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Nintendo, SNES + Super Famicom

Kaboom: the Mad Bomber returns [SNES – Cancelled]

monokoma
21-11-2009
1 Comment

Kaboom: The Mad Bomber Returns (also know as Kaboom! 2) is a cancelled action game that was in development in 1993 / 1994 by High Voltage Software / Activision (?) for the Super Nintendo. The game was based on the original Kaboom! for the Atari 2006. Gameplay in the original Kaboom! consists of using a paddle controller controller to catch bombs dropped by the “Mad Bomber”, so we can assume that the SNES version was going to be similar.

A prototype of Kaboom SNES was found in 2001 by an user of the Atari Age forum:

It look’s to pretty much to be a “Technology Demo”. Good at best. Very repetetive. There’s some-sort of mad doctor on a flying carpet, throwing down bombs to a kid who runs back ‘n’ forth trying to catch them. Not very impressive and very slow. […] This version look’s as though it was done by High Voltage Software.

Celine was able to find a couple of screens in Game Power (an italian magazine) issue 20, while some other info were found by Zwackery from the Atari Age Forum, in VideoGames magazine (vol. V, no. 11, Nov 1993). As we can read from the VGM article, Kaboom:  The Mad Bomber Returns was shown at the summer CES  1991 in Chicago, along with the cancelled “River Raid: The Mission of No Return” remake.

It seems that “both got killed because the developers couldn’t push the SNES boundaires with either one” as noted by Klove in the Atari Age Forum.

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32X / Mega CD, Saturn, Sega

Battletech: Gray Death Legion [Saturn/Mega CD – Cancelled]

monokoma
16-11-2009
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Battletech: Gray Death Legion is a cancelled mech game that was in development for the Saturn and Sega Mega CD at Absolute Entertainment in 1995, before the closure of the company. The project was based on a fictional mercenary company that exists within the fictional BattleTech Universe and probably the gameplay was going to be similar to other mech games, with mission-based levels and first person shooter view.

It’s currently unknown if the Saturn version was similar to the Sega Mega CD one or if they were 2 different games. A playable beta demo of the Sega Mega CD version was leaked somehow and it’s available at Good Deal Games. As we can read from the description:

The Gray Death Legion is a mercenary regiment within the Battletech universe. This game demo does not have audio, but is very playable and a blast at that! The game plays very similar to the excellent AH-3 Thunderstrike. Battletech: Gray Death Legion makes use of the Sega CD’s scaling and rotation hardware to create an impressive 3D environment with a smooth frame rate. Features a very long 3D animated Battletech intro that is also very impressive.

Thanks to Celine for the contribution (scan from GamePro #79)!

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Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando [PS2 – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors
13-11-2009
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Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (aka Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded in certain PAL regions) is a 3D platformer/shooter developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. Going Commando was approved for development five months before the first game’s release, after highly positive reviews from the original’s playtesters. In August 2002, Insomniac Games started designing the visual concepts for Going Commando, while still fixing bugs in the original game. [Info from Wikipedia]

In the early screens of the game we can notice some graphic differences, especially for the HUD and the weapon designs. Also, the slot machines that should be in one of the levels are blank in the beta version. The launcher model was used for a sort of flamethrower weapon, but there wasn’t a flamethrower in the final game, just a firey-rock thrower and a gun with a stream of magma. There is also a beta Sniper Rifle and a beta Blitz Gun.

In the image with the glass tubes, the level is at night instead than to be during day like  in the final version. Also, something in the background looks like a tree… and an odd one at that. The gladiators in the arena were pink, while in the final they’re green. As we can see from a beta trailer from MegaLamb YT account, all of the MegaCorp crates were  still “Gadgetron” crates at that stage of development.

In the first beta video below, one major thing is at about 1:11: that weapon looks like NOTHING in the game. The graphics aren’t the same, but it does have the same general effect as the Zodiac. They both blow EVERYTHING up around them.

In BOTH videos, you can see two different versions of the SAME area. In the first video, it’s at 1:00 and in the second, it’s at 0:49. Also, in the second video the boss life meters are different from the final ones. Also in the final game  you can unlock an area called the “Insomniac Museum”, that is full of  beta-info and unseen-models! You can check a tour in the Insomniac Museum in the videos below, thanks to Bowserenemy and ScottishDuck17 YT channels. In Bowserenemy first R&C: Going Commando video you can even see the glitch way to reach the Insomniac Musem!

You can check the Ratchet & Clank Beta topic in the U64 Forum for more info!

Thanks to Bowsersenemy for the contribution!

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Microsoft, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

Cops [X360/PS3 – Cancelled]

monokoma
04-11-2009
3 Comments

Cops: The Police Experience is a cancelled action game that was in development at Pyro Studios from 2003 (early concepts and prototype) to 2008, that would have been  published for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. As we can read on Anait Games, in december 2008 the studio laid off 30 employees just before the xmas holiday and the Cops project was officially canned. With the cancellation of Cops, Pyro Studios was then able to concentrated their resources on the “Planet 51” game, based on the the animated film created by Illion Studios and planned to be published by Sega  in winter 2009.

Another rumored cancelled Pyro project was known as “InZero” but it’s currently unknown if the 2 projects were somewhat related.

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Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Project Hermes [PS2 – Cancelled]

monokoma
03-11-2009
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Project Hermes is the code name of a cancelled platform game that was in development at Lucas Learning in 2001. The game was going to be the “spiritual successor” to Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing, using super deformed characters from the Star Wars universe. It seems that the project was stopped early in development and only a small prototype was created before the cancellation.

Thanks to Jar for the contribution!

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