An extremely disappointing feeling is when an exciting upcomingvideo gamesuddenly gets pulled from the release schedule and goes on to live indefinitely in limbo. Sometimes it can be a blessing in disguise to cancel or change a video game that’s in development as a means to salvage the project. Some of the biggest question marks in gaming revolve around titles that could have been but didn’t come to pass.
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Nintendo is responsible for putting out many iconic video gamefranchises, but there’s also plenty that they’ve prematurely ended. Accordingly, here are 10 cancelled games that Nintendo actually showed off to the public.
10Pokémon Pink
ThePokémon franchiseis one of Nintendo’s most lucrative properties and even decades after its debut it still hasn’t lost any of is popularity. The advent ofPokémon Yellowbrought a fun spin on the original Generation I titles. However, there were apparently alsoplansto release a companion title toPokémon Yellowthat was titledPokémon Pink.
Presumably,Pokémon Pinkwould have made Clefairy the protagonist’s primary helper Pokémon, rather thanPikachu.Pokémon Pinkalso might have incorporated the Game Boy Camera peripheral, too.
9Diddy Kong Pilot
Diddy Kong Racingwas one of the most popular games on theNintendo 64, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that work on a sequel was soon underway. The original plan was to focus on the aerial aspect ofDiddy Kong Racing.
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Diddy Kong Pilotgot far along and was a title that many were looking forward to, but after Microsoft acquiredRare, the project wascancelled and transformedinto a game that wouldn’t involve Nintendo characters.Banjo-Pilotwas the result, which uses the same core engine, but is a markedly different game and lacksDonkey Kong’senergy.
8Mario Artist Titles
The 64DD is an extremely unusual peripheral add-on from Nintendo. The attachment never made it’s way over to America and it was even a commercial failure in Japan.Mario Artist: Polygon Studiowas one of the 64DD’s few games, but it was merely supposed to be the first of manyMario Artisttitles.
Mario Artist: Game Maker, Sound Maker, andVideo Jockeywere all in development and teased as additional ways to get creative with the 64DD hardware. After the console failed to catch on, the series of remainingMario Artistgames wereshelved.
7VB Mario Kart
The Virtual Boy remains one of the most fascinating misfires from Nintendo and even though the console was ahead of its time in many ways, its graphical limitations and cumbersome setup held it back from finding mainstream success.
Only a small portion of games was developed for the Virtual Boy, but a version of the beloved racing series,Mario Kart,was planned for the rudimentary 3D console. Details onVB Mario Kartare sparse, but it’s development lines up with the rest of the Virtual Boy’s projects.VB Mario Kartcould have lived if the Virtual Boy took off.
6Kirby Tilt ‘N’ Tumble 2
Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumblewas a very ambitiousGame Boy Colortitle that was suddenly in the position to get a fancy GameCube sequel.Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble 2was advertised as a new Kirby game for the GameCube that would cleverly incorporate theGame Boy Advanceas an intuitive controller.
Despite the strong idea, HAL Laboratory gradually removed the Kirby elements from the title andre-developed the gameas the original property,Roll-o-Rama. Despite these changes,Roll-o-Ramanever ended up seeing release on the GameCube and the whole ambitious pipe dream ended.
5Fire Emblem 64
TheFire Emblem serieshas always resonated big with audiences in Japan, but the franchise’s popularity has been a more recent fascination in America.Shigeru Miyamotoannounced development onFire Emblem 64, which he hoped to release in the final quarter of 1998.
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Fire Emblem 64was showcased atSpace World 2000, but it became one N64 title that never saw release. Gradual changes led to some ofFire Emblem 64’sconcepts migrating over to the Game Boy Advance game,Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, but it’s still a new narrative with completely different characters and story.
4Project Giant Robot
Project Giant Robotwas aWii Ugame headlined by Shigeru Miyamoto and while the game was often viewed as a tech demo at places likeE3, Miyamoto remained coy on whether it was simply that or a full game.Project Giant Robotwas advertised by Nintendo all the way to the end of 2016, when the project was abruptly cancelled since it no longer fit with Nintendo’s development strategy.
Project Giant Robotutilized the Wii U GamePad as a tool for both robot creation and combat, with the title supposedly having ties to the Wii U’sStar Fox Zero.
3Dinosaur Planet
Dinosaur Planetwas advertised as a sprawling adventure game that would help redefine the GameCube. The game starred an original character named Sabre and still involved the character, Krystal, albeit in a very different context.Dinosaur Planetlooked like an exciting new world for Nintendo fans to explore, but partway through the game’s development,Miyamoto suggestedthe drastic change to turn it into aStar Foxgame.
A lot of the environments inDinosaur Planetstayed the same when it becameStar Fox Adventures, but the finished product is an entirely different vision than where the game started.
2Donkey Kong Racing
Nintendo’s relationship with theDonkey Kongfranchise has become more complicated after Rare’s ownership transferred over toMicrosoft. However, due to the strong reputation of former hits likeDiddy Kong Racing, Nintendo still tried to find a way to revive these franchises.
Donkey Kong Racingwas meant to add to the creative racing chaos thatDiddy Kong Racingestablished, yet with Donkey Kong as the figurehead and on the Gamecube’s more advanced hardware.Donkey Kong Racingwasn’t able to come together, but the similar Wii racing game,Donkey Kong Barrel Blast,later would.
1Earthbound 64
TheEarthbound/Motherseries is definitely one of the most creative and quirky modernRPGsfrom Nintendo’s library.Earthbound 64was supposed to be the third title in theMotherseries and meant to act as a major title on the Nintendo 64DD, after development shifted from the Super Nintendo and standard N64.
Nintendo PowerteasedEarthbound 64for a while as well as the game’s eclectic roster of characters, but it was eventually cancelled.Mother 3for the Game Boy Advance would incorporate many of the ideas fromEarthbound 64, but ultimately turn out to be a different story.
