List of unreleased media
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Template:Distinguish2 Due to various reasons (ranging from being of poor quality, developing a game for a failed or soon-to-be-discontinued system, or the company facing financial or legal woes), a project can end up being cancelled and cease production. Despite their status, concepts present in cancelled games and other media can be reused in commercial releases, and some cancelled games are repurposed into different projects.
A game in development can also end up becoming vaporware, a term for projects that are announced and for which development is started, but, for similar reasons, were never published.
The following is a list of Mario media that has been cancelled, or was never produced or released.
Cancelled games and vaporware
| Game | System | Reason/Description |
|---|---|---|
| Return of Donkey Kong | Nintendo Entertainment System | A follow-up game of Donkey Kong, cancelled for unknown reasons. |
| Donkey Kong no Ongaku Asobi | A music-based spin-off of Donkey Kong, also cancelled for unknown reasons. | |
| Mario Takes America | Philips CD-i | Cancelled due to financial issues caused by Philips being unsatisfied by the development's progress. Attempts to rework the title into a Sonic the Hedgehog game and even later with original properties fell through, possibly due to the CD-i's drop-in popularity, and developer Cigam went bankrupt in 1994.[1] |
| Super Mario's Wacky Worlds | A successor to Super Mario World. Cancelled likely due to development requiring a higher budget.[2] Three official prototype discs are in circulation. | |
| Philips CD-i Donkey Kong game | An untitled Donkey Kong game. It is likely that production stopped due to Donkey Kong being a separate license from Mario.[3] | |
| VB Mario Land | Virtual Boy | A sequel to Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, otherwise known as Mario Adventure; scrapped in favor of expanding the Mario Bros.-esque mini-game and releasing it as Mario Clash.[4] |
| Donkey Kong Country 2 | Preliminary work on a Donkey Kong Country sequel for the Virtual Boy. The project only got as far as designing the title screen before work. A full-fledged sequel, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, was later released for the SNES.[5] | |
| VB Mario Kart | A follow-up game of Super Mario Kart, listed on a release schedule in the German magazine Big N.[6] The title was more than likely cancelled due to the discontinuation of the Virtual Boy. | |
| Argonaut Yoshi platformer | Nintendo 64 | A 3D platformer starring Yoshi that was pitched by Argonaut Games to Nintendo but was rejected. Argonaut reworked the game into Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, released for PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows, and Game Boy Color. Super Mario 64 allegedly resembles its original design. |
| Luigi's Mansion | Concepts were made during the Nintendo 64's lifespan, but it was pushed back and development began for the Nintendo GameCube, on which the final game was released.[7] | |
| Mario Artist series | Nintendo 64DD | Of the Mario Artist series, only Paint Studio, Talent Studio, Communication Kit and Polygon Studio were released; Game Maker, Graphical Message Maker, Sound Maker (originally part of Paint Studio) and Video Jockey Maker were cancelled, likely due to the 64DD's late release and commercial failure. A different iteration of Paint Studio was in development by Software Creations, but it was cancelled due internal politics between Nintendo of America and Nintendo's headquarters in Japan over control of the project[8]. |
| Super Mario 64 2 | A sequel to Super Mario 64, abandoned due to a lack of progress and the 64DD's late release and commercial failure. Certain aspects were carried over to Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64 DS. May be related to Super Mario 64 Disk Version, a similarly-unreleased working port of the previous game shown at Nintendo Space World 1996.[9] | |
| Mario Paint 64 | A follow-up game of Mario Paint. It allowed for many processes while playing, and used a controller different from the original mouse. | |
| Super Mario RPG 2 | A sequel to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, otherwise known as Mario RPG 2[10] and Super Mario Adventure while in development. Due to complications involving Square, it was reworked into Paper Mario and was released as a standard Nintendo 64 title. | |
| Diddy Kong Pilot | Game Boy Advance | A follow-up game of Diddy Kong Racing but with flying as the only means of transport. It was unfinished before Rare was bought by Microsoft in 2002 and Nintendo did not approve of the concept. The concept was reworked into Banjo Pilot and released for the Game Boy Advance.[11] |
| Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers | A puzzle game starring Donkey Kong that was unfinished before Microsoft purchased Rare. It was reworked into It's Mr. Pants, also released for Game Boy Advance.[12] | |
| Donkey Kong Plus | A remake of the Game Boy Donkey Kong shown at E3 2002 as a proof-of-concept for connectivity between Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube systems; its intended system is unclear, however. Presumably cancelled in favor of Mario vs. Donkey Kong, an original game based on the classic Donkey Kong gameplay.[13] | |
| Nintendo GameCube | ||
| Donkey Kong Racing | Another follow-up game of Diddy Kong Racing that was unfinished before Rare was bought by Microsoft. It was reworked into Sabreman Stampede for the Xbox 360; unlike the aforementioned games, however, this iteration of the title was unofficially cancelled.[14] | |
| Yoshi Touch & Go | Was later reworked into a Nintendo DS title with the same name. | |
| DK Bongo Blast | Was reworked onto the Wii as Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.[15] | |
| Super Paper Mario | At one point it was considered for release on both the Nintendo GameCube and Wii,[16] but it was ultimately pushed to the Wii exclusively.[17] | |
| Super Mario Spikers | Wii | A volleyball-wrestling hybrid game being developed by Next Level Games, cancelled in favor of Punch-Out!! due to aspects of the game clashing with Nintendo's code of honor.[18] |
Other unreleased media
- Archie Mario comic - A Mario comic book series by Archie Comics that was pitched to Nintendo but was rejected.
References
- ^ Monokoma. (September 15, 2014). Mario Takes America [CDI – Cancelled]. Unseen64. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ Calderon, Anthony. (January 21, 2005). The Making of the Game - Luigi's Mansion. N-Sider. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ^ Monokoma. (April 4 2008). Creator / Mario Artist [64DD – Beta / Cancelled]. Unseen64. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ [6]
- ^ Miyamoto Reveals Secrets: Fire Emblem, Mario Paint 64. (July 29, 1997). IGN. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ Diddy Kong Pilot [GBA – Beta / Cancelled]. (April 7, 2008). Unseen64. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers [GBA – Cancelled] (It’s Mr. Pants [GBA – Beta]). (April 7, 2008). Unseen64. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ Donkey Kong Plus [GBA – Cancelled]. (April 8, 2008). Unseen64. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ Donkey Kong Racing [GameCube – Cancelled]. (April 8, 2008). Unseen64. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ Donkey Kong Bongo Blast [GC – Unreleased]. (April 9, 2008). Unseen64. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ Wii Preview: Super Paper Mario. NGamer Magazine (January 5, 2007). Retrieved July 17, 2016.
- ^ Super Paper Mario [GC – Cancelled]. (April 9, 2008). Unseen64. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ Tamaki. (August 6, 2011). Super Mario Spikers [Wii – Cancelled]. Unseen64. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
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