News on Cancelled Video Games & Lost Media

Junguru Taitei 64 was to be a tie-in to the famous manga series marketed in the USA as Kimba the Lion, or Jungle Emperor Leo, (Nintendo Power Volume 97, page 104). The game, made with the involvement of both Shigeru Miyamoto and Osamu Tezuka son’s Makoto,was announced at Space World 1996, but it is unknown if the game was going to be released for the Nintendo 64 or for the 64DD (64 Power, Ausgabe 2/98, page 13). Technically breathtaking for the time, Junguru Taitei was going to be a faithful rendition of the show.

In a video presented at Space World 1997, Kimba ran across grasslands and rivers, ending, after meeting with his friends on the way, at the famous rock from the anime. The game was going to be an action adventure like Zelda, where you could explore a vast territory and encounter the various characters of the show. Unfortunately, the game was cancelled, specifically because of issues with Makoto. Miyamoto said in a interview that Nintendo asked Makoto to direct the game, but the son of the great mangaka was too busy with other projects. Makoto was also very inexperienced with videogames. The development may also have run into problems caused by the Nintendo 64 itself. It was quietly cancelled late in the N64’s life.

[spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/]Conosciuto in italia sotto il nome di “Kimba, Il Leone Bianco”, Jungle Taitei è una famosa serie di manga, disegnati dal maestro Osamu Tezuka (Astroboy, Black Jack), usciti per la prima volta in giappone nel 1965. Da noi Kimba ebbe successo grazie al cartone animato, trasmesso a partire dal 1978, che riusci ad appassionare diverse generazioni di ragazzi, divenendo un vero e proprio cult. E’ facile capire l’importanza di questo Emperor Of The Jungle 64, il videogame tratto dal manga, che fu annunciato allo Shoshinkai del 1996. Non sappiamo se il titolo fosse stato pensato per 64DD o per il semplice N64.

Kimba 64 era uno dei progetti più interessanti in sviluppo per la console Nintendo, seguito direttamente dallo stesso Myamoto, con la collaborazione di Makoto Tezuka, il figlio di Osamu. Graficamente impressionante per l’epoca e l’hardware a 64 bit, in Jungle Taitei sarebbe stato possibile esplorare enormi aree, con foreste tropicali, praterie e zone montuose. In un video del gioco, mostrato allo Space World del 1997, Kimba correva fra prati e fiumi, incontrando altri animali, fino ad arrivare ad una misteriosa roccia, dalla forma simile alla madre del piccolo leone. Il gioco avrebbe dovuto essere un’avventura d’azione in stile Zelda, in cui visitare il mondo ed interagire con tutti i personaggi tratti dal manga.

Purtroppo il gioco fu abbandonato, sopratutto a causa dei problemi nella collaborazione con Makoto Tezuka. Come ammesso da Myamoto durante un’intervista (riferendosi a Jungle Taitei 64 in maniera implicita), Nintendo aveva chiesto a Makoto di dirigere il videogame, ma il figlio di Osamu era troppo impegnato in altri progetti, per riuscire a concentrarsi realmente sul design di questa versione per N64. Makoto inoltre non aveva precedenti esperienze in campo di videogiochi, fatto che non aiutò certo l’organizzazione generale. I lavori sul titolo si prolungarono per troppo tempo ed a causa dell’impossibilità di arrivare ad una sua conclusione, si decise di abbandonare il progetto. Jungle Taitei 64 era potenzialmente un gioco molto interessante e la sua cancellazione non può che lasciarci davvero dispiaciuti.

Intro a cura di monokoma[/spoiler]

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Emperor of the Jungle:

Nintendo, Nintendo 64 & 64DD

Resident Evil Zero [N64 – Cancelled]

yota

04-04-2008

4 Comments

Bio Hazard Zero was going to be the first title of the saga of Resident Evil to appear exclusively on the Nintendo 64, after a perfect conversion of the second episode on cartridge (inclusive of all FMV). As the title suggests, the plot was developed on the events that brought the team the first Resident Evil BRAVO Team to disperse in the famous villa.

English translation by 8PM

Zero was first unveiled during the Tokyo Game Show in 2000. It was believed by the developers that the N64’s cartridge-based media would be more capable in handling the item dropping and partner zapping systems proposed for the game than the disc-based media used by the PlayStation and Dreamcast, due to the lack of loading times. However, production of the game shifted from the Nintendo 64 to the GameCube as a result of the transition to sixth generation consoles. Since the GameCube made use of a disc-based media, the programmers were forced to rely on clever programming methods to shorten the loading times. The graphics were improved dramatically due to the platform change.

In contrast to other known Resident Evil prototypes, which have been known to go through massive changes during production, the story and settings remained mostly unchanged in the released version. Rebecca’s original character design featured her wearing a beret instead of the red bandanna she wears in the original game. In the released GameCube version, she uses the same design from the previously released GameCube remake of Resident Evil.

[Info from Wikipedia]

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Nintendo, Nintendo 64 & 64DD

Riqa [N64 – Cancelled]

yota

04-04-2008

4 Comments

Few details are know about the Riqa project, another famous unseen for the Nintendo 64. Developed by Bits Studios, it was presented for the first time at E3 1999 in playable form. Defined as the “N64 Tomb Rider” as stated by Nintendo, Riqa would have dealt Third-Person Shooter Action mixed with exploration, with Riqa (the woman character controlled by the player) up against both humans and monsters. With impressive graphics for its time, an immersive storyline, complicated levels full of action, including shootings and puzzles to solve, Riqa was going to be a new killer application for the N64.

Unfortunately, the game has never seen light on the 64-bit, for the continuing delayed release dates, which led to the cancellation of the title. Many think that the general concept of Riqa, has then evolved in Rogue Ops, another game developed by Bits Studios and released in 2003, published by Kemko. The title was just a discrete Action Game, released on the Game Cube, Xbox and PS2.

English translation by 8PM

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Nintendo, Nintendo 64 & 64DD

F-Zero X [N64 – Beta]

monokoma

04-04-2008

3 Comments

It seems that the few beta images of F-zero that we have aren’t that different from the final screenshots. But,after all, what could have changed in a game where the only graphical elements are virtually the spaceships and the track ? The hub, obviuously. The power bar was red, the map, the laps and the ranking data were still missing, the speed indicator was different, and there were some mysterious numbers in the down left side of screen.

Thanks to WarioNX for the contribution!

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Final Version:

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The beta movie was taken from the video seen at Nintendo SpaceWorld ’97. You can see a later beta version of F-Zero X.
It didn’t change soo much : the only things that are different from the final version are:

Some textures
Some tracks
The explosion of a ship
The hud (in the top shows like “30th” and not “30/30”)
The health bar

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Nintendo, Nintendo 64 & 64DD

Super Mario Kart R [N64 – Beta]

yota

04-04-2008

3 Comments

On the 24 November 1995, Nintendo finally presented the final version of the Ultra 64, (renamed “Nintendo 64” because of copyright problem) at the Shoshinkai Software Exhibition. Among the thirty titles shown in playable form or in video (including Star Fox and Wave Race) one of the most interesting was Super Mario Kart R, an early beta version of our favorite kart-game.

Compared to other games that were shown at the Shoshinkai that year, it could be said that Mario Kart R was almost complete, since there appears to be no particular changes in the track design, but the differences for the playable characters are interesting. You can notice that Kami Koopa (Magic Koopa) was a playable character in the game instead of Donkey Kong and the “Character Select” screen had different avatars. Also, the multiplayer split screen could have been set to horizontally or vertically, but this option was removed in the final version (but implemented in Double Dash). The “Item Boxes” were different too and various other little graphic details (like the HUD) were changed before the game was published,

Also, the Feather item from the original Super Mario Kart, was meant to be used in Mario Kart 64 too, as you can see from one of the screenshots in the gallery below (in the image with the 4 player mode, Toad has it in his item HUD). The Feather would have let the player to jump very high, to reach new shortcuts or to avoid obstacles.

Thanks to Princess Toadstool for the contribution!

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