Beat ’em up

Streets of Rage Reboot [Cancelled – Xbox 360 / PS3]

Streets of Rage is a remake / reboot of the original Sega Genesis / Arcade brawler that was in development for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC by Grin, the same team behind titles such as Terminator Salvation, Wanted and the cancelled Wanted 2 and Final Fantasy Fortress.

Nothing much is known about this game, apart that is was a download-only title. The project was halted because of Grin’s financial difficulties that eventually bankrupted the company. In the gallery below we can see some concept arts and screens from an early build.

It seems that another reboot of Streets of Rage was also in development by Ruffian Games (the team behind Crackdown 2), but there are not many more info about this unseen project, apart from a beta / tech demo video preserved below thanks to Huff Allium!

Images:

Video:

 

High School Heroes [Cancelled – Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC]

High School Heroes is an unreleased beat’em up / Action Adventure that was in development from 2010 to 2011 by Freedom Factory Studios for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. The game would have had 3 main playable characters, each of them with their own superheroic skills and abilities. Players would have been able to explore the levels to lead a rebellion in planet Tyrannia, in 6 different main missions, each one with its own setting. High School Heroes looked promising, but even if a playable prototype was finished, they did not find a publisher interested in the project so they had to cancel it, at least for now.

Only some screens and concept arts are archived below, to preserve the existence of this lost game.

Images:

 

Hokuto No Ken: Legend Of The Final Hero [Cancelled / Proto – PS2]

Hokuto No Ken: Legend Of The Final Hero is a cancelled game that was in development, probably for the Playstation 2, by an italian software house called Dokroton. The project started in 2006 / 2007 but sadly it was abbandoned in 2008 for copyright problems. Hokuto No ken, also known as “Fist of the North Star” is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and drawn by Tetsuo Hara that was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1983 to 1988.

Only 2 videos of gameplay from an early prototype / alpha version of Hokuto No Ken: Legend Of The Final Hero still exists.

Thanks to Alessio for the contribution!

Videos:

 

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks [Beta – PS2 / XBOX]

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is a beat-em-up developed by Midway LA (formerly Paradox Development) and published in 2005 by Midway for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In april 2012 a beta version of Shaolink Monk was shared online in the Assembler Games Forum, and Stranno noticed a few differences with the final version: textures, effects (water, lights) and some background changed like “the pit” level. In the E3 beta demo the moon is really shiny, in the final you can actually see the moon and there’s an UFO (?) flying around.  The final enemy in the demo is Baraka (you cannot finish it), in retail there is one ogre-boss-like generic enemy, this Baraka fight comes in the next level, the monks academy. Options menu was reworked and there’s no aspect switch.

A sequel, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks 2 (Fire & Ice) was in development for the Xbox 360, but it was soon cancelled.

Images:

Videos:
 

Shaolin Streets [PS2 / PSP – Cancelled]

Shaolin Streets is a cancelled beat ’em up that was in development in 2005 by Jailed Games for the Playstation 2 and PSP, before it was canned and reworked for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. A playable beta version of Shaolin Streets was somehow leaked online, so you can have a look at the videos below, to have a better idea about how the game would have been played. Sadly, even the Xbox 360 / PS3 versions of Shaolin Streets were cancelled and it seems that Jailed Games had to close down for economic issues.

Videos by MaximumRD: