Game Boy Advance (GBA)

Sword of Sia: Lady Sia 2 [GBA – Cancelled]

Sword of Sia: Lady Sia 2 (aka Lady Sia II) is a cancelled action adventure / platform game that was in development in 2002 / 2003 for the Gameboy Advance by RFX Interactive and it would have been published by TDK Mediactive (as was the first game). It seems that Lady Sia 2 was almost complete (it was even rated by ESRB), but in 2003 RFX had to close down and TDK Mediactive was acquired by Take-Two Interactive. Lady Sia 2 vanished with the closure of its development studio and publisher.

The original Lady Sia was released in 2001 and it was one of the first titles published for the new at the time Game Boy Advance. The game was received well by the press and gamers; this cancelled sequel could have improved the formula its predecessor established and it’s a shame that we’ll never be able to enjoy it. We can only hope that a playable prototype will be leaked in the future.

A Lady Sia 3D prototype was also in development for the Playstation 2 and GameCube, but it was canned too.

Thanks to ReyVGM and Celine for the scan (from an old Nintendo Power magazine)! Thanks to Jason for the english corrections!

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I-Ninja [GBA – Cancelled]

The original I-Ninja is a platform / action game developed by Argonaut Games and released in 2003 for the GameCube, Playstation 2 and Xbox. Argonaut also announced a Gameboy Advance version of the game, to be developed by Destination Software (?), but this port was soon canned. I-Ninja for the GBA would have been a pseudo-3D action game, taking some of the features from the home-consoles I-Ninja (as the “running ramps” and the “slide rails”) to recreate the feeling of the game on the portable console.

As we can read in the original press release:

Following the successful GameCube, PS2, PC and XBOX versions, I-Ninja comes to Game Boy Advance! This version is a mixture of fast paced ‘Inertia Run’levels, combat arena’s, ‘Ball Rolling’ levels requiring pin point accuracy and cool showdowns in the ‘Final Boss’ levels.

Despite his size, I-Ninja is the consummate warrior and has spent years mastering his weapons and honing his fighting skills. Challenged by the world’s most wicked villain, Master O-Dor, and his menacing army of Ranx, I-Ninja is fierce in his attacks and deadly in combat. With extreme agility he navigates environments and conquers all that is evil!

We dont know why I-Ninja GBA was cancelled, but we can speculate that they did not find a publisher interested in the project or that Destination Software had some problems to port this “3D game” to the low-tech portable.

I-Ninja 2 for the PS2, Xbox and GameCube, was also cancelled when Argonaut Games had to close down in 2004 for economic issues.

Thanks to RustSh1ne for the contribution!

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Mario vs. Donkey Kong [GBA – Beta / Unused]

Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a Game Boy Advance spiritual sequel to the first Donkey Kong game for Game Boy, developed by NTS in 2004. The game concept revolves around a combination of platform and puzzle elements, challenging Mario to find keys, reach a locked door, and rescue mini-Marios. [Info from Wikipedia]

Upaluppa and Kiiro found many unused stuff and beta levels still hidden in the final game’s code, as a a prototype version of the MvsDK e-card levels, Mini Marios trapped inside crystal balls as keys, some unused coins / stars and a working level editor. It’s possible that the Level Editor evolved from the unreleased Donkey Kong Plus.

Also, an unused Bomb-Ombs behavior. As wrote by upaluppa:

they start running around scared, just like Shy-Guys do, when Mario is equipped with the hammer! You’ll never see them running normally, because none of the levels with Bob-Ombs includes hammers…

Thanks to Hiccup for the contributions!

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Broken Circle [GBA – Cancelled]

Broken Circle is an unreleased rpg created by 7 Raven Studios. The game, which story was based on Nordic mythology, had a troubled development: publishers weren’t interested because it was too risky to cover the release costs for an unknown title that needed a big and expensive 256mbits cartridge.

By the time that the programmers managed to shrink Broken Circle to 64mbits, the console was at the end of its life and the only publisher interested in the game was not officially authorized by Nintendo.

In 2009, 7Raven Studios decided to release a rom of the game on its website, but now the download link is broken. The rom can be easily found with a google search, though.

Props to 7 Raven Studios for sharing Broken Circle with the community! If you are a collector, you can buy an official cart of Broken Cirlce for GBA thanks to Piko Interactive.

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Monster Hunter [GBA – Cancelled]

Monster Hunter (not related with Capcom’s Monster Hunter) was an action game that was in development by Contraband Entertainment for the GameBoy Advance. As we can read from the original press-release:

In Monster Hunter, you are the one-eyed hero who travels to the five towers of evil. Your mission as the Monster Hunter is to destroy the various creatures wandering the maze of hallways and to recover the fable treasures contained within the ancient structures.

Seems a simple task, but it’s not. There are weapons scattered throughout the levels for the player to use against the monsters, but only one specific weapon will slay a certain type of creature. Some of the weapons will temporarily stun a monster, but that same weapon can power-up another type of creature.

For some reasons it seems that the game was never released, even if it could have been finished.

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