Even though a game may be canceled and/or lost to time, that doesn’t mean it is not important. Everything is important to preserving video game history, from the lowest phone game to magazines to trailers to the biggest games themselves. That’s why sites like Unseen64 and the somewhat newer formed Video Game History Foundation are so important.
Both of these companies find value in even the most obscure games. It is through their efforts, along with many others, that canceled and lost games can turn up. The following ten games were uncovered, or at least expanded upon, last year in 2020, from the NES all the way up to the modern age.
10 Retro’s Zelda Game
Last year, a former artist at Retro Studios, Sammy Hall, uploaded some concept art for a Sheik-based spinoff to The Legend of Zelda franchise on his ArtStation page. Shortly after his page was taken down, but not before much of his work was saved by fans.
The basic idea of this game was to focus on the last male Sheikah. Apparently, Nintendo didn’t like the pitch enough to greenlight it officially for Wii though, so it was canceled internally.
9 Russian Retro Sci-Fi Horror Project
This game does not have a name. What is known is the fact that Sony was handling it internally from their Japan studio and it was planned for PS3.
As it was was planed as retro Russian future sci-fi game, at least in concept, it might be safe to assume that they wanted to create something akin to BioShock. All that exists now from this canceled idea are some concept art pieces.
8 Shadowrun: Assassin
Shadowrun: Assassin was a sequel of sorts to the SNES and Sega Genesis RPG adaptation. This was going to be a stealth-based third-person RPG that looked like an idea for the Deus Ex games.
It was being developed in the late 90s for PC by FASA Studio. While plans for this fell through, the developer would eventually help make the 2007 Shadowrun game, which started out as something more than just a multiplayer game.
7 Syndicate Reboot
Similar to Shadowrun, Syndicate was a series where a reboot was often attempted. The codename for this was even "Syndicate Reboot" and was planned by EA Black Box, who worked on a variety of sports and racing games like the NHL and Need for Speed series.
It was meant for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and would have been a third-person action game. This was around 2005. It didn’t make it too far into development, with only a handful of test screenshots out there before being canceled. EA did, however, green light a reboot via the 2012 game, which opted for a first-person viewpoint instead.
6 Shitkickers
David Jaffe is known predominantly for creating the Twisted Metal and God of War franchises. Besides those two, his legacy has had diminishing returns. Shitkickers was a pitched game he made for Sony for PS2 and PSP and would be an action game with vehicular combat.
There are two pieces of concept art along with the design document outlining his idea with his pitch of “Max Payne set in the deep South of USA” standing out. Jaffe shared these details on Twitter last May from his canceled game.
5 Streets of Rage Online
For some context, there were only three games in this franchise up until 1994. After 26 years, it finally returned with Streets of Rage 4 last year, but there was a proposed sequel in between that time.
Just as the name suggests, this was a planned online edition for the popular brawler series. BottleRocket Entertainment pitched this idea to Sega as a PS3 and Xbox 360 game with some concept art, but it was never picked up so the team had to cancel their plans.
4 MechAssault 3
MechAssault was a fairly popular original Xbox exclusive and successor to the BattleTech franchise, which started in the 80s. There were two games on the system, with a third planned for Xbox 360.
It was actually never announced and the only way fans found out was through a leaked art book. The images from said book are the only images out there for this canceled idea. It should be noted that there was a third game, of sorts, MechAssault: Phantom War on DS.
3 Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 4
For those that don’t remember, the Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku games were action RPGs for the Game Boy Advance. They were met with moderate praise from the press and seemed to have a steady track record on releases. There was a fourth game planned for the 3DS, or it was at least pitched.
The developers, Webfoot Technologies, had trouble finding a publisher though, so it never really got off the pitch room floor. There are some various screenshot mockups out there, at least.
2 Ghosts ‘n Goblins 3D
This game was announced for the PS1 as a successor to the SNES game. Nothing was ever showed from the game though as it was quietly canceled.
Last September an artist that was working on the game, Kouji Ogata, who some may know from his manga work Boogiepop, shared some concept art from the project. Other than these drawings and the known idea that it was being developed, that’s all that is known about this canceled entry.
1 Western Lords
An under-utilized genre combo in video games is RPGs and the Wild West, the most prominent of which is Wild Arms. But, that series hasn’t been seen in ages.
This game, Western Lords, tried to be its own Wild West-themed RPG for the GBA. Work then moved to the DS but eventually the team at Blossomsoft disbanded and not much information about the game is out there, save for some screenshots.