This was to be a massive RPG which would encompass an impressive, Riven-esque five disks for the Famicom Disk System (a floppy drive add-on for the Japanese NES). By that point, though, the FDS was waning in popularity and Square lacked the resources to develop such an ambitious epic for a fading peripheral. The game was reportedly killed before it even got underway, and Square apologetically informed consumers that perhaps they should spend their money on the upcoming Final Fantasy instead. The company then slapped the Seiken Densetsu name on an upcoming GameBoy adventure — to save the expenses of registering a new trademark and hiring someone to do up a new logo, perhaps?
The first Seiken sold well enough to warrant the creation of a sequel, which was planned as Square’s debut title for Nintendo’s PlayStation CD-ROM system being developed in collaboration with Sony. But once again, the medium spoiled the message; when Nintendo pulled the rug out from under Sony’s feet and decided to axe the idea of a Super NES CD-ROM add-on altogether, SD2 was hastily repurposed as a standard SNES cartridge game. Presumably, this accounts for the rather noticeable game glitches which plague the game and its US counterpart, Secret of Mana. A different Seiken Densetsu appeared on the Gameboy in 1991. – [info from GAF?]
Images:
What do you think about this unseen game? Give your vote!
Would you like to add more info, screens or videos to this page? Add a comment below!
- Marvel: Chaos [X360/PS3 – Cancelled] - 26-08-2023
- Steven Seagal is The Final Option [SNES/Genesis, MegaDrive – Cancelled] - 19-08-2023
- Superman: The New Adventures [Playstation – Cancelled] - 05-08-2023
Nice information there! I just thought of to become your regular reader but the problem is your site does not seem compatible /friendly when it show in KMeleon browser which I use regularly other than internet explorer, hope you can get it fix soon, thanks in advance.
I am almost thankful for this being canceled. The Secret Of Mana for the SNES was really fun. Though, if they could keep the same graphics that are in the SNES Secret of Mana and extended the gameplay into five disks worth and kept the story decent, maybe I might’ve been a little sad that they didn’t make it .-.
Even if this comment is 5 years old, here is my reply. So. If your saying that if the jept the same sprites as in Secret of Mana, you would have played it.
I have a few things wrong with that.
1. Is your brain working properly?
2. The game was to be released in 1987, the sprites weren’t gonna be as good as a game from 1992/93 on a console add-on before the SNES came out.
The game was going to come out 5 years before Secret of Mana or even the SNES were thought of.
What are the screenshots? Where did they come from?
Those are the screenshots from the first Seiken Densetsu for Famicom Disk System that was cancelled.
They come from a japanese flyer:
http://www.gamengai.com/bn_inf.php?id=948
Slightly bigger and better quality scan:
http://gamedic.jpn.org/museum/tirasi/FCETC/img/fc00116_1.jpg
Added the flyer to the gallery, thanks Celine!
The in-game screenshot mock-ups remind me of Drakken, for some reason. I wonder if that was what they were going for?