Unreleased Mega Drive games

From Sega Retro

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Over the course of the Sega Mega Drive's lifetime, a number of games went unreleased. Sega VR games are not listed here — see the main article for details. This list also omits games that did not make it past the concept phase, like Spinny and Spike.

Name Involved Companies Details ROM Found and Released?
AD2001/Power Ball AD2001 HiCom Info on this page is all that's known. Was almost completed according to former HiCom employee Jason Park. No
Akira THQ Shown in Player One #44, Console Plus #44, and Console Plus #35. Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Al Unser Jnr Racing Software Toolworks Featured at Summer CES 1994. No
Aliens Konami Mentioned in Mean Machines #2.[1] No
"Amegedon" Project Softmax Info on this page is all that's known. No
The Ancient Art of War in the Skies MicroProse Mentioned in Mean Machines Sega #10. Released on DOS, Amiga and Atari ST. No
Andre Panza Kick Boxing Electro Brain Mentioned in GamePro #33[2]; possibly became Best of the Best: Championship Karate No
Aspect Warriors Electronic Arts This Unseen64 page shows magazine scans (TODO IDENTIFY WHICH MAGAZINE) which is all that's known about this game. No
Beastball Spectrum HoloByte Released by MrMark0673 Yes
Battle Mission Sega, Renovation Cancelled for unknown reasons. This Unseen64 page has no text — only two magazine scans (TODO IDENTIFY WHICH MAGAZINE) — and that is all that's known about this game. No
Battle Smash Kaneko Shown in Beep MD[3], along with ad[4]. No
B-Bomb Sega Shown in EGM #39. More information. Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Benefactor Digital Illusions Amiga game that Psygnosis canned for the MD. To be released in December 1994 according to German SEGA Magazin 6/1994. No
Bill's Tomato Game Psygnosis Cancelled for unknown reasons. A prototype cartridge was sold in 2009. Video of the game from the seller. The buyer later sold it (TODO preserve the auction page) Yes
Blood Money Psygnosis Cancelled for unknown reasons. Matt Furniss, the game's composer, confirmed its existence on Sega-16. No
Bobby's World Riedel Software Productions, Hi Tech Entertainment Info on this page is all that's known. No
Bounty Hunter Sega Planned as a bundled release with the Activator as of GamePro #50[5] with a slated release date of December 1993. No
Brett Hull 2 Accolade Mentioned in German SEGA Magazin 6/94 and to be released just months after the first game. In the end the first game didn't even make it to Europe. No
Casper (Mega Drive) Riedel Software Productions, Hi Tech Expressions Info on this page is all that's known. No
Chessmaster 2100 Software Toolworks Released for PC. Shown at Winter CES 1992.[6] No
City Heroes Samsung All that's known comes from this Hardcore Gaming 101 article: Developed by the Uzu Keobukseon team and intended for international release; it was cancelled because the then-new South Korean game censorship laws were so confusing that they got lost trying to censor the otherwise completed game. No
Combat Aces Baton Technologies? Cancelled due to the lack of release of the Teleplay Modem. Programmed by Chuck Peavey. Yes
Congo (Mega Drive) Viacom Cancelled for unknown reasons. Not sure if this is a prototype of an unreleased game or an unlicensed game. The SNES Congo appears to be an entirely different game, despite the SNES one being based on and the MD one appearing to be based on the film. Previewed in Mean Machines Sega #35. Yes
Converse Hardcore Hoops/Converse City Ball Tour Virgin Announced in GamePro #72 and CD Consoles #8. Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Cybernauts: The Next Breed Accolade Advertised by Accolade in the packages for some of their later games... and a lot of other places too. Cancelled along with Fireteam Rogue below because they were overmarketed to the point that there would be no realistic way to have the games completed the way they were advertised and still be fun — so new Accolade management dropped them. Previewed in Mean Machines Sega #20. No
Dan Marino's Touch Down Football Virgin Games Mentioned in Mean Machines Sega #10. Probably the same game as below. No
Dan Marino Power Play Football Virgin, Park Place Productions GDRI - what is their source? No
Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat Tradewest Cancelled for unknown reasons. DreamTR acquired a copy of the prototype and sent it to MrMark0673, who combined text on the prototype with art from the released NES version of the game to form a 50-copy reproduction run that ran in the summer of 2011. Whether or not a ROM dump from the original or pictures of the original will come has yet to be determined. No
Die Hard Trilogy Fox Interactive Mentioned in Mean Machines Sega #24. No
Dinoblades (Dynablaze?) Virgin. Tahoe Software Productions GDRI - what is their source? Is this DynoBlaze below? No
Dino Racers Maximum Effect, Codemasters Previewed in Mean Machines Sega #23. Started January 1994 No
DNAction: The New Breed Accolade Shown in Games World #1, Banzzai Magazine #21, GamePro #56, and Player One #4. Cancelled for unknown reasons. To be released in autumn 1994 according to German SEGA Magazin. No
Doctor Who Sega Previewed in Mean Machines Sega #22. Apparently connected to the 1996 TV movie. No
Dragon's Lair: The Adventure Continues Eden, Elite Systems, Taito Cancelled for unknown reasons. Dumped and released by MrMark0673 in mid-2011. They claim it's a 100% complete port of the SNES game but I'm not entirely sure...? Yes
DynoBlaze Bonsai, Virgin A press release was released by Bonsai/Virgin, and is still available on Bonsai's website. Cancelled for unknown reasons. Yes, but not actively circulated (and is a completely different build from the one used to take the existing screenshots and footage — in fact, it might not even be correct)
Environmental Detective Magicom Shown in some issue of Mean Machine (TODO FIND OUT WHICH). Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
EXP: The Excellent Potato Open Production Info on this page is all that's known. A DOS version was completed and released in Korea. No
Feels Sega Cancelled for unknown reasons. Platform game from Sega to be released in autumn 1994 according to a list in German SEGA Magazin 6/94. Hard to say it changed name. This is probably the same Feel known to have evolved into Ristar. No
Fireteam Rogue Accolade Advertised by Accolade in the packages for some of their later games... and a lot of other places too. Cancelled along with Cybernauts: The Next Breed above because they were overmarketed to the point that there would be no realistic way to have the games completed the way they were advertised and still be fun — so new Accolade management dropped them. Previewed in Mean Machines Sega #20 and #21. To be released in late 1994. No
Fun Car Rally MagiCom Prototype of Accolade's Combat Cars. BKK on Sega-16 reveals that MCOM in the game's ROM is likely to be MagiCom because they were developing Mega Drive games around the ROM's date, and one person who worked with them later founded Funcom, who held the rights to Combat Cars before Accolade. The title music appears to have been taken from The Beach Boys' Fun Fun Fun (or possibly Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode). The name entry music may be Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed by Matt Bianco. The reasons for the title and music changes are unknown. Yes
Future Zone Electro Brain Featured at CES 1993 and GamePro #45[7]. No
Global Golf Codemasters Cancelled for unknown reasons. A Master System version was also in progress. Should have been almost complete because it was in a list in German SEGA Magazin 6/94 (June) and set to be released in July the same year. Belived to be "Ernie Els Golf" that only came to the Game Gear. No
Goal! Virgin Cancelled for unknown reasons. Maybe when Psygnosis canned all Mega Drive games? Was it a port of the Dini & Dini/Virgin Amiga game Goal!, and did Virgin bring it over as Dino Dini's Soccer? No
Guardian Angels Safety Patrol Nuvision Entertainment Summer CES 1991 No
Halloween Capsule Softmax Info on this page is all that's known. Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Hanna Barbera's Turbo Toons Empire Interactive Previewed in Mean Machines Sega #22. Only released on SNES in Europe. No
Hardcore Digital Illusions, Psygnosis Digital Illusions, now called DICE, had nearly completed the game when publisher Psygnosis cancelled it (and according to this linked video, taking every other unfinished MD game with it — was ResQ below a victim?). According to this linked video, which is of the game being showed by DICE to a demoparty in 2010, DICE were in talks with Sony (who owns Psygnosis, who still today owns the game's distribution license) to try to get the game released somehow — these appear to have gone nowhere. Game also shown in German SEGA Magazin 8/1994. No
The Head Alexandria GDRI (what is their source?) No
Hellfire Run Panoramic Software GDRI - what is their source? No
Heretic Probe Atod worked on a version for Mega Drive but Probe let them go on with the port of Hexen to Saturn instead. No
Highway Encounter Vortex Mark Haigh-Hutchinson said to have developed Amiga, Atari ST, and Mega Drive versions in 1990, none of which were released. A prototype of the Atari ST version has been released No
Hooves of Thunder RazorSoft Mentioned in Mean Machines Sega #10 and GamePro #33[2]. No
IF HiCom Info on this page is all that's known. A DOS version was also in development, but unreleased as well. No
Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures Factor 5, US Gold Reviewed in GamePro and German GAMERS. Conversion from the SNES game. Reportedly completed in EGM preview. Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Interplanetary Lizards of the Texas Plains Tengen, Alexandria (GDRI - what is their source?) Featured at Winter CES 1993. This Unseen64 page shows a magazine scan (TODO IDENTIFY THE MAGAZINE) which is all that's known about this game. Planned to be released in spring 1994 according to German SEGA Magazin 3/94. No
The Itchy and Scratchy Game Bits, Acclaim Cancelled for unknown reasons. Said to be released in the summer of 1994 according to German SEGA Magazin 7/94. Yes
It Came from the Desert Cinemaware, Electronic Arts Cinemaware released the prototype ROM. An interview with the lead programmer on the project reveals that the game was "99.99%" complete when cancelled and that it was cancelled because publisher Electronic Arts wanted to focus only on sports games from then on (that didn't happen). Yes
Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road Baja 1000 Williams Entertainment Announced at Summer CES 1994, mentioned in Mean Machines Sega #23. Sequel to Super Off Road, only released on SNES. 1994-11[8] No
Jesse 'The Body' Ventura Wrestling Superstars DreamWorks Summer CES 1991, GamePro #33[2] No
Jester STI A rather elusive game; very little is known about it (though SOA did advertise it). Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Jimmy Connors Tennis Ubi Soft Mentioned in GamePro #33[2] No
Joe Montana Football (Mediagenic)/Hyperball Mediagenic At least 30% complete when it suffered a combination of being locked in development hell and Mediagenic's financial troubles. Was to be developed entirely at Mediagenic. The Joe Montana Football that was released is based on an engine by Electronic Arts and Park Place Productions.
Karate Blazers Mc O'River Arcade game. Shown at Winter CES 1992.[6] No
Kartoon Kombat Technos, Elite A damaged prototype ROM handed to MrMark0673 on a floppy disk from Elite is all that is known of this game. Cancelled for unknown reasons. (MAGAZINE SOURCE ON UNSEEN64 PAGE UNVERIFIED — TODO). Featured at Summer CES 1994. No
Keeper of the Gates Razorsoft Supposedly a sequel to the MD version of Stormlord. Shown in EGM #40 and #41. Cancelled for unknown reasons. Released for home computers. Shown at Winter CES 1992.[6] No
Kung Fu: The Legends Continue Sunsoft Featured at Winter CES 1993 No
Lennox Lewis Boxing Acclaim, Park Place Productions GDRI - what is their source? No
Lobo Ocean Reviewed in EGM and GamePro. Cancelled for unknown reasons. Found and dumped by SEGASaturno and released by drx. Yes
The Lord of the Rings (EA) EA Shown at Winter CES 1992[6] and mentioned in early EA print advertisements[9]. Planned release date for 1992.[10] No
Lothar Matthäus Super Soccer Krisalis The game is called "Manchester United Championship Soccer" in UK and "Lothar Matthäus Super Soccer" in Germany but was only released to the SNES. A Mega Drive version were planned for and shown in German SEGA Magazin 1/95. No
The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse Capcom Featured at Winter CES 1994. Originally released for SNES. No
Magician's Castle Psygnosis Featured at Winter CES 1993 No
Mall Rats Software Toolworks Featured at Summer CES 1994. No
Matrix Accolade Featured at Summer CES 1994. No
Maverick: SFG Sage's Creation Featured at Winter CES 1992 and mentioned in GamePro #33[11].
Mission Impossible Ocean Developer unknown. Shown in Joypad #44, Top Consoles #4, and Console Plus #45. Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Monster Hunter ?? This Menacer game was only known to be shown in EGM #51. No
MTV Sports: Extreme Viacom Featured at Summer CES 1994. No
Mr. Nutz 2 Neon, Ocean Reviewed in several European magazines. The game is a conversion of Mr. Nutz: Hoppin' Mad for the Amiga and has been reported being completed by the main programmer, Peter Thierolf, who still keeps a fully finished game ROM but cannot release it due to copyright issues. Game screenshots running on Gens emulator were taken by him. Source code of the game was released and compiled in a full ROM. Yes
M. Tuff SCI Said to be released to both MD & M-CD in January 1995 according to German SEGA Magazin 6/94. A SNES ROM exists at least. No
Ninja Gaiden IV Sega Shown in Gamefan #1 and EGM #37 — which shows pictures from Level 2 of the Ninja Gaiden ROM above. Not sure if this is still the same as Ninja Gaiden above — needs investigation. Both the above ROM and this small preview come from 1992. No
Nolan Ryan Express Mentrix Software 1993-02[12] No
Operation Aliens THQ Mentioned in Mean Machines Sega #10. Possibly connected to the Operation Aliens animated TV pilot and toy line. No
Payne Stewart Pro Golf [13]
Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors Absolute Entertainment Featured at Summer CES 1994. The Mega CD version was cancelled too, but has since been unearthed. Mean Machines Sega Issue #23 says a Mega Drive version existed. No
Pegasus Racer Ringler Studios GDRI - source No
Pinky Data Design Systems, Tengen Advertised in magazines. Cancelled for unknown reasons (there are guesses as to what the reason is). (MAGAZINE SOURCE UNVERIFIED — TODO) No
Popeye the Sailor Man Technos Featured at Winter CES 1994, Shown in Console Mania #28, Game Fun #94, and Mean Machines Sega #17. Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Putty Squad System 3, Ocean Reviewed in some European magazines. Coversion from the SNES game. Cancelled for unknown reasons. drx seems to have a working prototype of the game. Released by a Sega-16 user in October 2015 Yes
Ratchet & Bolt Sega Shown in some French magazine Supersonic, July-August 1994 Moved to the 32X before cancelled. No
ResQ Tempest, Psygnosis Featured at Winter CES 1993. Cancelled for unknown reasons. Yes
Road Riot 4WD Tengen Shown in Joypad magazine #7, EGM #40, and EGM #41. Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Road Runner Alexandria GDRI - what is their source? No
Road to the Cup Hockey '94 Electro Brain, Park Place Productions GDRI - source No
Rocket Rescue Hotshot This Unseen64 page, has magazine scans ('TODO IDENTIFY WHICH MAGAZINE) which is all that's known about the game. No
Savage Heroes Electronic Arts Cancelled because the project was too ambitious and the developer chosen (unknown) produced a prototype that did not impress EA managers. No
Search for Ramses II Tengen Mentioned in Mean Machines Sega #10. No
Shadow of Yserbius AT&T Featured at Summer CES 1994. No
Skulljagger's Revenge American Softworks Featured at Summer CES 1994. Due early 1995. No
Smaartvark/Dreyfuss Smaartvark Codemasters More info (might need confirmation) and magazine scan clipping (TODO IDENTIFY WHICH MAGAZINES) are at this Unseen64 page. Codemasters also advertised the game in the January 1994 EGM. Short article with screenshots in Mean Machines Sega #15. Cancelled for unknown reasons. No
Snow White: Happily Ever After ASC Featured at Winter CES 1993 and Summer CES 1994. No
Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill Kaneko May have originally been called Socks the Cat Rocks the House. Slated for a November 1993 release as of GamePro #50[5]. No
Solo Flight Microprose Released for home computers. Shown at Winter CES 1992.[6] No
Sonic-16 STI The game was intended to tie into the Sonic the Hedgehog "SatAM" cartoon, but Sonic Team head Yuji Naka disapproved. See the linked article for more details. No
Speed Racer Accolade Advertised in magazines and appears in GamePro #50[5]. Cancelled for unknown reasons. Sometimes called "The Challenge of Racer X". First planned release March 1994 but got delayed and finally scrapped. No
The Sporting News Virtual Soccer Probe, Hudson Soft [14] No
Steven Seagal is the Final Option TecMagik Featured at Winter CES 1993 No
Stone Protectors Kemco, Eurocom, VIC Tokai Cancelled for unknown reasons. Found, dumped, and released by The NES Player. Yes
Swamp Thing Microsmiths, Nuvision Cancelled when Nuvision went under. Found, dumped, and released by MrMark0673 of SegaAge. Yes (but overdumped)
Technocop: The Final Mission Razor Soft Planned sequel to Technocop show at Winter CES 1992[11].
Theme Hospital Bullfrog Previewed in Mean Machines Sega #32. No
Time Trax Black Pearl Software, Malibu Interactive Cancelled for unknown reasons. The music would have been composed by Tim Follin with a sound driver by Dean Belfield. Follin released a recording of the title screen theme on his website; it can now be found in the "Wine Cellar" section, however the link has died — someone else uploaded the song to YouTube. Dumped by assorted SegaAge members. Yes
Troll Adventures American Softworks Announced at Summer CES 1994, mentioned in Mean Machines Sega #23. Probably the same as Super Troll Islands on SNES. No
Ushra Monster Truck Wars Acclaim Entertainment Featured at Summer CES 1994. No
Vampire Killer Razor Soft Shown at Winter CES 1992[15] No
Wheel of Fortune 2 Gametek Mentioned for release in GamePro #54[16]. No
Wing Commander II Electronic Arts Featured at Winter CES 1994. No
World Cup Soccer Acclaim Featured at CES 1993 and GamePro #45[17]. No

Note: the Mega Drive Command & Conquer ROM, long believed to be an unreleased port, is actually an unfinished pirate.

"Concept and Design Only"

might as well

  • Spinny & Spike (TODO find those references again


http://vgmdb.net/album/1818 someone (Ancient?) may have been working on a game called The Stickman is Back
http://turbo-boing.com/about Arena?
Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 protos have SVP support strings
http://www.gamengai.com/cmnt_inf.php?id=1436&type=0
http://basiscape.com/arts_sakimoto.html quite a few here; possibly also other basiscape artists

of note: http://www.guardiana.net/MDG-Database/Mega%20Drive/Teki%20Paki/

  1. ↑ File:MeanMachines UK 02.pdf, page 25
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 File:GamePro US 033.pdf, page 22
  3. ↑ File:BeepMD JP 1992-04.pdf, page 49
  4. ↑ File:BeepMD JP 1992-04.pdf, page 24
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 File:GamePro US 050.pdf, page 141
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 File:MeanMachines UK 17.pdf, page 12
  7. ↑ File:GamePro US 045.pdf, page 111
  8. ↑ File:GamePlayers US 0710.pdf, page 12
  9. ↑ File:Starflight MD US Poster.pdf, page 2
  10. ↑ File:GamePro US 031.pdf, page 44
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 File:GamePro US 033.pdf, page 24
  12. ↑ File:SegaVisions US 11.pdf, page 100
  13. ↑ File:SegaVisions US 25.pdf, page 100
  14. ↑ File:MeanMachinesSega34UK.pdf, page 12
  15. ↑ File:GamePro US 033.pdf, page 26
  16. ↑ File:GamePro US 054.pdf, page 224
  17. ↑ File:GamePro US 045.pdf, page 110
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