Racing

Microsoft, Xbox

Banjo-Kazoomie [Xbox – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors
14-12-2011
4 Comments

Banjo-Kazoomie was a prototype for the original Xbox which was started at Rare Ltd. in 2004. Players were able to construct their karts out of different parts, therefore after it was cancelled the concept may have evolved into Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, which was released on Xbox 360 four years later.

Brendan Gunn about this project:

“I’ve always wanted to do a racing game. I got to spend two weeks working on a prototype racing game for the Xbox. It was codenamed ‘Banjo-Kazoomie’, and it was a kind of kart racer, but you constructed the karts out of different parts, so I guess it was kind of a precursor to ‘Nuts & Bolts’. But for those two weeks I was doing the driving mechanics for it”

Special thanks to DKVine and RareMinion.com!

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Game Boy, Nintendo

Trail Blazer (Death Track) [GameBoy – Cancelled]

monokoma
10-12-2011
6 Comments
TrailBlazers, aka Death Track is a canceled and unreleased game being developed by Argonaut for the GameBoy. It’s currently unknown why this got canceled and unreleased. It was being licensed by Activision, but developed by the famous Argonaut Games, hence it being in wireframe 3D. This game takes a 3rd person approach to the track, and only offers one camera setting.  An interesting note is the combat elements in the game and the upgrade system before each race. You can purchase engine upgrades, homing missiles, oil slicks, mines, and the like. While in race, you can press select to rotate through your defenses, and press up on the D-Pad to deploy them. It feels like if the game had seen a release, it would have pushed the GB to it’s limits, as only Argonaut knew how to do.
If you are more questions, contact Digmac at obscuregamers.com or assemblergames.com

Thanks to Celine we can see a screenshot of Trail Blazer, found in Joypad magazine issue #8.

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Others, PC / MAC, Playstation, Sony

Professional Sportscar Racing [PSX/PC – Beta?]

monokoma
25-04-2011
6 Comments

Update: thanks to Anonymous we found out that this game was released as “Sportscar GT” by Electronic Arts, that bought out Virgin Interactive. The screens below could still be different from the final game, so let us know if you see any differences!

In 1997 / 1998 Virgin Interactive were working on a new racing game for the original Playstation and PC know as “Professional Sportscar Racing” but it seems that the project was never released. The game was based on the license for the pro organization of the same name, a competition that was sponsored by the same Virgin Interactive.  Maybe Virgin had some problems with the PSR  license and the development could have been stopped. In the original press release we can read:

Fast driving, intensely competitive Grand Touring racing simulation game. For the player’s driving pleasure, all of the dream cars racing in the 1998 season of the Professional SportsCar championship will be authentically re-created including the internationally famous Panoz Esperante.

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Microsoft, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Dragon Booster [PS2 / XBOX – Cancelled]

monokoma
16-01-2011
2 Comments

Dragon Booster is a cancelled racing / combat game based on a canadian animated series first broadcast in 2004. The cartoon follows the story of young Artha Penn, a boy who rides Beaucephalis (or “Beau” for short), the dragon of legend. He becomes a Dragon Booster, a hero to protect the world from the impending Dragon-Human war, and to unite humans and dragons for all time. [Info from Wikipedia]

In 2003 Eden Games were working on this project for the Playstation 2 and Xbox, but the game was later cancelled for unknown reasons. A DS version was released in 2005, but it was developed by Konami (KCE Hawaii).

Thanks to Hey Hey for the contribution!

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coming soon 

Game Boy Advance (GBA), Nintendo

Banjo Pilot [GBA – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors
08-06-2010
No Comments

Banjo-Pilot is a handheld racer developed by Rare Ltd. and published by THQ in 2005. Originally, Nintendo announced it as Diddy Kong Pilot in 2001. When they sold their share of Rare Ltd. to Microsoft (2002), they opted out of their publishing contract. As the Donkey Kong IP is a property of Nintendo, they could no longer release the game in this state.

In late 2003, THQ decided to publish the four Rare GBA titles, including Diddy Kong Pilot – now reskinned with Banjo characters. By this time, most members of the original team had either left the company or been moved onto Xbox titles. Reskinning Diddy Kong Pilot was now the task for the remaining members of the handheld team who thought it would be easier to make a game from scratch. A voxel based racing title was  developed, which can be seen in our gallery. After five months (mid 2004), however, the team was asked to stop working on this version. Instead, they were meant to revive and finish the previous team’s Mode 7 game for Q3 2004, but without the tilt sensor which was announced for Diddy Kong Plot. In 2005, Banjo-Pilot finally saw a release.

Special thanks for the information and videos to transparentjinjo!

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