Commodore 64 unreleased games - Games That Weren't (GTW 64)

Welcome to Games That Weren't 64

A random picked GTW

'Games That Werent' searches for unreleased games, unfinished games that never were on the Commodore 64. Currently featuring 1407 review entries with various scans, screenshots, downloads, interviews and more. GTW64 aims to find the games for you to play, giving credit to developers whose unseen hard work has never been fully appreciated and to preserve what we can... Can you help us find these lost games?

'SUPER HUEY 3'

Another from the archive!
Click image to read review

'PEN PALZ' DEMO RECOVERED

Thanks to John Pericos, Pen Palz (a game mean't for GO64!) has had its remains recovered and GTW64 is proud to present the game for the first time for people to check out. A very cool early preview of a game with an interesting twist on Qix :)...

Pen Palz

04 / 02 / 12

ARWAG PREVIEW RELEASED!

In the first of a number of previews/games added thanks to the sterling work by Jazzcat... Arwag is an awesome early stages preview of an Ultima clone created by Ruben Spaans (aka Scroll/Megastyle), Arwag is worth checking out to see what could have been...

Arwag

CIVILIZATION ON THE C64!

What better way to confirm that Megastyle's conversion of Civilization on the C64 was real, than by showing the remains of its conversion. Unfortunately not playable, but a scrollable map showing some of the potential...

Civilization

NEW VERSION OF STROBE FOUND!

Ruben Spaans provides GTW64 with a later version of Strobe, which features different music and also is playable! Be warned that it is heavily bugged, but gives indication again of how this game might have been had it been finished....

Strobe

MORE FROM RUBEN SPAANS

In addition to this we add 3 previously unseen text adventures from Ruben Spaans which have never seen the light of day until now, also close the case on a test game based on the old Sierra adventure engine and finally give details on another game which Rubens is yet to uncover!

Bronnoyquest, Pimple Panic, The Bandage, The Slippery, Zorro in Wonderland

4 MORE NEW ENTRIES

And finally we conclude with another 4 new entries added...

Lupin 3, Magnetic, Tornado Tom, Unnamed Shoot Em Up

12 / 01 / 12

C64.COM AND GTW64 PRESENTS!

Over the past few months, GTW64 has been working with the awesome http://www.c64.com to preserve a series of games after working on the disk collection of Darren Melbourne. 25 or so disks were painstakingly preserved by C64.com, and GTW64 trawled through these and found many a lost game. We present a good selection of these, but more will follow in the future with more disks being examined and preserved by both of us. As well as our xmas update, be sure to check out C64.com's collaborated update here! Thanks to Jazzcat and Slator for all the tidy up work on some of the games! And thanks to Peter Weighill, Jazzcat, Andrew Fisher, Alex Ross and Fabrizio Bartoloni for their team input into the update! And a big thanks to Andreas Wallstrom for the collaborated effort!

'NUKER' FOUND AND RELEASED

The oddly named Thalamus game (Fully titled - "NUclear nooKER" has finally been found and preserved for your enjoyment thanks to the preservation efforts of C64.com. It's a neat little game, with about 50 levels in total - plenty to check out!

Nuker

'RUNESTONE' FOUND AND RELEASED!

Remains of Runestone, a conversion of a Spectrum game by Chris Yates and Jon Hare, has been recovered from an old disk from CNET artist Lizard. This disk was preserved from Darren Melbourne's collection by C64.com and discovered in the archive randomly by GTW64. It is a surprising finding, and the game seems pretty much complete...

Runestone

'DUEL' FOUND AND RELEASED

The long lost Quicksilva budget game has been fully recovered in its final form. Check out this 2 player game by Finlay Munroe...

Duel

UNNAMED CRL GAME FOUND AND RELEASED

A bit of a surprise finding on the Darren Melbourne disks was this unnamed CRL preview, which looks like a pretty promising Rocket Roger clone...

Unnamed CRL game

'NECRONOM' GRAPHICAL ASSETS FOUND

C64.com and GTW64 discover that Linel's C64 conversion of Necronom did exist, with a series of static asset screens by Chris Edwards discovered and added to the archives. Pantheon Software were confirmed as behind the lost conversion. The game is still at large, but check out how it may have looked for now...

Necronom

'SHAO LIN'S ROAD V1' FOUND

An obscure and early abandoned conversion of Shao Lin's Road was also found on one of the disks, which means another new entry and one which we need to find out a lot more about...

Shao Lin's Road V1

'LEOPARD LORD' FOUND!

Leopard Lord has been found and well on an old disk from Darren Melbourne's collection. This has been from a second batch of disks which GTW64 is in the process of transferring. Enjoy!

Leopard Lord

'ENDURO RACER V1 OR V2' FOUND?

A second version of Enduro Racer has been found thanks to Kevin Tilley, and we discover it is by the great Nick (Orlando) Pelling. Far far better than the released version, but unfinished... go check it out!...

Enduro Racer V1/V2

EARLY VERSION OF 'MICROPROSE SOCCER'

An early version of Microprose Soccer has been found, which not only includes a vastly different menu system, but tucked away also is a new Martin Galway tune in-game... Thanks to Adam Morton for the recent single file fix!

Microprose Soccer

'RAZZMATAZZ' - MORE DETAILS!

Thanks to Hedning, we not only discover that Rob Hubbard was behind Paranoid Pete, but with that connection - Razzmatazz was to be published by the same company Ubik (A Tyneside company) in 1984.

Razzmatazz

44 OTHER NEW ENTRIES ADDED

As well as the above, we have a large range of new entries added with varying levels of detail and resources with each. Some have downloads, scans and screenshots - with others maybe being a bit vague and needing input from you :) ... Here goes...

Advanced Soccer Simulator, ALA Software games, Abrakadabra, Astrostorm 2, Bomberman Clone, Balls of the Scrolling Thunder, Chariot Race 64, Cannon Fodder, Detective Takashi, Geotrope, Horror Hunter, It came from hell!, It's Rory, Labyrinth 3D, Micro Math, The Movie Monster V1, Mad Max Game, Nether, Pegasus and the Trials of Perseus, Prince of Persia, Poker game, Project 64 titles, RR Software titles, Rainbow Educational Software, Sensible Soccer, Shanghai Karate 2, Super Fighter, Star Tech games, Sword of the Samurai, Spacetracker, Twin Balls, The Crystal Search, Turner Software games, Turbo Tiger Software titles, Theme Park, Trantor V1, T-Wreaks, Trumps, Uefa Cup Soccer, Unknown Summer Games clone, Unknown Donkey Kong clone, Wizard's Dominion, Wizzball V1 (Thanks to Slator and Andreas Wanda for some extras!)

17 ENTRIES UPDATED

Then finally we conclude with a series of entries we already have, with some updates. A brief of the update made can be found in brackets next to the link...

Charlie Chaplin (Note about Canvas), Cops n Robbers (Fixed download + screenshot), Doomsday Blues (Extra notes about Amstrad release), Dead City Rescue (Advert scan added), Devious Designs (ASM magazine screenshot added), Exodus (Big findings! :) ), Fairlight 2 (News note), Flashpoint (Graphic artist credit!), Inspector Gadget (Scan shots added), Lone Wolf (Details about book), Lock On (Addition of T-Shirt photos), Legend of Kyrill (Major detail and credit update), Mega Twins (Credit added, Creator Speaks added), Messiah 3 (Screenshots + credits), Paranoid Pete (Rob Hubbard link and details), Paddle Mania (Exciting music news + game details), Worms (Ambush Design version listed)

CODEWRITER ADVENTURES

Not quite GTW material due to a commercial release confirmation, but it is certainly worth noting that this year saw Robinson Mason help preserve 3 missing adventure titles from Codewriter. These can be found here on GB64 and are well worth checking out! Well done Robinson!

21 / 12 / 11

19 NEW ENTRIES ADDED!

A big clear out of our backlog! (And there will be more to come!) As a start we have added entries for those which do not have scans or downloads to attach. Next update will feature more content rich entries when there is more time! Enjoy these for now!...

Civilization, Dive Bomber, Dinnamic Donkey Duo, Erik the Destroyer, Elusive, Giana Strikes Back, Game#3, Imperial Bodyguard, Pimple Panic, Robin Hood, Shian: "Tiger Style", Shian: "Wu Dang", Samber 2, SAW Wars, Unnamed game 1, Unnamed Football game, Unnamed game 2, Unnamed game 3, Zach Townsend Puzzler

9 GAME ENTRIES UPDATED

Some more updates, of which can be seen in brackets in summary:

Car Wars (More game detail), Gyrofalcon (Extra version linked), Messiah 3 (Creator speaks about game), Quonodam (Bit more about artwork), Shockwave (Music credit), Trojahn (News of Psytronik launch and closed case), Thundercats V1 (Snippet from Dave Perry), The Legend of Kyril (Snippets from mags and scan)

07 / 09 / 11

'CHUTES AND LADDERS' RECOVERED!

Thanks to Syd Bolton from the Personal Computer Museum, the long lost educational game - Chutes and Ladders has been found and recovered...

Chutes and Ladders

05 / 07 / 11

As the backlog is starting to creep up a bit, here is something to relieve the backlog pressure!...

'AUTOGUARD' SHOTS ADDED

Jason Daniels has kindly passed on a small selection of screenshots showing what Autoguard looks like and to give you a better idea of what is to come...

Autoguard

'NEW YORK CRISIS' - ENTRY ADDED

A title which was meant to be part of the CDU disk compilations in 1991. Jason Daniels sheds light on his long lost game and digs out a whole load of scans and documents which we can share...

New York Crisis

THREE OTHER ENTRIES ADDED

Yet more lost/unreleased games added to the vault. Can you help us find them?...

6 Kingdoms of Babylon, Bombmania, Bomber Clot

SIX ENTRIES UPDATED

More updates and bits added to various entries, including...

9 Lives of Fritz the Cat (Mag details added), Barry the Seahorse (Mag details added), Colony (Quick note about game being handed over), Crucial Bros (Super Mario Clone from Silverbird is named!), Kick Off 2 Cartridge (More notes from Ben Hayes in creator speaks), Moon Gods (A note saying that game was rumoured as completed, David Green credit for music)

18 / 06 / 11

'ST. PAULI' RECOVERED!

Thanks to Enthusi/Onslaught, the long lost St. Pauli adventure game has been found and recovered. This is a German based adventure game written in GAC which was released in very limited numbers. It has been known about, but missing for many years and on the wanted lists of GTW64 and Gamebase for sometime. As it has had a proper commercial release, no entry is needed, but here is the download for you to check out! (See the readme file for more details)...

St. Pauli download

17 / 05 / 11

'JIM SLIM' COMPLETED AND RELEASED!

Jim Slim is no longer a GTW now, as Protovision have had the game finished off and released in full commercial glory. Case closed and check out the Protovision Jim Slim page below!...

Jim Slim - Protovision page

02 / 05 / 11

HARD DRIVIN' V1 BREAKTHROUGHS

Thanks to contributor Greg Foster, we learn a lot more about the first version of Hard Drivin' and find out just why the final game release was as bad as it was...

Hard Drivin' V1

'SALVAGE' FOUND AND RELEASED!

A release has been made of the long lost 'Salvage' game by Sumlock on CSDB. Thanks to Sailor/Triad for the heads up!. Entry updated with CSDB links and case closed!...

Salvage

AUTOGUARD C64.COM FEATURE

A quick link addition to the recent and brilliant article by http://www.C64.com on the development of Autoguard...

Autoguard

01 / 05 / 11

FULL GAME RELEASED - 'ESCAPE'

A long lost Timsoft platformer game has been released to the world, thanks to C&A Fan. Check it out!...

Escape

FOUR NEW ENTRIES ADDED

Some more entries for the archive added, including:

Hard Drivin V1, Indiana Jones Last Crusade V1, Radioactive, Unnamed SEUCK game

FOUR ENTRIES UPDATED

And to conclude, some updates to a few existing entries. Updates in brackets next to game link.

Bits for Bizmo (More details from Pete Baron), Hangman's Hazard (Developer details added), Mega Twins (Info from CF21 added and Mike Ager update), Zynon (Confirmation of game and download addition)

24 / 04 / 11

'ADAM CAVEMAN' SHOT AND ADVERT ADDED

Very quick update with advert scan and screenshot of Adam Caveman added from issue 19 of Zzap 64. What happened to this game and Mumbles Super Spy?...

Adam Caveman

03 / 04 / 11

FINAL REMAINS OF STARGLIDER 2 RELEASED!

Unfortunately the last remaining source files from Pete were of an earlier build (Sorry everyone!), however it highlights that the preview already in GTW could actually be the complete version of the game, though the solid 3D version seems to be lost forever (Unless its hackable from the preview). Maybe the supplier of the original GP preview can be found and they may have more... but for now however you can now check out an earlier build of the game, the long lost loading picture from Bob Stevenson and also some of the source code from the game's development!...

Starglider 2

VIDEO AND SHOTS OF 'COOKIE' ADDED!

A first glimpse of Martin Galway's unfinished conversion of Cookie on the C64!... Check it out!...

Cookie

CASE CLOSED FOR 'SWORDS AND SORCERY'

Confirmation that sadly the C64 version of this game was never started. Another one bites the dust!...

Swords and Sorcery

06 / 03 / 11

ANOTHER 'LYNSOFT' TITLE DISCOVERED

GTW uncovers a very early prototype of a game called "Cops and Robbers" (Not the Atlantis/CRL game) which seems to be an isometric engine prototype...

Cops and Robbers

MORE DETAILS ON 'SWORDS AND SORCERY'

Gary Mays gives GTW a few more bits and pieces on Swords and Sorcery!...

Swords and Sorcery

27 / 02 / 11

'FOX' PREVIEW FOUND AND RELEASED!

Another long lost game has been recovered and released for all to check out. This is a neat multi-directional platformer preview in its early stages, with also a neat 3D Doom section...

Fox

TWO EARLY EPYX TITLES ADDED...

Thanks to Peter Weighill, we add entries for two very early Epyx entries that never were...

Gun Fight, Seawolf 2

22 / 02 / 11

TWO NEW 'NANOSEC' ENTRIES ADDED

Two quick entries added to GTW. Two Nanosec games from 1984 which seem to have been lost in time (Thanks to Peter Weighill for the heads up on these two titles)...

Ground Zero, Math Farm

13 / 02 / 11

'SPLIDGE THE SNOWMAN' - MUSIC FOUND

Richard Bayliss locates his long lost music for Splidge the Snowman:

Splidge the Snowman

10 / 02 / 11

TWO NEW ENTRIES ADDED

Two quick entries added to GTW, one CRL title and a long lost 3DCK game saved!

Cops and Robbers, A Chance In Hell

08 / 02 / 11

'GAMMA 9' ENTRY ADDED

Thanks to Hedning, a quick entry addition for this game that should have surfaced in 1987:

Gamma 9

01 / 02 / 11

SAVE THOSE JANITORS - SAVED!

Thanks to Charles Orcutt - the very rare and obscure Save Those Janitors game has been saved from obscurity. Check out the game for yourself!...

Save Those Janitors

TWO KAYDE TITLES FOUND!

Coming soon to GTW are full downloads of two Kayde titles which have been located by Kevin Steele. These maybe two of only a handful of the titles that made it out due to the companies collapse in 1983. Check out for now the photos of the tape and inlays:

Arcane Quest / Leopard Lord

30 / 01 / 11

TWO ENTRIES UPDATED

Thanks to Peter Weighill, Andrew Fisher, Roy and Charles Orcutt - updates to the following games have been made:

Kami-Kaze (YC review scan added, download link and case closed!)
Save Those Janitors (Info from the developer)

17 / 01 / 11

'FUSION' ENTRY ADDED

Thanks to Romppainen, a quick entry for a potential vapourware title.

Fusion

06 / 01 / 11

'JOE THE SERIFF' RECOVERED

Sometimes GTW is passed on software which did infact get a release, but a very limited one and which has not yet been preserved for others to enjoy. Joe The Serif is one such game, preserved by contributor Pudva, this is an interesting game released in Hungary, which also saw a release on the C16/+4. Although it probably shouldn't have a GTW entry, you can grab a copy of the game below. A big thanks to Pudva for preserving, and also Richard Bayliss for providing a D64 version!

Joe The Serif download

28 / 12 / 10

Welcome to the Xmas update of GTW! Hopefully we have some nice surprises for you, so here goes!...

'PUTTY' - FOUND AND RELEASED!

From what was once thought completely lost, to fully found and preserved. Check out the neat preview and extras found!...

Putty entry

'UNDEAD' - RECOVERED AND RELEASED!

It's been a while coming, but at last the remains of the impressive Splatterhouse clone for the C64 can be checked out. This includes a very snazzy slideshow and running version of the game patched up by Conrad, and various work files and images. A shame this never quite made it!

Undead

'PULSE' - PREVIEW FOUND!

A long lost puzzler from David Green, better known for his music - but also it seems a dab hand at coding. A neat puzzler which could have been very good had it been finished...

Pulse

'SCIMITAR' - FOUND AND RELEASED!

Another title from Cyberdyne Systems, and this time of the budget bound Scimitar title. This is an early tech demo with an impressive main sprite and starfield. There is apparently a more advanced version to find, but here is an early glimpse :) ...

Scimitar

'DEADLOCK' - MORE DEMOS ADDED!

More from Cyberdyne Systems as we uncover yet more varied versions of Deadlock, including two very early versions. Some minor differences, and some major. Also hand designed labels by Robin Levy have been scanned and added!...

Deadlock

'ARMALYTE 2' - MUSIC RECOVERED!

A bit of a shock finding, but music was written for the game by Prosonix. We add the music demo, as well as the original sprite files found on a work disk.

Armalyte 2

'HALF LIFE' - GRAPHICS FOUND!

And we conclude the findings from Cyberdyne Systems with the remains of Half Life. Sadly no executable, as all that seemed to be produced was the sprite graphics. But here they are, ready to check out. Slideshows hopefully to come soon!

Half Life

'SAVAGE PLATFORMS' - MUSIC RECOVERED!

Mike Berry locates the long lost tunes written by David Green for the game. Check them out!

Savage Platforms

'TURN CHANGE' - MORE REMAINS FOUND!

More of this intriguing puzzler has been recovered, including intro pics and title screens. Unfortunately the game files are crashing, but everything has been included for now.

Turn Change

Plus...

35 NEW ENTRIES ADDED

From researching in the likes of Home Computer Weekly and Games Machine magazine and also contributions from members of the team and readers, here are 35 new entries to check out...

Aztec - The Hunt for the Sun God / Alice in Wunderlab / Bits for Bizmo / Bobby Charlton Soccer / Club JR's / Dark Sceptre / Dondra - A New Beginning / Exod - Rift in the rock / Fire Dragon / First Tens / Goremium / Hangman's Hazard / Joan of Arc: Siege and the Sword / Jellybones / King Arthur's Quest / Kami-Kaze / Le Mans / Nuclear Sub Command / Nightflight / Priceless Scrolls / Program Wars / Quondam / Rhyme Land / Save Those Janitors / Salvage / Ski Star 2000 / Show Crazy / Super Scramble / The Great Space Race / The Count's Castle / Wolfgrounds / Wanted / World Cup Football / World Darts / Yacht Race

19 GTW ENTRIES UPDATED

Various snippets, scans, photos and other bits and pieces added (Details of update in brackets)...

9 lives of Fritz The Cat (Comic book history added) / Bamboo (Games machine snippet added) / CJ's 4th (Jimbo notes added) / Cyber Tank (Notes about arcade and YouTube link) / Crystal Beacon (Credited to Thalamus and notes from Paul Crawley) / Chiller V1 (Added note about determining early version) / Darius + (Notes about game and a credit!) / Flonk (More details about the game and creator speaks!) / Gold Collection (GB64 finds 4 more titles) / Moon Gods (Details from Lee Hudson) / Mexico 86 (Review, shots and scans added) / Push a block (Entry merged with Block Game) / Revolution (Added instructions file) / Rodland V1 (Case closed) / Shockwave (Details about game and ebay auction photos) / Time Scanner V1 (Games Machine info added) / Up Up and Away (Two advert scans added) / Vengeance of Zeno (Confirm of it being a lightgun game, and what it may have become) / War of the Worlds (Deal sign photo added)

And a little hint of what's to come in 2011...

'STARGLIDER 2'

Starglider 2's final remains/state have been passed over to GTW in source form, and at present these are being investigated and patched together. As things were not polished off before cancellation, we may not see a fully polished game - but we hope to get as much recovered as possible.

Here is a small glimpse of what has been found so far, Bob Stevenson's unseen loading picture :) (Thanks to TMR/Cosine for extracting!!)

20/ 12 / 10
Xmas update!