I like to think of myself as a pioneer when it comes to gaming, going beyond the boundaries to try and discover what lies behind them. It could be something amazing, or could be something completely strange. Lost games are something that fascinates me. Lost games are games that are completely gone within just a few days. They come into our lives, stay for a bit, and disappear without a trace. I like to imagine lost games as being different from cancelled games, because then I’d be thinking of Silent Hills and how bastardized of a company Konami is. But, anyway, this list is all about games and what is lost in them. Whether it’s a cutscene, prototype, or an entire game over all. These are just lost or forgotten things in games that fascinated me enough to make a list of them. So, let’s get on with it.
#20: Yeah Yeah Beebiss
Back in my day, before all these video games, we had these fascinating little things called magazines. One of them being about video games and computer entertainment, creatively named Video Games and Computer Entertainment Magazine… couldn’t think of a better name. Anyway, each magazine had a mail order listing multiple games that were released around the time. They were all typical NES games that came out around that time. Then, you notice something a bit strange. One of the games was this one called Yeah Yeah Beebiss. What makes this one odd is that there were no games that were released called Yeah Yeah Beebiss. This was a completely unreleased game, so no one knew how it got in the mail listing or why. The game appeared once again in June, and again in October in Funco magazine. It continued to appear in magazines until 1990, where it disappeared completely. No one knows if this was a real game or just a typo, and no information has surfaced since.
#19: Sonic X-Treme
Okay, let’s get this over with before I start talking about Sonic Boom again. Sonic X-Treme wasn’t the first lost Sonic game, and it sure as Shigeru wasn’t the last (Crap. Shigeru Miyamoto isn’t even with Sega. Screw this joke). Getting back on topic, the game jumped across multiple Sega consoles, from Genesis to the goddamn poison mushroom known as the 32X. It was known as Sonic Mars before, and was made to take place in the same universe as the Sonic SatAM cartoon, but was eventually scrapped, leading to the creation of Sonic X-Treme. The game was said to have some new characters and a new story for the Sonic universe. And so, the game began its first day in development hell. Progress was slowed down completely, and lead to the game being restarted from scratch. This soon lead to the creator of NiGHTS into Dreams, Yuji Naka, threatening to quit. The game was eventually shelved and was replaced with Sonic 3D Blast, a game that ranged from tolerable to freaking insulting. Lot’s of information has been found, and Sonic fans are still dedicated today to finding info on this game and trying to get it released. Honestly, I think this game failed for one reason… It was a Saturn game. What did you expect?
#18: Metroid 64
Metroid has become quite a beloved game in the Nintendo franchise for being a whole lot darker than most of Nintendo’s family-friendly titles. Yeah, no more going around saving princesses and catching little creatures in the grass. Your fighting threatening aliens in space, where no one can hear you scream. However, for some reason, there was never a Metroid game released on the Nintendo 64. It made many confused as to why that was the case. The closest Metroid got to being on the N64 was freaking Super Smash Bros. However, there were rumors that such a game existed. People believe that a beta for Super Metroid was made for the N64 before being released on the Gamecube instead as Metroid Prime. There were rumors of Nintendo working on a new game different from other Metroid games, but this was proven false. There was a game said to be worked on by a third-party company, but is false as well. There is also one where Metroid was released on the 64DD, and was cancelled since the 64DD died out. There is neither proof to prove or disprove this theory, so it is up for debate.
#17: Monster Party Unreleased Prototype
Thanks to Jontron, Monster Party gained quite the popularity for being a completely weird game. You go around and try to beat the crap out of flying tempura shrimp with a baseball bat. Yeah, it is a messed up game. However, in the original Japanese prototype, they had a lot of monster icons from several different movies. Due to these movie icons, they would have been hit with copyright like it was Youtube, so they had to take the icons out. They also had to censor the blood in the game due to American censorship. The blood on the title screen was replaced with green slime, and bosses like the Gremlin being changed to a cat, and the ape from Planet of the Apes was changed to jack-o-lantern. The title music was even changed when compared to the Famicom version. Why are there so many changes. Copyright, I understand, but why change the music? Maybe it was due to copyright as well.
#16: Grand Theft Auto 64
Here’s one that is a bit hard to talk about, due to little information. Now, seeing as how Rockstar and Nintendo are completely different companies, they both are the best of friends, respecting each other’s work and gladly helping out the other in their business. This is proven in the release of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS, a game that was both a success for game sales and DS sales. However, there was a time when Grand Theft Auto was planned to be released on the Nintendo 64. It was said to be a remake of the very first Grand Theft Auto game, said with enhanced graphics, new levels, and different characters to play as, giving a new experience to the first game. However, for unknown reasons, the game was cancelled and never made it to store shelves. No one knows why the game was cancelled, and it will most likely stay that way.
#15: Akira Video Game
Akira was an incredibly successful animated Japanese film that aired on New Years Day 1988, with characters that had realistic facial expressions and animation that was insanely impressive at the time. It was insane. But for some reason, no games were released to profit off the game’s success. Seriously, early year otakus had no way of experiencing Akira in the ways that only video games could have them experience it. That is, until development for the game started in the year 1994. The game was planned to release on… Well, what WASN’T it being released on? Anyway, thanks to Jim Gregory, who worked on the game, we got some info on it. He said that the game was given to THQ to work on. The lead programmer was angered that he couldn’t put his ideas into the game due to limitations, and left the creation of the game, which was a huge part of the game’s cancellation. The team was able to make a master copy of the game, but no longer has it and believe that it is currently owned by the creator of Akira. Only 30% of the game was completed when the lead programmer left, and soon led to the game being cancelled. This is probably one of the most complete games on here, as there are videos and screenshots of this game being put up everywhere, yet no ROM or copies have come up.
#14: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream Uncut
Oh yes, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, one of the greatest and scariest point-and-click horror games, based off the short story of the same name by Harlan Ellison. The game was a very creepy psychological thriller about an intelligent computer named AM, who is hateful towards humans, wiping out all but the five survivors, Gorrister, Benny, Nimdok, Ellen, and Ted, who AM keeps alive to torture. The game was both disturbing and depressing, but is believed to be even worse than what it was shown originally. This was shown in the British TV show GameMaster, where they did a Gore Special in 1995, showing gory and violent scenes from games at the time. One of the games being I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. The locker with beef hanging from hooks now had human corpses, the jackal that eats a heart is replaced with a puppy, Ellen is killed near a yellow wall instead of an elevator, and Benny eats an infant… I don’t need to explain why that last one was taken out. Though these scenes do exist, it is not possible to find the version of this game that has these violent scenes still in them, as they were most likely taken out to avoid controversy
#13: Luigi’s Mansion Beta
Oh yes, Luigi’s Mansion. And underrated game but beloved by all those who have played it. It was one of the first games made for the Gamecube and is still a fun game today. However, when this game was first announced, it was a whole lot different of a game than what was released. Like all Nintendo games, it was a family friendly game with many ghosts, ghouls, and spooky scary skeletons… okay, just the one skeleton… In the backyard. Anyway, the major difference of the game was that it was meant to be 3D, but was changed due to the Gamecube addons. There were also bosses that were removed, like a chef that threw tomatoes, and a ghost that resembled a hunter that said he would kill Luigi and mount his head… This was shown in the freaking trailer. The game was also going to have a 24 hour time limit, to add even more stress to the game already. There was also a ghost tracker that would allow you to easily find ghosts. Many have claimed to own the full beta, but like a politician’s promises, it’s nothing but a bunch of lies. The closest to the beta are some Japanese versions of the game, as it wasn’t as finished as the North American versions.
#12: Dinosaur Planet
Back when Rare was still having a purpose to exists and wasn’t Microsoft’s slave, they were making good quality games like Goldeneye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and Perfect Dark. But, there was one game that was never released… well, technically, it was, but not the original idea. Dinosaur Planet was a game that started production back in 1999. It was shown in E3, giving off the combat and the different huge levels. The game followed to anthropomorphic foxes named Sabre and Crystal as they explored a planet that was inhabited by dinosaurs… obviously. Both of them having different stories and being completely different in combat and character. However, in the year 2002, Nintendo and Rare decided to change the entire game to Star Fox Adventures. Sabre was changed to Fox McCloud, cutscenes were taken out, and the entire final boss fight was completely removed. Sad, given the fact that Dinosaur Planet could have been better than Star Fox Adventures… Then again, anything would have been better than Star Fox Adventures. And don’t worry, this isn’t the last we’ve heard of lost games by Rareware.
#11: Bully Jimmy’s Death
Bully is probably the lowest it will go on the ESRB ratings, as this is the only T rated game they’ve made of recent years. Bully follows Jimmy Hopkins as he attends Bullworth Academy and tries to bring peace between the Jocks, Preppies, and Nerds while fighting off his school rival Gary. It was a simple but amazing game despite being different from Rockstar’s usual games. However, this game was once made to be much darker. Some of the things include using more foul language, and being able to buy items from an adult store. However, the most interesting change is the fact that Jimmy could have died in the original game. In the final fight with Gary, instead of fighting on a scaffolding, Jimmy was originally going to fight Gary in a power plant. If Jimmy failed in beating Gary, Jimmy would have fallen into a pool of acid and died. No such thing is found in the original game, but thanks to Youtuber deadpoolXYZ, we got to see a recreation of what it would have looked like… It was as disturbing as you’d expect it to be.
#10: Twelve Tales: Conker 64
Conker’s Bad Fur Day has become a beloved classic amongst N64 owners for it’s raunchy humor and being so much more violent and dirty than most kids games that Rare had made. First Banjo-Kazooie, now drunk squirrels with alcohol abuse and talking piles of literal crap. But, would you believe me if I said Conker was never meant to be an M rated game… I mean, this is a list of lost games, so anything's possible really. Twelve Tales, also known as Conker’s Quest, is a game that was the original Conker’s Bad Fur Day. This game was made to be a sequel to Conker’s Pocket Tales… You know, that game no one remembers. When the game was shown, oh god, there was some angry people. They were all mad, because Rare was just making another Banjo-Kazooie clone. So, Rare said, “You know what. Let’s make it as adult as possible”... Well, as adult as poo and boob jokes are, but you get the idea. In 2012, footage of Conker’s Quest came into existence, showing Berri as a playable character, and even having a 4 player multiplayer mode, yet there is still no ROM today.
#9: Eddsworld: Kid Thulu
For those of you have not heard of Eddsworld, WATCH IT! Seriously! It’s great! But seriously, Eddsworld is an animated webseries by the deceased Edd Gould, and has gain quite a reputation on the internet. So much in fact that there was a game said to be released on it. Edd himself said that the game was going to be created by him, with help by Psycosis91 and The Waves. The game was in development for some time, and was later dubbed Kid Thulu. However, after it was given the name, in late September, updates for the games stopped, and screenshots stopped appearing. Fans of Eddsworld made a forum to not give up hope that the game will be out one day… the forum is no longer up. With the game still being in development hell since 2009 (That’s seven whole years), it’s most likely that this game will never be finished.
#8: Mean Girls DS
I’m sure you are all thinking of one thing. “Wind… What the hell is this?” Honestly, I have no idea. I rarely paid attention to the entirety of Mean Girls, but my mother, my sister, and the majority of female students at my school love it. I guess my stupid male brain couldn’t comprehend the genius that is Mean Girls, but whatever. First thing to note is that Lindsay Lohan, who starred in the film, didn’t appear on the cover. I guess they predicted her lawsuit towards Rockstar and wanted to avoid that trainwreck by any means necessary. The game was believed to be a financial failure, with very few copies being made. No one can find the game anywhere, yet it can be found on Best Buy’s website. It was said to be released in Europe, but no U.S. release, as it was cancelled at the last minute. More screenshots have recently been found of the game, thanks to Youtuber Rebeltaxi finding a web page filled with screenshots of the game.
#7: 40 Winks N64
I… Have no idea what to say to start this one off. 40 Winks is a game created by EuroCom, who worked on other classics like Duke Nukem, Crash Bash, Earthworm Jim, and a bunch of crappy TV show and movie based games. 40 Winks was originally a PS1 game with scores that ranged from tolerable to “Oh god, get that away from me”. So, in order to get more money, EuroCom decided to expand the game on to the N64. They managed to work hard and finish the game, even getting a review from Nintendo Magazine. However, in 1999, IGN said that they could never see 40 Winks making an N64 release. The creators of the game began to debate with the rest of EuroCom if they should even bother with releasing the game. The carts were ready to be shipped, yet instead of shipping them off and waiting for the money to come in, they cancelled the game and left it to be forgotten. ROMs of the game have been created, yet the reason for the game’s cancellation despite being ready to sell is still unknown
#6: Earthbound 64
Earthbound was a very beloved game back in the day. It was colorful and childish, yet still managed to touch on dark subjects in the world, like cults, police brutality, and modernism. Quite a dark game that hides behind such colorful visuals. So, after the SNES version was a success, Nintendo began to work on Earthbound for the N64… DD…. Oh boy, this again. It was going to start off on the N64DD, but had to deal with console limitations at the time. Before the game could come out, the N64DD was a commercial failure, did not get shipped overseas, and Earthbound 64 was to then be worked on for the usual N64. However, the crew behind the game had never worked with 3D models before and had no idea what to do. The game kept being pushed back over and over again until it was eventually cancelled. The game soon became Mother 3 and was made in the year 2006 in Japan only. All that waiting, and it never came to America. Goddamnit
#5: Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill
I have no idea what this is. Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill is a game that was made for the SNES and the Sega Genesis, following Bill Clinton’s pet cat, Socks. The game had ads and commercials everywhere, yet it was cancelled. The creators say it was because the publishers went out of business, but some say it was due to the political satire that would have been taken harshly at the time. The game would follow Socks the Cat as he tries to stop spies who have infiltrated the White House to steal plans for nuclear bombs. Only one prototype existed, and that was in the hands of DreamTR, real name Jason Wilson. Jason uploaded a video, intentionally making it blurry as hell to troll those who wish to see the real game. This soon lead to people being outraged and badly wanted to do things to this guy that wouldn’t be out of place in torture. Though Jason refused to create a ROM of the game, he said he would either sell if for $5000, or trade it for a Medieval Madness arcade machine or a box and manual of Stadium Events on the NES. A forumer by the name of MinusWorlds bought the game, and said that he would have this game released to the public, but not in a ROM, and rather in reproduction cartridges. At least someone is doing something with this game.
#4: Hong Kong ‘97
Thanks to a certain angry nerd, this game has managed to rise in popularity in recent years, but is still a missing game no matter what. The game was created by the company HappySoft, with Hong Kong ‘97 being their only game created, and it definitely shows. The game was finished in literally one week, and was handed out to retail stores across the country, yet no one would take it. The company was so desperate to sell copies, that they ended up putting an ad to help sell their game in the game itself. The game was given a “crappy game” review in every game magazine at the time. The game uses many insane choices for their game, such as having Coca-Cola as a background, fighting the severed head of Chinese statesman Deng Xiaoping, and using the photo of a real dead body as it’s game over screen. The game never made it out of China (Obviously) and was forever lost. It was also the first game to use the F word when describing communists, so… Yeah, it’s probably a good thing this game never made it overseas.
#3: Polybius
This is probably one of the most mysterious cases of a game ever. Polybius was an arcade game that was released in the 80s as a Tempest-like 2D shooter. The game was believed to cause amnesia, night terrors, seizures, and even suicides. Men in suits would also come to look at the game and would leave as soon as they entered. About a month after it arrived, it disappeared without a trace. No one knows what happened, or if it even existed, yet there are those who have said that they played the game. Not many credible sources and witnesses have come to tell about the game, but some who have played it say that it was like a puzzle/shooter with mazes in it. Forumers have said that it was possibly an experiment by the government, and it was only made more clear by the Youtube series Game Theory staring MatPat, who said that the game could have been involved with the CIA, who tested on Americans during MK Ultra. It is also hard to find the game. A real arcade machine was said to be found in 2011 in Newport, Oregon after someone found the machine inside a locker. The machine and photo vanished soon after, creating one of the biggest myths in gaming.
#2: Project Dream
Alright, the last of the Rare lost games. And this is probably one of the biggest ones. Rare started working on Project Dream back for the SNES, then moved up to the N64. It was meant to be an RPG following a boy with a wooden sword by the name of Edison who gets involved with a band of pirates, lead by Captain Blackeye, the game’s antagonist. Not much was known about the plot, and only the characters were mentioned. When the game was being worked on for the SNES, it was going to have the same modelling effects of Donkey Kong Country. The game’s composer, Grant Kirkhope, said that the game was beautiful and would be a step up from Donkey Kong Country… And now the sadness settles in. A game better than Donkey Kong Country that we’ll never get? That’s just lovely. Eventually, the game was not able to be supported by the SNES, and they decided to switch over to the N64. The game soon became a 3D RPG like Ocarina of Time. The crew then saw that Conker’s Quest and thought it would be a success (If only they knew), and so they decided to create a platformer with RPG elements, and instead of Edison, they used a bear as the protagonist, who would soon become Banjo. The game was eventually scrapped and they started over, leading to the creation of Banjo-Kazooie. The only proof of the existence of Project Dream is a screenshot of Edison standing in a pre-rendered background. All of the music that was created has not been completely salvaged, but most of Grant’s music has been uploaded to his website. Fans are still holding out for this game. So, would you like to live in a world where Project Dream was made, yet Banjo Kazooie never existed? That has got to be one of those really hard to answer life questions.
#1: Swordquest: Airworld
How far is a company willing to go to create both the greatest contest and biggest mistake ever? Atari managed to find a way. Swordquest was a series created by Atari back in the 80s, with four games planned to be released. These could have been simple puzzle games, where you explore the world around you and find codes in the comic book that came with the game, but Atari wanted to do more than that. Instead of just selling the game and taking the money, Atari soon created an entire contest following the Swordquest games. The four games including Earthworld, Fireworld, Waterworld, and Airworld. Each person who enters the contest would then compete to earn the grand prize. It could be something simple like a gift card or be mentioned in an upcoming game, but Atari had bigger plans than that. They actually handed out real treasures that were worth 25,000 REAL U.S. DOLLARS! I am not making this up. The first prize was a talisman. The second prize was a chalice. The third prize was be a crown. And the fourth prize was a philosopher’s stone. After all the four winners have claimed their prizes, they would then compete in the final contest, in order to win the grand prize, a $50,000 real sword. With such an insane and amazing contest at hand, how could you go wrong… Sadly, that is exactly what happened. Earthworld and Fireworld were won by Stephan Bell and Michael Rideout, one of them melting down their prize to sell the gold and pay off college. However, during the contest for Waterworld, things started to go bad. The Video Game Crash of 1983 was upon us, and Waterworld was subjected to poor sales. This caused the contest for the crown to be prematurely cancelled, with Airworld being cancelled overall. No one knows what had become of the crown, the philosopher's stone or the sword. An executive at Atari said that they once saw the sword hanging on the wall of former Atari CEO Jack Tramiel, yet no evidence has come up to prove it. Many have said that Airworld is still out there somewhere, and there are a few who still have the cartridges. Airworld was said to hold sixty-four rooms, based on a six digit number of ancient Chinese text, but was later changed to mini-games in each room. Airworld, along with the location of the three missing prizes, have become one of gamings biggest mysteries that is still being looked into even to this day.
Well, there you have it. Did you enjoy the list? Tell me what you thought of it. With that said, I will see you all next time.
#20: Yeah Yeah Beebiss
Back in my day, before all these video games, we had these fascinating little things called magazines. One of them being about video games and computer entertainment, creatively named Video Games and Computer Entertainment Magazine… couldn’t think of a better name. Anyway, each magazine had a mail order listing multiple games that were released around the time. They were all typical NES games that came out around that time. Then, you notice something a bit strange. One of the games was this one called Yeah Yeah Beebiss. What makes this one odd is that there were no games that were released called Yeah Yeah Beebiss. This was a completely unreleased game, so no one knew how it got in the mail listing or why. The game appeared once again in June, and again in October in Funco magazine. It continued to appear in magazines until 1990, where it disappeared completely. No one knows if this was a real game or just a typo, and no information has surfaced since.
#19: Sonic X-Treme
Okay, let’s get this over with before I start talking about Sonic Boom again. Sonic X-Treme wasn’t the first lost Sonic game, and it sure as Shigeru wasn’t the last (Crap. Shigeru Miyamoto isn’t even with Sega. Screw this joke). Getting back on topic, the game jumped across multiple Sega consoles, from Genesis to the goddamn poison mushroom known as the 32X. It was known as Sonic Mars before, and was made to take place in the same universe as the Sonic SatAM cartoon, but was eventually scrapped, leading to the creation of Sonic X-Treme. The game was said to have some new characters and a new story for the Sonic universe. And so, the game began its first day in development hell. Progress was slowed down completely, and lead to the game being restarted from scratch. This soon lead to the creator of NiGHTS into Dreams, Yuji Naka, threatening to quit. The game was eventually shelved and was replaced with Sonic 3D Blast, a game that ranged from tolerable to freaking insulting. Lot’s of information has been found, and Sonic fans are still dedicated today to finding info on this game and trying to get it released. Honestly, I think this game failed for one reason… It was a Saturn game. What did you expect?
#18: Metroid 64
Metroid has become quite a beloved game in the Nintendo franchise for being a whole lot darker than most of Nintendo’s family-friendly titles. Yeah, no more going around saving princesses and catching little creatures in the grass. Your fighting threatening aliens in space, where no one can hear you scream. However, for some reason, there was never a Metroid game released on the Nintendo 64. It made many confused as to why that was the case. The closest Metroid got to being on the N64 was freaking Super Smash Bros. However, there were rumors that such a game existed. People believe that a beta for Super Metroid was made for the N64 before being released on the Gamecube instead as Metroid Prime. There were rumors of Nintendo working on a new game different from other Metroid games, but this was proven false. There was a game said to be worked on by a third-party company, but is false as well. There is also one where Metroid was released on the 64DD, and was cancelled since the 64DD died out. There is neither proof to prove or disprove this theory, so it is up for debate.
#17: Monster Party Unreleased Prototype
Thanks to Jontron, Monster Party gained quite the popularity for being a completely weird game. You go around and try to beat the crap out of flying tempura shrimp with a baseball bat. Yeah, it is a messed up game. However, in the original Japanese prototype, they had a lot of monster icons from several different movies. Due to these movie icons, they would have been hit with copyright like it was Youtube, so they had to take the icons out. They also had to censor the blood in the game due to American censorship. The blood on the title screen was replaced with green slime, and bosses like the Gremlin being changed to a cat, and the ape from Planet of the Apes was changed to jack-o-lantern. The title music was even changed when compared to the Famicom version. Why are there so many changes. Copyright, I understand, but why change the music? Maybe it was due to copyright as well.
#16: Grand Theft Auto 64
Here’s one that is a bit hard to talk about, due to little information. Now, seeing as how Rockstar and Nintendo are completely different companies, they both are the best of friends, respecting each other’s work and gladly helping out the other in their business. This is proven in the release of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS, a game that was both a success for game sales and DS sales. However, there was a time when Grand Theft Auto was planned to be released on the Nintendo 64. It was said to be a remake of the very first Grand Theft Auto game, said with enhanced graphics, new levels, and different characters to play as, giving a new experience to the first game. However, for unknown reasons, the game was cancelled and never made it to store shelves. No one knows why the game was cancelled, and it will most likely stay that way.
#15: Akira Video Game
Akira was an incredibly successful animated Japanese film that aired on New Years Day 1988, with characters that had realistic facial expressions and animation that was insanely impressive at the time. It was insane. But for some reason, no games were released to profit off the game’s success. Seriously, early year otakus had no way of experiencing Akira in the ways that only video games could have them experience it. That is, until development for the game started in the year 1994. The game was planned to release on… Well, what WASN’T it being released on? Anyway, thanks to Jim Gregory, who worked on the game, we got some info on it. He said that the game was given to THQ to work on. The lead programmer was angered that he couldn’t put his ideas into the game due to limitations, and left the creation of the game, which was a huge part of the game’s cancellation. The team was able to make a master copy of the game, but no longer has it and believe that it is currently owned by the creator of Akira. Only 30% of the game was completed when the lead programmer left, and soon led to the game being cancelled. This is probably one of the most complete games on here, as there are videos and screenshots of this game being put up everywhere, yet no ROM or copies have come up.
#14: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream Uncut
Oh yes, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, one of the greatest and scariest point-and-click horror games, based off the short story of the same name by Harlan Ellison. The game was a very creepy psychological thriller about an intelligent computer named AM, who is hateful towards humans, wiping out all but the five survivors, Gorrister, Benny, Nimdok, Ellen, and Ted, who AM keeps alive to torture. The game was both disturbing and depressing, but is believed to be even worse than what it was shown originally. This was shown in the British TV show GameMaster, where they did a Gore Special in 1995, showing gory and violent scenes from games at the time. One of the games being I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. The locker with beef hanging from hooks now had human corpses, the jackal that eats a heart is replaced with a puppy, Ellen is killed near a yellow wall instead of an elevator, and Benny eats an infant… I don’t need to explain why that last one was taken out. Though these scenes do exist, it is not possible to find the version of this game that has these violent scenes still in them, as they were most likely taken out to avoid controversy
#13: Luigi’s Mansion Beta
Oh yes, Luigi’s Mansion. And underrated game but beloved by all those who have played it. It was one of the first games made for the Gamecube and is still a fun game today. However, when this game was first announced, it was a whole lot different of a game than what was released. Like all Nintendo games, it was a family friendly game with many ghosts, ghouls, and spooky scary skeletons… okay, just the one skeleton… In the backyard. Anyway, the major difference of the game was that it was meant to be 3D, but was changed due to the Gamecube addons. There were also bosses that were removed, like a chef that threw tomatoes, and a ghost that resembled a hunter that said he would kill Luigi and mount his head… This was shown in the freaking trailer. The game was also going to have a 24 hour time limit, to add even more stress to the game already. There was also a ghost tracker that would allow you to easily find ghosts. Many have claimed to own the full beta, but like a politician’s promises, it’s nothing but a bunch of lies. The closest to the beta are some Japanese versions of the game, as it wasn’t as finished as the North American versions.
#12: Dinosaur Planet
Back when Rare was still having a purpose to exists and wasn’t Microsoft’s slave, they were making good quality games like Goldeneye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and Perfect Dark. But, there was one game that was never released… well, technically, it was, but not the original idea. Dinosaur Planet was a game that started production back in 1999. It was shown in E3, giving off the combat and the different huge levels. The game followed to anthropomorphic foxes named Sabre and Crystal as they explored a planet that was inhabited by dinosaurs… obviously. Both of them having different stories and being completely different in combat and character. However, in the year 2002, Nintendo and Rare decided to change the entire game to Star Fox Adventures. Sabre was changed to Fox McCloud, cutscenes were taken out, and the entire final boss fight was completely removed. Sad, given the fact that Dinosaur Planet could have been better than Star Fox Adventures… Then again, anything would have been better than Star Fox Adventures. And don’t worry, this isn’t the last we’ve heard of lost games by Rareware.
#11: Bully Jimmy’s Death
Bully is probably the lowest it will go on the ESRB ratings, as this is the only T rated game they’ve made of recent years. Bully follows Jimmy Hopkins as he attends Bullworth Academy and tries to bring peace between the Jocks, Preppies, and Nerds while fighting off his school rival Gary. It was a simple but amazing game despite being different from Rockstar’s usual games. However, this game was once made to be much darker. Some of the things include using more foul language, and being able to buy items from an adult store. However, the most interesting change is the fact that Jimmy could have died in the original game. In the final fight with Gary, instead of fighting on a scaffolding, Jimmy was originally going to fight Gary in a power plant. If Jimmy failed in beating Gary, Jimmy would have fallen into a pool of acid and died. No such thing is found in the original game, but thanks to Youtuber deadpoolXYZ, we got to see a recreation of what it would have looked like… It was as disturbing as you’d expect it to be.
#10: Twelve Tales: Conker 64
Conker’s Bad Fur Day has become a beloved classic amongst N64 owners for it’s raunchy humor and being so much more violent and dirty than most kids games that Rare had made. First Banjo-Kazooie, now drunk squirrels with alcohol abuse and talking piles of literal crap. But, would you believe me if I said Conker was never meant to be an M rated game… I mean, this is a list of lost games, so anything's possible really. Twelve Tales, also known as Conker’s Quest, is a game that was the original Conker’s Bad Fur Day. This game was made to be a sequel to Conker’s Pocket Tales… You know, that game no one remembers. When the game was shown, oh god, there was some angry people. They were all mad, because Rare was just making another Banjo-Kazooie clone. So, Rare said, “You know what. Let’s make it as adult as possible”... Well, as adult as poo and boob jokes are, but you get the idea. In 2012, footage of Conker’s Quest came into existence, showing Berri as a playable character, and even having a 4 player multiplayer mode, yet there is still no ROM today.
#9: Eddsworld: Kid Thulu
For those of you have not heard of Eddsworld, WATCH IT! Seriously! It’s great! But seriously, Eddsworld is an animated webseries by the deceased Edd Gould, and has gain quite a reputation on the internet. So much in fact that there was a game said to be released on it. Edd himself said that the game was going to be created by him, with help by Psycosis91 and The Waves. The game was in development for some time, and was later dubbed Kid Thulu. However, after it was given the name, in late September, updates for the games stopped, and screenshots stopped appearing. Fans of Eddsworld made a forum to not give up hope that the game will be out one day… the forum is no longer up. With the game still being in development hell since 2009 (That’s seven whole years), it’s most likely that this game will never be finished.
#8: Mean Girls DS
I’m sure you are all thinking of one thing. “Wind… What the hell is this?” Honestly, I have no idea. I rarely paid attention to the entirety of Mean Girls, but my mother, my sister, and the majority of female students at my school love it. I guess my stupid male brain couldn’t comprehend the genius that is Mean Girls, but whatever. First thing to note is that Lindsay Lohan, who starred in the film, didn’t appear on the cover. I guess they predicted her lawsuit towards Rockstar and wanted to avoid that trainwreck by any means necessary. The game was believed to be a financial failure, with very few copies being made. No one can find the game anywhere, yet it can be found on Best Buy’s website. It was said to be released in Europe, but no U.S. release, as it was cancelled at the last minute. More screenshots have recently been found of the game, thanks to Youtuber Rebeltaxi finding a web page filled with screenshots of the game.
#7: 40 Winks N64
I… Have no idea what to say to start this one off. 40 Winks is a game created by EuroCom, who worked on other classics like Duke Nukem, Crash Bash, Earthworm Jim, and a bunch of crappy TV show and movie based games. 40 Winks was originally a PS1 game with scores that ranged from tolerable to “Oh god, get that away from me”. So, in order to get more money, EuroCom decided to expand the game on to the N64. They managed to work hard and finish the game, even getting a review from Nintendo Magazine. However, in 1999, IGN said that they could never see 40 Winks making an N64 release. The creators of the game began to debate with the rest of EuroCom if they should even bother with releasing the game. The carts were ready to be shipped, yet instead of shipping them off and waiting for the money to come in, they cancelled the game and left it to be forgotten. ROMs of the game have been created, yet the reason for the game’s cancellation despite being ready to sell is still unknown
#6: Earthbound 64
Earthbound was a very beloved game back in the day. It was colorful and childish, yet still managed to touch on dark subjects in the world, like cults, police brutality, and modernism. Quite a dark game that hides behind such colorful visuals. So, after the SNES version was a success, Nintendo began to work on Earthbound for the N64… DD…. Oh boy, this again. It was going to start off on the N64DD, but had to deal with console limitations at the time. Before the game could come out, the N64DD was a commercial failure, did not get shipped overseas, and Earthbound 64 was to then be worked on for the usual N64. However, the crew behind the game had never worked with 3D models before and had no idea what to do. The game kept being pushed back over and over again until it was eventually cancelled. The game soon became Mother 3 and was made in the year 2006 in Japan only. All that waiting, and it never came to America. Goddamnit
#5: Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill
I have no idea what this is. Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill is a game that was made for the SNES and the Sega Genesis, following Bill Clinton’s pet cat, Socks. The game had ads and commercials everywhere, yet it was cancelled. The creators say it was because the publishers went out of business, but some say it was due to the political satire that would have been taken harshly at the time. The game would follow Socks the Cat as he tries to stop spies who have infiltrated the White House to steal plans for nuclear bombs. Only one prototype existed, and that was in the hands of DreamTR, real name Jason Wilson. Jason uploaded a video, intentionally making it blurry as hell to troll those who wish to see the real game. This soon lead to people being outraged and badly wanted to do things to this guy that wouldn’t be out of place in torture. Though Jason refused to create a ROM of the game, he said he would either sell if for $5000, or trade it for a Medieval Madness arcade machine or a box and manual of Stadium Events on the NES. A forumer by the name of MinusWorlds bought the game, and said that he would have this game released to the public, but not in a ROM, and rather in reproduction cartridges. At least someone is doing something with this game.
#4: Hong Kong ‘97
Thanks to a certain angry nerd, this game has managed to rise in popularity in recent years, but is still a missing game no matter what. The game was created by the company HappySoft, with Hong Kong ‘97 being their only game created, and it definitely shows. The game was finished in literally one week, and was handed out to retail stores across the country, yet no one would take it. The company was so desperate to sell copies, that they ended up putting an ad to help sell their game in the game itself. The game was given a “crappy game” review in every game magazine at the time. The game uses many insane choices for their game, such as having Coca-Cola as a background, fighting the severed head of Chinese statesman Deng Xiaoping, and using the photo of a real dead body as it’s game over screen. The game never made it out of China (Obviously) and was forever lost. It was also the first game to use the F word when describing communists, so… Yeah, it’s probably a good thing this game never made it overseas.
#3: Polybius
This is probably one of the most mysterious cases of a game ever. Polybius was an arcade game that was released in the 80s as a Tempest-like 2D shooter. The game was believed to cause amnesia, night terrors, seizures, and even suicides. Men in suits would also come to look at the game and would leave as soon as they entered. About a month after it arrived, it disappeared without a trace. No one knows what happened, or if it even existed, yet there are those who have said that they played the game. Not many credible sources and witnesses have come to tell about the game, but some who have played it say that it was like a puzzle/shooter with mazes in it. Forumers have said that it was possibly an experiment by the government, and it was only made more clear by the Youtube series Game Theory staring MatPat, who said that the game could have been involved with the CIA, who tested on Americans during MK Ultra. It is also hard to find the game. A real arcade machine was said to be found in 2011 in Newport, Oregon after someone found the machine inside a locker. The machine and photo vanished soon after, creating one of the biggest myths in gaming.
#2: Project Dream
Alright, the last of the Rare lost games. And this is probably one of the biggest ones. Rare started working on Project Dream back for the SNES, then moved up to the N64. It was meant to be an RPG following a boy with a wooden sword by the name of Edison who gets involved with a band of pirates, lead by Captain Blackeye, the game’s antagonist. Not much was known about the plot, and only the characters were mentioned. When the game was being worked on for the SNES, it was going to have the same modelling effects of Donkey Kong Country. The game’s composer, Grant Kirkhope, said that the game was beautiful and would be a step up from Donkey Kong Country… And now the sadness settles in. A game better than Donkey Kong Country that we’ll never get? That’s just lovely. Eventually, the game was not able to be supported by the SNES, and they decided to switch over to the N64. The game soon became a 3D RPG like Ocarina of Time. The crew then saw that Conker’s Quest and thought it would be a success (If only they knew), and so they decided to create a platformer with RPG elements, and instead of Edison, they used a bear as the protagonist, who would soon become Banjo. The game was eventually scrapped and they started over, leading to the creation of Banjo-Kazooie. The only proof of the existence of Project Dream is a screenshot of Edison standing in a pre-rendered background. All of the music that was created has not been completely salvaged, but most of Grant’s music has been uploaded to his website. Fans are still holding out for this game. So, would you like to live in a world where Project Dream was made, yet Banjo Kazooie never existed? That has got to be one of those really hard to answer life questions.
#1: Swordquest: Airworld
How far is a company willing to go to create both the greatest contest and biggest mistake ever? Atari managed to find a way. Swordquest was a series created by Atari back in the 80s, with four games planned to be released. These could have been simple puzzle games, where you explore the world around you and find codes in the comic book that came with the game, but Atari wanted to do more than that. Instead of just selling the game and taking the money, Atari soon created an entire contest following the Swordquest games. The four games including Earthworld, Fireworld, Waterworld, and Airworld. Each person who enters the contest would then compete to earn the grand prize. It could be something simple like a gift card or be mentioned in an upcoming game, but Atari had bigger plans than that. They actually handed out real treasures that were worth 25,000 REAL U.S. DOLLARS! I am not making this up. The first prize was a talisman. The second prize was a chalice. The third prize was be a crown. And the fourth prize was a philosopher’s stone. After all the four winners have claimed their prizes, they would then compete in the final contest, in order to win the grand prize, a $50,000 real sword. With such an insane and amazing contest at hand, how could you go wrong… Sadly, that is exactly what happened. Earthworld and Fireworld were won by Stephan Bell and Michael Rideout, one of them melting down their prize to sell the gold and pay off college. However, during the contest for Waterworld, things started to go bad. The Video Game Crash of 1983 was upon us, and Waterworld was subjected to poor sales. This caused the contest for the crown to be prematurely cancelled, with Airworld being cancelled overall. No one knows what had become of the crown, the philosopher's stone or the sword. An executive at Atari said that they once saw the sword hanging on the wall of former Atari CEO Jack Tramiel, yet no evidence has come up to prove it. Many have said that Airworld is still out there somewhere, and there are a few who still have the cartridges. Airworld was said to hold sixty-four rooms, based on a six digit number of ancient Chinese text, but was later changed to mini-games in each room. Airworld, along with the location of the three missing prizes, have become one of gamings biggest mysteries that is still being looked into even to this day.
Well, there you have it. Did you enjoy the list? Tell me what you thought of it. With that said, I will see you all next time.