Action

Others, PC Engine / PC FX

Battle Jungler (Konami) [PC Engine – Cancelled]

monokoma
12-06-2021
2 Comments

Battle Jungler is a cancelled sequel / reboot of Konami’s 1981 Jungler, planned to be released on PC Engine around 1992. In the original game players move a long creature inside a maze, trying to eliminate three similar enemy creatures, so we can assume Battle Jungler would follow a similar gameplay (but with anime-style protagonists). This PC Engine version was showed in PCE Fan magazine, but then vanished forever and is mostly forgotten even by hardcore PCE players.

We can’t find much more information about this canned Konami game, but if you can read Japanese let us know if there are any interesting details in the scan below!

Images:

  

Nintendo, Nintendo DS

Winnetou: Wild Land [Nintendo DS – Cancelled]

monokoma
21-05-2021
1 Comment

Winnetou: Wild Land is a cancelled side-scrolling action game that was in development by Snapdragon Games for Nintendo DS around 2007 / 2008. It was based on a fictional Native American hero created by German author Karl May, but at the moment no other details are available about this lost game. As far as we know Winnetou: Wild Land was officially announced by the team, possibly to find a publisher interested in funding the project. Unfortunately it seems they were not able to sign a contract and Winnetou: Wild Land was soon canned. Today only a bunch of screenshots and mock-ups remain to remember it was once in development.

Images: 

Others, PC Engine / PC FX

Adventure of the Mummy Head [PC Engine – Cancelled]

monokoma
01-05-2021
3 Comments

Adventure of the Mummy Head is a cancelled game that was in development by Taito for PC Engine around 1991. The title was advertised in a few gaming magazines at the time, but as far as we know they never showed any screenshot, just artwork of the main protagonist. In one of these ads there’s a short description in Japanese: if you can translate it, please let us know in the comments below!

Thanks to Celine for the contribution

Images: 

GameCube, Nintendo, Others, PC / MAC, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Wii

Barnyard [Beta – GameCube, PS2, PC]

U64 Staff & Contributors
24-02-2021
No Comments

Barnyard is an action game based on the movie of the same name, developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment and published by THQ for GameCube, Wii, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, and PC. Footage of beta gameplay has been uploaded to the IGN youtube channel as a video titled “Barnyard GameCube Video – Clip Compilation 2”.

The main differences in this beta footage are:

  • animals could freely walk around the map
  • there was a life-counter (was completely removed in the final version)
  • players had “happiness level”
  • the map was completely different
  • The mobile phone had a music player, battery energy, and an integrated camera that could take photos.
  • There was also a multiplayer mode for some of the minigames such as chicken coop (this minigame was heavily changed in the final version).

Besides IGN’s gameplay on Youtube there’s an official trailer where the Beta version was shown for the first time. It’s still not known if the version in this trailer was different from the one IGN previewed.

In 2021 more beta gameplay footage was found with other differences from the final version:

  • The NPCs still had an AI
  • currency was different
  • the models of the trees and of the fences were different
  • map still had some difference, but it’s pretty close to the final appearance
  • minigames with up-to 4 players multiplayer were still there.

This gameplay was found on a Spanish website named 3DJuegos. The released Barnyard seems to have been built from a canceled, unannounced game in which all NPCs could interact with each other, build relationships and more. This is why the beta version of the game had more advanced NPC AI, but it’s still not known why it was later removed.

Article by InfiniteC0re and @longhorn#5853

Images:

Videos:

 

Nes / Famicom, Nintendo

A Nightmare on Elm Street [NES – Beta]

monokoma
17-02-2021
2 Comments

In 1989 Rare and LJN released A Nightmare on Elm Street tie-in video game on the NES, but it was quite different from what it was originally announced. The main difference in this prototype / concept version of A Nightmare on Elm Street is that you could play as the iconic 80’s slasher icon. Screenshots of the game appeared in a few issues of Nintendo Power and other magazines, sharing some details on the gameplay:

“It’s your greatest dream and your worst nightmare. You are Freddy Krueger… the gruesome star of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies. Use all of your evil powers and special abilities to track down and destroy your pursuers before they bury your bones.” – Nintendo Power.

“You are Freddy Krueger. A horde of obnoxious teenagers are trying to get rid of you by finding your bones and burning them. Killing them is the only way to stop them. You can travel along elm street through various lines (electrical and plumbing) or by stepping into a mirror and entering another room. The kids have weapons and some of them possess “Dream Alter Egos”.. If you strike them before they wake up, they’ll trouble you no more. Sharpen up those finger razors and get ready to slash, ’cause Freddy’s here!”

In one of these screenshots you can see the dream killer as a snake and in another Freddy is normal but going after some random kids, not a character from the film. In 1989, another issue of Nintendo Power addressed the game in an article about the Nintendo Satellite. This one had two different screenshots, one where Freddy is seen with two enemies and a cool title card. The description was different and it described what we got in the final game:

“You may never go to sleep again once you enter the nightmare world. You and your crew, the elm street neighborhood gang, have the power of the satellite to get you through in this LJN horror PAK.”

Thanks to Roxas for the contribution!

Images:

Videos: