10 Canceled Nintendo Games We'll NEVER Get to Play
Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:05 Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're digging through Nintendo's past to showcase 10 cancelled games we'll never get to play.
00:12 [MUSIC]
00:17 Before we begin, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:24 [DING]
00:24 Super Mario Spikers
00:28 [CROWD CHEERING]
00:34 Mario has starred in a lot of sports spin-offs, but not all of them made it through production.
00:39 Super Mario Spikers was in development for the Wii at Next Level Games in 2007, and would have blended wrestling with volleyball.
00:46 The team had already proven itself with the Mario Strikers series, though Nintendo had some issues.
00:52 [CROWD CHEERING]
00:58 While Super Smash Bros. took a more stylized and fantastical approach to combat,
01:03 Nintendo felt what it saw from Spikers was a bit too realistically violent for Mario's family-friendly image.
01:09 And so, the pitch was rejected, with only some concept art and brief footage showcasing some animations remaining.
01:16 [MARIO SPEAKING]
01:19 Icarus
01:21 [MARIO SPEAKING]
01:29 Prior to receiving an underrated gem of a reboot in the 3DS's Uprising, the Kid Icarus series was considered to make a return on the Wii.
01:37 Tentatively titled Icarus, it was being worked on by Factor 5, the same studio behind the Star Wars Rogue Squadron series.
01:44 The team was taking a grittier approach, aging Pit up and having him defend Earth against an invasion following his banishment from his home.
01:53 [PIT SPEAKING]
01:58 Through the use of the Wiimote's sensor and a focus on aerial combat, which Factor 5 had perfected in previous games, Icarus could have been a solid return.
02:07 However, Nintendo chose to end funding once they saw a playable prototype, thinking the mature approach was too different from the rest of the series.
02:15 [MARIO SPEAKING]
02:19 You did it!
02:20 [MARIO SPEAKING]
02:22 Earthbound 64
02:23 [MUSIC]
02:29 Fans of the Mother series have known their fair share of disappointment.
02:34 In the mid-90s, a new game was in development for the Nintendo 64DD, a disc-based peripheral.
02:40 When that bombed in Japan and was discontinued, development on Earthbound 64 switched to the regular console.
02:47 Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.
02:49 [MUSIC]
02:56 The team had a lot of grand ideas, and higher-ups at Nintendo were concerned it would take too many resources while they were preparing for the launch of the GameCube.
03:04 Shigeru Miyamoto once estimated that around 60% of the game was completed at the time of cancellation.
03:10 While it would later be reworked into Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance, that's clearly very different from what it started as.
03:17 [MUSIC]
03:23 Super Mario's Wacky Worlds
03:26 [MUSIC]
03:33 Super Mario World is still considered by some to be the best 2D Mario, and it almost got a sequel not even made by Nintendo.
03:41 Wacky Worlds was a spiritual successor to the SNES Classic, in development for the Philips CD-i,
03:47 a platform most famous for awful Zelda and Mario games that were the result of a failed deal between the two companies.
03:54 However, everything we've seen from it looks solid.
03:57 [MUSIC]
04:04 Developer Nova Logic kept the same style, but the game would have taken Mario to some real-world locations,
04:09 like Ancient Greece, as well as completely unique ones.
04:13 Although Nintendo was impressed with the prototype, the terrible sales of the CD-i caused them not to go through with it.
04:20 [MUSIC]
04:26 Project Hammer
04:27 [MUSIC]
04:34 The Wii was Nintendo at its family-friendliest, but it still got a handful of darker titles, mostly from third-party developers.
04:42 However, one that never saw the light of day and would have come from Nintendo itself was Project Hammer.
04:48 Nothing is known of the story, but it would have used beat-em-up mechanics with a musou style similar to Dynasty Warriors.
04:54 [MUSIC]
05:00 Unfortunately, there were a lot of issues behind the scenes.
05:04 Senior leads reportedly ignored input from American developers,
05:08 resulting in a change to a cuter art style despite the game initially being made with Western players in mind.
05:14 When Nintendo looked into it, the team's low morale and lack of direction caused them to cancel it.
05:20 [MUSIC]
05:25 Super Donkey
05:26 [MUSIC]
05:33 Here's an odd one.
05:34 Super Donkey is a cancelled platformer that was in development for the Super Nintendo during the early 90s.
05:40 Anyone familiar with Yoshi's Island can immediately tell that this is where it got its gorgeous art direction from.
05:46 Footage shows a Rayman-like figure before that character's actual debut with limited flight capabilities.
05:52 But there's still a great deal that remains a mystery.
05:55 [MUSIC]
06:01 Most of us didn't even know it existed until the massive Nintendo leak in 2020.
06:06 We're also not sure why it was cancelled.
06:09 Some believe it would have been a Donkey Kong spin-off given the name,
06:12 theorizing that the protagonist was that of Skyskipper, an arcade game that used Donkey Kong as an enemy.
06:19 [MUSIC]
06:22 Donkey Kong Racing
06:24 [MUSIC]
06:31 Speaking of Donkey Kong, the Great Ape nearly got his own racing game on the GameCube.
06:36 Following the success of Diddy Kong Racing on the N64, Rare began work on a successor.
06:41 It was announced at E3 2001 and would have featured most members of the Kong family.
06:47 The pre-rendered trailer also made it seem we'd be racing on the backs of animal companions from the DK series,
06:52 rather than carts, planes, and boats.
06:55 [MUSIC]
07:01 Sadly, that trailer was all we ever saw of it.
07:04 Rare was purchased by Microsoft not long after, causing the cancellation of Donkey Kong Racing.
07:10 [MUSIC]
07:17 Kid Kirby
07:18 [MUSIC]
07:24 Kirby has starred in a lot of games, and he's had a lot of games cancelled.
07:29 But one of the more interesting what-ifs is the Super Nintendo's Kid Kirby.
07:33 As a prequel to the overall series, it would have followed a younger Kirby and featured a Prince Dedede,
07:38 among other original characters and enemies.
07:41 [MUSIC]
07:47 Interestingly, the game was set to release in late 1995 and was being developed by DMA Design,
07:53 which would later evolve into Rockstar North of GTA fame.
07:56 According to designer Mike Daly, players would have used the Super Nintendo's mouse peripheral
08:01 to stretch Kirby and fling him across levels.
08:04 Low sales of the mouse are thought to have been the biggest contributing factor in its cancellation.
08:10 [MUSIC]
08:16 Retro Studios' Boo Game
08:18 [MUSIC]
08:25 Retro Studios is known for its incredible work on the Metroid and Donkey Kong franchises.
08:30 But the team has tried to branch out to other Nintendo IPs in the past.
08:34 During the DS era, the studio planned to pitch to Nintendo on a spin-off idea focusing on a Boo from the Mario series.
08:41 It would have followed the ghost after graduating from Haunt University,
08:45 featured a signature possession mechanic,
08:47 and would have had players go up against villainous witches.
08:50 [MUSIC]
08:55 The concept honestly sounds great, but it sadly didn't get very far.
09:00 The idea came from leads at the company, and it was cancelled after they left to form a new studio.
09:06 All that remains is some fantastic concept art.
09:09 [MUSIC]
09:17 Heroes of Hyrule
09:18 [MUSIC]
09:26 In addition to the world of Mario, Retro also tried to get some Zelda spin-offs off the ground.
09:31 One was a chic, centric Wii game with some truly incredible concept art,
09:35 but with gameplay that didn't sound that enticing.
09:38 However, everything we've heard about Heroes of Hyrule makes us wish we could have played it.
09:43 [MUSIC]
09:49 It would have been a strategic spin on the franchise,
09:52 borrowing elements from games like Final Fantasy Tactics.
09:55 Players could have jumped between two time periods,
09:58 a present day one of a new character named Cory,
10:00 and the past that focused on a Goron, Zora, and Rita warrior.
10:05 According to engineer Paul Tozer, the pitch was immediately rejected by Nintendo,
10:10 with no clear explanation as to why except that it just wasn't interested.
10:14 [MUSIC]
10:21 Which of these cancellations do you wish had been released?
10:24 Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays for more great gaming videos.
10:29 "Can I detect a note of smugness in your voice?"
10:31 "Uh, no no no, I'm just really happy I can fly."
10:34 Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed the video, there's more where that came from.
10:38 [MUSIC]