but it was one of the first areas shown in screenshots, so it must have been created at the beginning of the development. For more informations check the video below and a gamefaqs topic.

Thanks to KEK8 for the contribution!

Also, some hackers found a few debug items and an explorable test-map with a big Xenoblade sword (similar to the one in title screen). Check this topic on GBATemp for more info!

In a 2012 interview with Siliconera, director Tetsuya Takeshi admitted that he tried a turn-based system before sticking with real-time battles:

“I did experiment with a turn-based system that included the ability to see the future, but it didn’t go very well.”

The story seems to have changed quite a few times also.

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Wario Land Shake It (Shake Dimension) [Wii – Beta / Unused]

Wario Land: Shake It (aka Wario Land: The Shake Dimension in Europe) is the 5th installment Wario Land Series of platfomr games, developed by Good-Feel and released for the Nintendo Wii in 2008. The gameplay consists most of shaking or flipping the Wii Remote to throw or manage objects. The game has only 6 worlds, but by searching into the game’s code, it was possible to find many stuff that weren’t used in the final version. Probably, Wario Land Shake It could have been be bigger, with more enemies and bosses.

There is a total of  7 Unused enemies. Most of them are completed with fluid animations, configurations and even some effects, while others are still incomplete. You can view the sprites rip by following the Link on the Video Description in the Youtube pages

Unused Enemy Nº1:

Comments by Gabrielwoj

This enemy is similar to the Bandineros, found in most of the stages in the game. This enemy isn’t near for it’s completion. Many sprites are missing, there are some incorrect pixels on the border, and there is many proportions problems.

Unused Enemy Nº2:

This enemy could appear in the sewer in the Mansion levels, or in the Cave levels. This is a very well done enemy. There are plenty of animations, functions, attacks. This enemy could be tough to beat if was used in the game.

Unused Enemy Nº3:

This enemy could appear in Desert levels, or the Train levels. This very well done enemy, could probably have an intelligent AI, probably would very similar to the Boo’s in the Mario Series, or the enemies in the Flying Ship from Super Mario Bros. 3.

Unused Enemy Nº4:


This is obvious that would appear in the Water levels. His animations are very strange, and it’s really unknown about it. So I ask myself, where are the pearls?

Unused Palette for the Scorpion enemy:

Unused Enemy/Boss Nº5:

Strange enough, this enemy would use models for it’s usage. There is also another recolor on the game files, but isn’t presented in video. As in the sprites, it could be a boss that comes from the background and tries to attack Wario, that is my theory.

Unused Enemy/Boss Nº6:

Donkey Kong Country Returns Beach boss probably got the idea from this unused boss. Simple, 3 enemies standing like a pillar, doing crazy stuff. As in Donkey Kong Country Returns, the same thing happens. This enemy has a LOT of animations, there is lots of details and configurations for it. But sadly, this was unused.

Unused Enemy Nº7:

Probably, this guy would be on the most craziest stages in the game. Probably, it would be really nuts jumps and platforms. Okay, heading back. This enemy would probably be a platform enemy, and if Wario stand too much above him, he probably could shrink.

Talking about Unused stuff, there are some objects that was unused in game.

Unused Barrel:

Just, a simple barrel.

Different Gold Bag

A beta version of the Big Gold Bag. There is no marked “G” on his front, just like the small ones.
Fun Fact: In the game box, the Wario is shaking a Big Gold Bag without the “G” mark.

Update: More Unused sprites

Unused Background

Unused Ball, is that would be like Chain Chomp Ball of Yoshi’s Island?

Unused Instruction – The Used one does point up, not directly

ScumFlower/BloomsDay gold pot. Probably would be a easteregg for complete the game 100%, but they might didn’t implemented.

Prototype map?

The file is “floatblock”, probably would be that boat mission (see below) that they didn’t used

Unused Strong Block crack (there is no way to crack this block)

Unused Shake Medal

Unused Shake Block 1

Unused Shake Block 2

Unused Pirate Shop entrance (Notice, this is like the model, I animated with some programs.) This probably would appear when you entered the Pirate Shop, would might be a quickly loading, but probably removed cause the Disc would take few seconds to load

Unused Mechanism Treasure (you probably would need a key, but there is no key in the folder)

Early Treasure Icons, there was also some nice shading effects

There also more unused stuff (and cut content) discovered in the game files. There are many unused missions in this game. Many of them, probably didn’t match with the levels, or other missions was already planned for that level. And a random mission icon shows a Cut Content from the game, analyzing the sprite, the game could have a Boat level. Let’s see the sprites below:

Detailing these:
– This is the only boss that don’t have his icon on the Mission icon.

– Cut Content

– The used coin missions have Gold and Silver coins. But for bronze, there is none

– Unknown

– Placeholder Image

And in the Menu files, there are many unused stuff. There are some menu sprites such as a “X”, is that would lost on a boss and never return? A opened Chest as a sprite? It surely was replaced to the Treasure icons.

And also, an incredible unused treasure (probably, there are more in the game files, you can get 95 treasures, and there are 100 in the game files)
(Alpha Image)

There is a beta thing in the game files. In the last boss battle, Wario would be in the Right Side, not in the Left Side (as in the Final version). The folder is probably used for the E3 conference, because it’s called “DemoWario”.

You can check more unseen differences in our article about Wario Land: Shake It Vs. Wario Land: Shake Dimension

 

Super Mario Spikers [Wii – Cancelled]

Super Mario Spikers is a cancelled volleyball/wrestling hybrid game, which was being developed by Next Level Games; the makers of Gamecube title, Super Mario Strikers, and its follow-up, Mario Strikers: Charged. It was planned to be developed for the Nintendo Wii, but never made it far past the initial phases of conceptualisation.

In 2007, Mario Strikers: Charged was released on the Nintendo Wii and was met with both a positive reception and commercial success. Pleased with Next Level’s work, Nintendo allowed the developer a larger budget to tackle its next project with; as well as a greater level of creative freedom with their characters.

A former artist at Next Level Games spoke to us about the project:

“It was a wrestling/volleyball hybrid with a game show slant. It was never released and was financed as more of a reward to Next Level for doing such a great job on MSC”

The core development team at NLG didn’t begin fully working on Spikers until 2007, but the company’s artists had already been drafting new ideas for future Mario sports games throughout 2006, alongside work on Charged. Concept artists worked intermittently on the project until Strikers: Charged was nearing completion. It was around the end of the 2006, that Next Level’s heads settled on their new direction from early renders created in September.

Towards the very start of this project, the developer went back and forth on various names for the game. Its initially proposed title was simply ‘Mario Volleyball’; we assume to associate it with Nintendo’s other Mario sports titles at the time, such as Mario Golf and Tennis.

Although the game would eventually evolve into a hybrid of wrestling and volleyball, in the beginning, it started off solely as a relatively simplistic volleyball title with Mario characters. It was as more employees began to transitioning into Mario Volleyball that its mechanics and ideas became more fleshed out and the decision was made to add the twist of wrestling, among other things.

Once the project had begun to shift further and further from the realms of standard volleyball, the team opted to rename it ‘Super Mario Spikers’; a clear reference to their previous Mario sports productions. The significance of Next Level Games adding wrestling to one of their games like this will not be lost on those thoroughly versed in their back catalogue. Between 2004 and 2005, they were developing a WWE game with sci-fi and fantasy elements called ‘WWE Titans: Parts Unknown’.

An anonymous contributor close to the Spikers project described this game’s influence on it:

“Between the contact sport part of Strikers and some of the work that was done a couple of years before that on an unreleased wrestling game, it came as a pretty natural progression”

The wrestling mechanics drew upon NLG’s experiences with the title, which was a more stylised, cartoonish version of WWE to begin with. We have been fortunate enough to recover some of the animations made for the wrestling moves in Mario Spikers, thanks to Refurs, who discovered them in a reel put together by a former Next Level animator.

As we can see here, the combat system incorporated special moves made up of established wrestling maneuvers. For instance, in one clip, we can see a Yoshi performing a pile-driver attack. In another, Waluigi stomps on Mario’s stomach, who is grounded, laying on his back.

Unlike the Strikers games, which played out almost exclusively in a selection of large football stadiums set around the Mario universe, Mario Spikers had a slightly more varied collection of environments proposed for it.

In one of the level concepts, we can see a huge wrestling arena, the setting of a match between Mario and Wario. The massive crowds are populated by smaller Mario characters, including birdos, shy guys and the piantas from Super Mario Sunshine.

On the other side of the spectrum, some of the stages put forward took place in comparatively smaller areas and took inspiration from TV game show sets.

Each one of these was planned to sport its own unique environmental gimmicks, such a carnival wheel which would introduce random effects into play based upon where it landed.

Ultimately, Super Mario Spikers was never greenlit by publisher, Nintendo. The project was pitched to the company’s higher ups, but was declined because it was felt that certain aspects of its premise clashed with the company’s code of honour. This information comes to us from a trusted source, who was intimately involved with the project.

“It was a Japanese honor thing”

Work on Spikers ceased altogether in 2007 and Next Level Games instead went on to develop other Nintendo projects, including Punch-Out!! and a Metroid 3DS prototype. It is possible that a very early, playable prototype of the game was created for Next Level’s pitch, although any images of one have yet to be found.

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