The list of games based on horror movies you'll never get to play left many readers with a bad taste in their mouths. And I can't blame them—I myself was pretty bitter to learn, for example, that I could have enjoyed a Hellraiser game and I can't. Damn it!
So, to lift spirits, here we go with the best cancelled NES games that you CAN play, either because they were rescued by some charitable souls or donated by some of their owners to be distributed across the web in ROM form.
If you don't feel like reading and just want to play every one of these games, download the ROM pack in a zip here. Don't forget that to enjoy these games you need a good NES emulator (I recommend Nestopia) and two thumbs eager for super action. Now, without further ado... the best cancelled NES games that we can play to date! (because surely, I hope, in the future many more will be known)
Robocop vs Terminator
Must-play! This is one of those titles that makes you angry for not having been able to play it in its original form, at the time it was created. Two heroes of pop culture (Robocop vs Terminator) meet on a cult console like the Nintendo NES and, by the decision of some Virgin Games executive, we were deprived of the experience. It's true we could play the SNES and Genesis/Megadrive versions, but this was a completely different game! And a very, very good one, that follows the steps of the comic of the same name, in which Alex Murphy is directly responsible for the creation of Skynet. Of course, the RoboCop we know and love won't allow something so aberrant to be born because of him, and he'll travel through time to end the supercomputer responsible for human extinction. Shots, jumps, high but not impossible difficulty in a game that we can now play. What makes you most angry is that this gem was never released, but the terrible Robocop 1, 2 and 3 from Data East were.
Happily Ever After
Directly from Sofel, the same development company that created one of my favorite NES games (Dragon Fighter), Happily Ever After arrived too late to be part of my childhood. Almost 25 years late! The game would have been based on the movie of the same name, a kind of sequel to Snow White that never came to be either. In Happily Ever After we play as Snow White, who this time will be in charge of rescuing her 'prince charming' from the clutches of Lord Maliss. Lord Maliss, for those who don't know, is the brother of the witch that Snow White defeated in the original movie, and he wants revenge! The game is not bad at all, I really enjoyed playing it, but it lacks several layers of wax to be as polished as, for example, Dragon Fighter. It's quite cryptic at first and has pretty bad collision detection, which makes it much harder than it should really be.
Cross Fire
Cross Fire is like Contra, but not as polished. It does have much better graphics, bigger and more colorful, and a new 'dimension' to shoot at (and from which they shoot at you). That 'dimension' (I use that word because I can't think of a better one) is in the background of the game, behind the action so to speak, from which all sorts of projectiles rain down. That's where, I suppose, the name 'Cross Fire' comes from. Fun, well made, and quite complete for a prototype. Plus, it has the Air Wolf music at the end of the missions, when the helicopter rescues you.
Bio Force Ape
This madness deserved its own article on NeoTeo some time ago. The anecdote deserves to be read in full, because it has everything: failures, lies, and a happy ending. But if all you care about is knowing if the game is good, I'll solve it for you in three words: yes it is! Not only is it good, but super strange and original, like few things you've ever played. It's a platformer and action game, and tells the story of a chimpanzee whose family is kidnapped while he gains superpowers. With his newly acquired wrestling moves, the ape protagonist will go after the wrongdoers who deprived him of his relatives. Fast, furious, and often illogical and uncontrollable, it's a real shame we couldn't play this treasure when it was created.
Mickey Mouse - Dream Balloon
Minnie, Mickey Mouse's girlfriend, has fallen into a sleep state she can't wake from, and she's having terrible nightmares! Mickey, very worried, drops everything he's doing and dives into Minnie's mind to find the origin of the strange dreamy stupor that afflicts his girl. That's the story of a mega spectacular game, at least if you enjoy classic platformers and colorful graphics. As a 'novelty', Mickey has infinite balloons with which to attack enemies and help himself in different situations. Fast, cute, and fun. It plays and is completed in just a couple of hours.
The Adventures of Dr. Franken
A port of the Game Boy game, which in turn was an adaptation of the Super NES game of the same name. The Adventures of Dr. Franken for NES was a platformer with exploration and adventure that puts us in control of Franky (Frankenstein's monster). It all begins when Franky wakes from his sleep and finds the castle full of his master's monstrous creations, and his girlfriend Bitsy has disappeared! In this prototype you must explore the castle, fighting monsters and finding the way to your little girlfriend. It's fun. It reminded me a bit of the game "The Addams Family", since it has similar touches of adventure.
Hero Quest
A fairly faithful adaptation of the Milton Bradley board game. It's a turn-based RPG with dungeon exploration, fighting all kinds of enemies, and adventures designed to fit exactly with the original board game rules. You have the option to play alone or with a friend and many predefined adventures to choose from. I loved Hero Quest but it's not a game for all audiences, because the interface takes getting used to and, being turn-based, it can be very slow for some.
Secret Ties
What goes through the heads of the executives who cancel games like Secret Ties? We'll never know, but we can say they were very wrong. Here you play as a super agile agent (who can hang from walls, do a leg sweep, throw flying kicks, etc.) who must infiltrate different places to carry out his mission. It has very good graphics, fun enemies, and a demanding difficulty that could frustrate even the most prepared. Super recommended!
Superman
This is not the Superman game we did get to play on NES (and which was terribly bad!), but a creation of Sunsoft that was later recycled under the name Sunman (Sunsoft Man, ahem) and finally cancelled. This Superman for NES is not the best of all the games on the list and you can really tell it's a prototype, but even so it's enjoyable and plays fairly well. There are levels where we walk and others where we fly through the skies, in the style of a shmup. You might not be too tempted to finish it, but it's worth a few minutes.
Time Diver Eon Man
Time Diver Eon Man is an action platformer that, without a doubt, could have become a classic if it hadn't been cancelled. It has touches of Shatterhand with hints of Ninja Gaiden and tells the story of a guy who must travel through time to rescue his brother. The protagonist can bounce off walls, launch different special powers, and fight hand-to-hand against any bad guy that gets in his way. The levels are very well designed and the enemies are varied enough not to bore us. A game worthy of your time.
Tower of Radia
For fans of NES-style RPGs, there's also something. Tower of Radia would have been an immediate and absolute classic. It looks like almost all role-playing games of the system, yes, but it includes two novelties that I would have loved in my childhood years. The first of these novelties is that the fights are in real time. That is, we enter the classic battle instance but we don't fight in turns, as in almost all NES RPGs. The second novelty, perhaps the most notable, is that in those battles we are accompanied by our allies, who are also controlled in real time by artificial intelligence and to whom we can give orders about their general behavior. I played it for a few minutes to write this, but I'm determined to finish it. With that I tell you everything!
Remember you can download all these games by clicking here. You want more? Ugh, you're a binge lover, my friend! Well, okay, since you read this far, you deserve a reward. If you click this other link you'll download another pack with many other prototypes that, for one reason or another, were left out of this list. Hey, you can't say we don't pamper you!
