Sphinx & the Cursed Mummy is a great 3D platformer launched on the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube with a Java iteration released shortly after. The game, despite receiving critical acclaim, failed to reach mainstream appeal and sold poorly. A sequel was in the cards for Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, but it never came to fruition.
After years of waiting for a potential comeback of Sphinx, Ex-Eurocom employees formed the Eight Pixels Square to work on a mobile instalment. This instalment, however, differed from its 3D counterpart. From the prototype demo found online, we can see the game was going to be an infinite runner-type of game. The player would be tasked with guiding the mummy through endless corridors by swiping on the mobile screen. Unfortunately, this attempt by Eight Pixels Square to reach a broader audience, and potentially revive the franchise was met with cancellation. All that remains is a short demo gameplay uploaded on Vimeo by Jose Luis Garcia Camara.
On July the 20th 2005, Tecmo once unveiled a lineup of their upcoming games. Among these games was Bastard!! Online, an MMORPG based on the Bastard!! manga by Kazushi Hagiwara. According to various media outlets, the game was initially slated to be released exclusively on PC in Asian territories.
When rumours began to circulate that the game was cancelled, GameKult.com uploaded an article featuring many images and other minuscule details. From the site, we can read:
The project Bastard !! Online is not aborted, as evidenced by the first real images of the game, released two years after the development was announced. For those who are still wondering, it will indeed be an MMORPG adaptation of the famous manga by Kazushi Hagiwara, plunging players into the chaos of Meta-Licana. PvP oriented, the game will offer allegiance to one of the competing factions, at the command of generals Nei, Gara, Karsu or by joining the camp of the oppressed led by Princess Shira. It remains to be seen whether the universe heroic fantasy, the game system and the presence of the charismatic Dark Schneider will prove convincing enough to captivate the Japanese public. The launch of the game is still planned for 2007 in the land of the Rising Sun.
Despite plans for a 2007 release, Bastard!! Online was never launched. However, in 2008, Gamekult.com published another article titled “Bastard!! Online Lives Again.” The article revealed that the developers had spent an additional year enhancing the graphics to make the game much more visually appealing than what was previously shown. The website provided the following details:
Announced almost four years ago, the project Bastard !! Online is still relevant. As immortal as Dark Schneider, this impossible MMORPG is reborn from its ashes through these new images, enhanced with a trailer extra. Don’t laugh, the developers were particularly keen to highlight the efforts made on the graphics part of the game in a recent interview. For the rest, we know that this MMO based on the work of Kazushi Hagiwara will require allegiance to one of the game’s factions, commanded by the highly charismatic characters Nei, Gara and the others. The game is now scheduled to go live in 2009, at least until further notice..
Years have passed, and Bastard!! Online was never released. Ultimately, the game was cancelled on December 18, 2009 as Tecmo concluded that the development time required, coupled with their market forecasts, made continuing the project unfeasible. What remains of the game are a few screenshots and trailers.
After the tragic cancellation of Kojima Productions’ Silent Hills, many were taken aback by the sudden announcement. The concept felt new and fresh. Horror enthusiasts were ready to savour it as soon as it launched, but in the end, it didn’t. Only a playable teaser was made and a couple of trailers here and there.
The community wasn’t content to let go of the idea of a first-person Silent Hill iteration. Thus, a fan-made spiritual successor in the name of Alison Road was born. Developed by Lilith Ltd, Alison Road was originally shown as a tech demo on July 1st, 2015 via YouTube. After the positive reception from the audience, development began shortly after. To help fund the project, Lilith Ltd launched a Kickstarter campaign around September 2015. The goal was to reach its $322,974 target before the October 21st deadline. While the Kickstarter campaign did receive funds from 4482 backers, earning Lilith over $188,564, the Kickstarter campaign was later cancelled on October 12, 2015. Just a few days before the original deadline.
The campaign was cancelled after Lilith Ltd signed a deal with Team17 to publish the game. At this point, with Lilith Ltd having the support of a publisher, things were proceeding smoothly, and a release for the quarter of 2016 was on the cards. However, on June 4th, 2016, the game’s development came to an ultimate halt when Alison Road’s official Twitter account announced the news.
Shortly after the game’s cancellation, Lilith wrote this statement on Facebook:
After a long consideration between Team17 and ourselves, we have reached a mutual agreement to end our collaboration on publishing Allison Road under Team17’s Games label. Sometime things pan out differently than expected as game development and publishing have so many layers of complexity… We’d like to especially thank everyone for their support through-out, it has and will always be appreciated!
Then Team17 followed with another statement after speaking to VG24/7:
After a long consideration between Lilith owner Chris Kesler and ourselves, we have reached a mutual agreement to end our collaboration on publishing Allison Road under Team17’s Games label. We love the concept and value Chris’ talent highly, but sometime things pan out differently than expected as game development and publishing have so many layers of complexity. The whole team here wish all the best to Chris on his current and future projects for which, before being a business partner, we are also a fan.
Neither Lilith Ltd nor Team 17 explained the circumstances that led to the cancellation of the game. However, on 22 August 2016, the game’s creator Christian Kesler, told IGN that he would resume development on the game, alone. This time around, Lilith Ltd was disbanded and development would be transitioned to the auspices of Far From Home, a new studio he had co-founded with his wife.
At this point, there was still a glimmer of hope that Alison Road would come to fruition. However, that hope was shattered when no new announcements about the project were forthcoming. Eventually, both the Facebook and Twitter accounts of Alison Road were silently shut down around September 2019. Time has passed, and Alison Road was forgotten. The game now lives in the spirit of Supernormal, a spiritual successor to Alison Road.
Legend of Kay is a fun hack-and-slash 3D platformer developed by the German-based developer Neon Studios and published by Jowood in Europe and by Capcom in North America in 2005. The game was released to mixed reviews, but major critics were pretty positive about the game.
There is no data on how Legend of Kay performed sales-wise, but after deep research, it turns out that there were plans to make a Legend of Kay 2. Unfortunately, Jowood ran through financial troubles back then, which led to their demise. As a result, the sequel was cancelled in 2006.
Actual development on a prototype build began shortly after the original game’s release, and a few concept artworks were made. Unfortunately, that’s everything there is to see. There were plans to port the PS2 game to the PSP, but that never happened as well.
A history video was made, detailing the inception of Neon Studios, the cancelled sequel, the PSP port and information on the remastered release. Please, Enjoy.
Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer is a hidden gem platformer on the PS2. It stars a young native American boy who seeks the legendary spirit dancer in order to stop an entity known as the Wendigo. Most of the game sees Brave fighting wolves, dabbling in the art of platforming and channelling his native American powers. (like summoning an eagle spirit!)
The game didn’t do well back then, considering the timeframe in which it was launched saw the emergence of heavy hitters like Resident Evil 4, God of War and Call of Duty. Consequently, the game was deemed a failure. The story didn’t end there. Two years after Brave’s launch on the PS2 and the closure of Vis Entertainment, SouthPeak Games snagged the IP from Bam Entertainment (owner of Vis Entertainment at the time) and attempted to revive it.
Their first attempt was going to be Brave: Shaman’s Challenge, a spin-off scheduled for a February 11, 2009 release. Alas, that never happened. In an IGN article dated July 10, 2008, we read that SouthPeak Games had plans to remaster the original PS2 game for three platforms; the Wii, Xbox 360 and the PSP. In the end, the PSP release never happened. But the most bizarre situation ever is that box covers of the PSP release were made, complete with an age rating and an art cover different from the original. What adds to the mystery is that an Amazon listing was spotted years after the PSP release was quietly cancelled. The question that needs asking is; was the game released, or was it not? Nobody knows.
Here’s a high-quality image of the supposedly PSP remaster that was quietly cancelled without any prior notice from SouthPeak Games. Nobody knows if the port was finished or if SouthPeak Games just fooled everyone.
Other retail listings of this obscure PSP release were also spotted in various websites like:
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