Beta + Cancelled Nintendo Video Games - Page 14 of 207

Nekketsu Kunio-Kun Zukan (熱血くにおくん図鑑, translated by Google as “Enthusiastic Kunio-Kun Encyclopedia”) is a cancelled game / software in the Kunio-kun series by Technos Japan, planned for the Nintendo NES / Famicom console. In the main games of the series you take the role of Kunio, a japanese high-school delinquent (bancho) with a good heart, punching and kicking other gangs to free the streets of your city.

While in the west the series is mostly known for Renegade and River City Ransom on the NES, in Japan many more Kunio games were developed and published. In 1988 Super Dodge Ball (a sport-based Kunio-Kun spin off) was released on the Famicom and in 1993 this “Nekketsu Kunio-Kun Zukan” seems to have been in the works too, but never officially announced.

Some footage from this cancelled Kunio-Kun “game” was shared on Twitter in March 2020 by Former Technos programmer Otake, as noticed by Heimao. By looking at it, Nekketsu Kunio-Kun Zukan seems like some kind of “school simulation” or as suggested by its translated title, an “Encyclopedia” to show off all the characters from the series and their bio, by moving around the school. A couple of weeks later Otake deleted the footage from Twitter, apparently because someone else from Technos asked to remove it. A copy of the footage is saved below, to preserve the existence of this lost project.

Thanks to Heimao for the contribution!

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Game Boy Advance (GBA), Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Others, PC / MAC

Western Lords [GBA, Nintendo DS, PC – Cancelled]

monokoma

24-05-2020

4 Comments

Western Lords is a cancelled Old-West RPG in development around 2004 by Blossomsoft for GBA, Nintendo DS and PC. In its initial version it looked like a classic 16-bit 2D RPG, but it seems it was later rebooted in 3D for Nintendo DS before being finally canned.

As we can read in some old messages in their (now closed) forum, the game was related to another unreleased game titled “Sagrada Guardians”:

“We’re currently working on a new game project titled Western Lords. Note, however: even though Sagrada Guardians was once titled Western Lords in the past (and then changed due to the theme issue), these games are not the same.
While Sagrada Guardians focus on ‘the cities made of gold’ theme, Western Lords will focus more on outlaws and cowboys in a merciless environment similar to Mexico. However, some story elements of Sagrada Guardians will be introduced via Western Lords.
Even if Sagrada Guardians and Western Lords shouldn’t be considered as the same series, they will be running in parallel to one another. Western Lords will have an entire new cast of characters, and should take place approximately one century before Sagrada Guardians on the same world. Take note that the environment will be darker unlike the fantastic ambiance of Sagrada Guardians. This will remind everyone how harsh the western era looked like (well, at least in literature!).
We hope to complete the game during this coming winter, exactly as we did with Oracle Adventure with the creative side. The game will possibly be sold for around $25 on PC. We’re also planning multi-languages, English and French as initial languages.
Also key members of Sagrada Guardians will be working on Western Lords. For instance, Xavier Dang will be the main composer and William Knight will be in charge of the dialogues. Min ‘keiii’ Kwon will possibly stay on as the artwork designer, though this is unconfirmed as of yet. “

The game was cancelled when the team was disbanded, as confirmed by the team leader on their old website:

“It was the very first project I created back around 2004. The Game Boy Advance and later the Nintendo DS were the main targeted platforms. Sadly, the team disbanded because of my inexperience and since then I’ve been honing my skills to become a one-man team. Fact is, the release of Eternal Eden in 2008 was some sort of Plan B to get Western Lords back on track. But then things escalated to Plan C, etc. I still intend to revive this project with a different style after 2016, if things go well.”

Blossomsoft also worked on other interesting cancelled games such as Mimic Book and GUNNARr (both for Nintendo DS). In 2016 an early prototype version of Western Lord GBA was found and preserved: you can download it from here.

In 2008 Blossomsoft released a different RPG titled “Eternal Eden” on PC as their first commercial project. As of 2020 it seems Western Lords was resurrected and it’s now planned to be released on Nintendo Switch in the future.

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Microsoft, Nintendo, Others, PC / MAC, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Wii, Xbox 360

Project Witches (Eternal Light) [Cancelled – Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC]

monokoma

02-05-2020

No Comments

Project Witches (aka Eternal Light) is a cancelled coop-focused action game that was in development by Revistronic for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and PC. Gameplay would have probably been similar to Diablo or Gauntlet, with 4 players team up together to kill dozens of enemies and huge bosses. Eternal Light was officially announced in 2007, but then postponed for multiple times until it was considered vaporware among gamers.

As we can read on the original press-release and official website:

“Project WITCHES (Provisional Title) available w/w is a third-person action adventure game developed by Spanish developer, REVISTRONIC. In WITCHES players find themselves in terrifying dark surroundings in an epic struggle for survival in order to take freedom and peace to an oppressed medieval kingdom.
Across a landscape of devastation, players manage a squad of Witches, sultry warriors that still resist the dark will of the Evil Lord and his horde of awful creatures and lead the rebellion against his satanic power. Above all, it is a game where teamwork is vital: all modelling, levels and scenes are designed to promote cooperative play.”

Key features

“Everything reeks of death, torture and destruction. The people have been enslaved. They are prisoners of a dark power that has established a reign of terror and devastation throughout the land. Your aim is to eliminate the evil creature that dwells in the depths of a sinister castle and to rescue the crushed inhabitants from their horrifying destiny. In order to survive in the face of this satanic power and its cruel armies, you must learn the art of combat and acquire terrible dark powers yourself.
Sultry girls against satanic monsters: Let yourself go in this dark medieval narrative and enjoy the contrast between sensual beauty and sinister horrors. Direct the beautiful but dangerous Gwen in a spectacular fight against hordes of repellent deformed creatures.
Feel the fear: Skies rent by terrifying storms, hair-raising shrieks, shadows in the fog, stealthy movements and menacing growls, the glint of monstrous eyes that watch from the shades. The oppressive certainty of death lying in wait for you.
Spectacular system of tactical combat: Combining spectacular combat with sequences of caution and stealth. The tactics you use will be decisive for your survival. You must rescue the captives and obtain their help. You will lead your team. You can be a great leader or sacrifice your comrades in the fight. Your decisions will shape your destiny.
Totally interactive environment: All game items can be used, creating a sensation of total immersion such as never before. You can use all kinds of objects to achieve your aims, even the amputated limbs of adversaries.”

There are a few gameplay videos from the game, but we don’t know how much was really completed before Revistronic closed down in 2011 for bankruptcy.

Thanks to Jean for the contribution!

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Nintendo, Wii

NinjaBread Man 2: Blades of Fury [Wii – Cancelled]

monokoma

01-05-2020

No Comments

The original NinjaBread Man was a low-budget action game developed by Data Design Interactive and released for Playstation 2, PC and Wii. While the game was received with low scores, somehow it gained a cult-following of fans and the team officially announced a Wii sequel in 2008, titled “NinjaBread Man 2: Blades of Fury”.

As we can read on the original press-release:

“Guide Ninjabread man through Candy Land on his mission to rescue his girlfriend ‘Treacle Tart’ from the evil clutches of ‘Emperor Sly’ Fox and his three Fox Cub Overlords. NinjaBread Man: Blades of Fury will be a combat and exploration based adventure utilizing the Wii remotes unique control method to create an intuitive, fun and involving game experience with plenty of exciting game features.
Fight your way through Emperor Sly’s armies of Wasp Warriors, Rat Thugs and Jelly Ninjas as you explore the Sweet and Tasty worlds of Candy land. Use Ninjabread Mans Grapple Hook to Swing over chasms, disarm enemies and pull down objects to create bridges to new areas. Buy new weapons and stock up on useful items at the many Candy land ‘Weapon outposts’.
Learn amazing combat skills and new moves by entering the Training Dojo and find out how to take out your enemies quicker by using combination attacks. Take on Emperor Sly and his three maniacal Fox Cub Overlords in this stunning action packed Ninja adventure.
Storyline: after ridding Candy Land of the Hordes of evil Cupcakes Ninjabread Man found himself a nice girlfriend called ‘Treacle Tart’ and settled down for a quiet life in the lush Candy Fields estate. One misty moon lit night an elite band of Jelly Baby Ninja’s sneak into Ninjabread Man’s home, knock him out and kidnap Treacle Tart. They take her away to their secret base deep within the ‘Sugarcane Wastes’ of Candy Lands northern territory.
Outraged by this unnerving turn of events Ninjabread Man sets out in search of his beloved Treacle Tart and the despicable individuals responsible for her kidnap. Little does he know that an evil presence more powerful than he could have imagined is plotting his downfall and that the adventure he is about to embark on will be the most challenging he has ever encountered.”

An archived version of the official NinjaBread Man website is still accessible via the Wayback Machine from the Internet Archive. On this site fans were asked to send in ideas for the sequel in the form of artwork or descriptions of challenges. The designs would’ve been published on a forum where other users could comment on them, and the best designs would be put into the game, with the creator getting a place in the credits.

In the end Data Design Interactive went quiet after NinjaBread Man 2 announcement and soon closed down. Back in 2016 Zander Shepherd contacted Stewart Green (the founder and CEO of Data Design Interactive) to ask about the state of the game. His reply was:

“Sorry Ninjabread Man 2 was never started above design work, we have no plans to release it at this time.”

Unfortunately it seems not much remains from this cancelled sequel, but the fan-designs published online by the team and now preserved below. If you know someone who worked at Data Design Interactive and could have saved more documents from Ninjabread Man 2, please let us know in the comments below or by email.

Thanks to Zander Shepherd for the contribution!

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Nintendo, Wii U

Bizerta: Silent Evil [WiiU – NOT Cancelled]

monokoma

21-04-2020

16 Comments

Update: as wrote by Edrox Interactive in the comments below, the game is still planned to be released on WiiU in the following months, so it’s not cancelled:
“it’s coming out on wii u in the next months”
You can search on the Nintendo eShop for WiiU to find the game soon.

Original story:

Bizerta: Silent Evil is a cancelled survival horror heavily inspired by Resident Evil & Silent Hill, that was in development by Edrox Interactive, initially for Sony PSVita and later for Nintendo WiiU. The game was announced around 2015 and in mid 2017 the project was still planned to be released for WiiU, but in the end it just quietly vanished.

Some details about this lost game can still be found in their official website:

“Bizerta: Silent Evil sets the stage inside a disheveled World, softly lit by the moonlight overrunning its foliage and blanketing corridors with darkness.
“Bizerta : SILENT Evil” for Wii U is the story of Ash Lightheart drawn by the mystical power of the City called Bizerta. Ash was 15-years-old but one day, he woke up in a dark world as a 30-year-old man. You have to explore this world, slinking through a large creepy, and seemingly empty, building to find out what happened. The title will use extensively the Wii U GamePad’s touch screen for puzzle solving, unlocking doors, and other mini games and mechanism interactions.”

In 2015 Cubed3 also published an interview with Edrox Interactive, unveiling their hopes for the project:

“Randy: Can be tough, at times, the way the market swings, it’s completely unpredictable. Can you go into any details about the disruption you were faced with before coming over to Nintendo?
Ouissem: The biggest issue on Vita is that I have a PSM license so I can only publish a game with limited size on their store, which is 1 GB. That’s simply not enough for my game. Actually, many people asked them for more but Sony kept ignoring them, so I feel that the PSM program is more suited for mini games or something casual, not for a horror adventure.
Randy: Earlier you hinted that you missed puzzles specifically in the horror genre, can Nintendo gamers expect to challenge puzzle based obstacles in Silent Evil or is it more geared to providing action oriented elements?
Ouissem: That’s my goal actually – to try and combine these two elements. I won’t make it easier for people to get out of this nightmare!
Randy Freer: Are there additional playable characters in the cast or does Silent Evil focus on a single protagonist?
Ouissem: Only one playable Character.”

As far as we can understand, the game was in development by one single developer, so it’s safe to say that it became a project too ambitious for his small resources. As of April 2020 Edrox Interactive website is still online: could we see Bizerta released on other consoles or PC one day?

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