List of cancelled Nintendo games

This article is naturally incomplete. The large scope/nature of the article means it is virtually impossible to fully cover the subject in question or know when it is complete.

This article is a list of Nintendo developed works (or works with Nintendo planned as the publisher) that were ultimately unreleased.

Arcade

• Space X
• Star Fox (Arcade)

Game & Watch

Renamed

• Laundry (became Rain Shower)

NES

Sources: [1] [2] [3]

• Balloon Fight (Famicom Disk System version)
• Bowling
• Donkey Kong no Ongaku Asobi
• Earth Bound (Beginnings) (US translation)
• Go (Famicom Network System) (and four other unknown prototypes for the same service)
• Gomoku Narabe Renju (Famicom Disk System version)
• Jump Burger
• Palps
• Virus (old Dr. Mario name)
• SimCity (NES)

SNES

Sources: [4] [5] [6]

• Black Out
• Star Fox 2 (released on the SNES Classic Edition)
• Kid Kirby
• Sound Fantasy
• Fighting Polygon
• Comanche
• Special Tee Shot (released exclusively in Japan for the Satellaview)

Virtual Boy

Sources: [7]

• Bound High!
• Dragon Hopper
• Donkey Kong Country (Virtual Boy)
• GoldenEye 007 (Virtual Boy)
• Virtual Boy Mario Kart
• Virtual Boy Mario Land
• Zero Racers

Game Boy/Game Boy Color

Sources: [8]

• Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Curse
• Game Boy Bunko: Hajimari no Mori
• Hello Kitty Pocket Camera
• Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru DX
• Pokémon Pink
• Sutte Hakkun GB
• X (English translation, rejected by Nintendo for being 'too complex'), also known as Lunar Chase.
• Balloon Kids (Japanese version of Balloon Kid; later released in the form of Hello Kitty World and Balloon Fight GB)
• DX ports of Metroid II: Return of Samus DX and Kirby's Dream Land 2 DX

Finalised as a significantly different game

• Capsule Monsters (early concept for Pokémon Red and Green with a few significantly different elements to the final games)
• Untitled balloon/bubble pushing games (after it was decided to control the character instead, eventually the character Starfy (or a character like him) was introduced and the game later became Densetsu no Starfy for Game Boy Color)
• Densetsu no Starfy (Game Boy Color) (became Densetsu no Starfy for Game Boy Advance)
• Game Boy Music (moved to Game Boy Advance, but became Daigassou! Band Brothers for Nintendo DS)
• Gimmick Land (became Tomato Adventure for Game Boy Advance. Gimmick Land was going to be released for the Game Boy Color, and wasn't meant to be published by Nintendo, but instead by AlphaDream, unlike the GBA Tomato Adventure where it got published by Nintendo.)
• Panel de Pon GB (Pokémon Puzzle Challenge was released instead, but a demo of it is hidden in the software and can be accessed with a series of button presses)
• Pokémon Picross (Game Boy Color) (in a conceptual context. May have became Pokémon Picross (Nintendo 3DS))
• SimCity (NES) (became SimCity (SNES))
• The Legend of Zelda: Mystical Seed of Power, Wisdom, and Courage (became The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons)
• Pokémon Gold and Silver (originally known as Pokémon 2), seems (based on Nintendo Space World 1997 accounts and the eventual leaks) to have had a different plan of available monsters, specifically this can be seen with starting monsters Honoguma, Happa and Kurusu but lots of cut Pokémon are hidden in the code. Many differences were also present in the gameplay, such as folders instead of bag pockets, cut moves, items, trainers and the inclusion of Pokémon Red and Green music.

Game Boy Advance

Sources: [9] [10] [11] [12]

• Battland
• Diddy Kong Pilot
• Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers
• Donkey Kong Plus
• Game Boy Wars Advance (Japanese version of Advance Wars, later released in Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2)
• Hanasaki Kassen
• Horse Racing Creating Derby
• Game Boy Music
• Luna Blaze
• Pokémon WaterBlue (may have been an early consideration for the name of Pokémon LeafGreen)
• Pokémon Yellow (Game Boy Advance)
• Untitled online Pokémon project (and possibly PC)
• Sabre Wulf (Japanese version)
• Unreleased Game Boy Advance Custom Robo GX successor
• Warlocked 2
• English version of Densetsu no Starfy (contained profanity)
• European version of Kururin Paradise (source needed)
• European version of WarioWare: Twisted!

Finalised on a different platform

• Drill Dozer (European version), became available as a download on Wii U Virtual Console
• Game & Watch Gallery 4 (Japanese version, "Game Boy Gallery 4"), became available as a download on Wii U Virtual Console

Notes: Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue was shown at E3 2003. Some have interpreted that it (may have been) released for North America but it got soon cancelled.

Nintendo 64

Sources: [13] [14]

• 64 Wars
• BioSwarm
• Blade & Barrel
• Body Harvest (released out of Japan, Japanese version unreleased and to have been published by Nintendo)
• Buggy Boogie
• Cancelled Mario Artist games
• Cabbage
• CatRoots
• Climber
• Conker's Quest (Twelve Tales: Conker 64) (heavily reworked into the mature game Conker's Bad Fur Day. Nintendo of Europe considered to publish it, but instead, THQ published the game in that region. Nintendo only published it in North America.)
• DD Sequencer
• Desert Island: No Man's Island
• Dezaemon DD
• Digital Horse Racing Newspaper
• Digital Sports Newspaper
• EarthBound 64
• Echo Delta
• Famicom Classics Vol. 1
• Fire Emblem 64
• Gendai Dai-Senryaku: Ultimate War (64DD)
• Go Carts
• Grabbed by the Ghoulies
• Jack & Beans
• Jungle Emperor Leo
• Kakutou Game Ryūō (became Super Smash Bros.)
• Metal Slader Glory 64
• Metroid 64 (see Metroid Wiki's Metroid 64 article)
• Mini Racers (later name Surikka Rajikka)
• Monster Dunk
• Montezuma's Return!
• Mystics
• NBA Basketball '98 (Japanese version), possibly became NBA In The Zone '98 ?
• Oriental Blue: Ao no Tengai (Nintendo 64DD)
• Pro-Am 64 (The game was presented to Nintendo, and following this, converted into Diddy Kong Racing)
• Project Dream
• Quest 64 II
• RiQa
• Shogi (64DD)
• Tetris Plus
• Tetrisphere (Japanese version only)
• Thornado
• Wall Gai
• Wild Metal Country 64
• Zenith

Finalised on a different platform

• 1080° Snowboarding 2 (moved to Nintendo GameCube, 1080° Avalanche was released in its place)
• Animal Leader (became Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest for Nintendo GameCube)
• Dinosaur Planet (became Star Fox Adventures and the original protagonists were altered to fit the Star Fox universe)
• Eternal Darkness (Nintendo 64) (released om GameCube)
• Kameo: Elements of Power (eventually released on Xbox 360)
• Kirby Bowl 64 (became Kirby Air Ride for Nintendo GameCube)
• Luigi's Mansion (released on Nintendo GameCube)
• Pokémon Stadium (Nintendo 64DD version)
• Pokémon Snap (Nintendo 64DD version)
• Ura Zelda (it is believed this (at least partly) became The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest later featured on the Nintendo GameCube)
• Earthbound 64 (Became Mother 3 for Game Boy Advance)

Nintendo GameCube

• Action Adventure
• Donkey Kong Racing
• Football 2002
• Geist (Japanese version)
• Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble 2 (later title Roll-o-Rama, without Kirby)
• Marionette
• Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball
• Nintendo Puzzle Collection (European version)
• Raven Blade
• Stage Debut
• Too Human
• Thunder Rally
• Untitled EarthBound game (Nintendo GameCube)
• Untitled Kid Icarus prototype (Wii)
• Untitled Kirby prototypes (Nintendo GameCube, Wii)

Finalised on a different platform

• Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (moved from Nintendo GameCube to Wii)
• Eyeshield 21: Field Saikyou no Senshi Tachi (moved from Nintendo GameCube to Wii)
• Grabbed by the Ghoulies (moved to Xbox)
• Kameo: Elements of Power (moved to Xbox 360)
• Perfect Dark Zero (moved to Xbox 360)
• Super Mario 128 (moved from Nintendo GameCube to Wii; concepts from the experiment were finalised in Super Mario Galaxy and Pikmin. Also refers to Super Mario 128 as a tech demo.)
• Super Paper Mario (moved from Nintendo GameCube to Wii)
• Yoshi Touch & Go (as puzzle-platformer; moved to Nintendo DS)

Nintendo DS

• ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat (North American version)
• Untitled Baten Kaitos game
• Jet Impulse (North American version)

Finalised on a different platform

• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (the Japanese version was originally unreleased, until becoming available as a digital download Club Nintendo promotion for Nintendo eShop)
• Steel Diver (moved from Nintendo DS to Nintendo 3DS, originally a tech demo at E3 2004, see Submarine Tech Demo)
• Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (released on Nintendo 3DS)
• Metroid Dread (released on Nintendo Switch)

Wii

• 100-Go de Start! Ei Kaiwa
• Captain Rainbow (Summer 2009 European version)
• Cosmic Walker
• Fire Emblem Wii
• Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
• Super Mario Spikers
• Untitled Kirby prototypes (Nintendo GameCube, Wii)
• Untitled Wii Vitality Sensor game
• Wii Relax

Finalised on a different platform

• Pikmin 3 (moved from Wii to Wii U)

Wii U

• Project Giant Robot
• Wii U Play
• Wii Karaoke U (Australian version)^{[citation needed]}

Nintendo Switch

• Unreleased Bandai Namco Metroid Prime 4 game

Unknown platform

• Adam and Eve
• Untitled Pilotwings games (including through rumors for Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance)
• Untitled Retro Studios The Legend of Zelda game
• Yoshi Racing (a prototype became Croc: Legend of the Gobbos)

Cancelled iQue games

Game Boy Advance

• Densetsu no Starfy
• Densetsu no Starfy 2
• DK: King of Swing
• Tomato Adventure
• Famicom Mini Collection (compilation of Classic NES Series games)
• Kuru Kuru Kururin
• Kururin Paradise
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit

Nintendo DS

NetCard chess and card series:

• Zhēng Shàngyóu
• Tuōlājī Dàzhàn
• Zhōngguó Xiàngqí

Rumored

• Creator (N64)
• Pilotwings 64 II
• Pocket Monsters RPG/Pocket Monsters 64
• Pokémon Gray
• Pokémon Moss (in unused Mobile Trainer text (link))
• Pokémon X (mobile phone supported game, dismissed as Japanese Pokémon Crystal Version which did support the Mobile System GB with Mobile GB Adapter in its final game)
• Super Mario 64 II
• Super Mario FX (SNES)
• The Legendary Starfy successor (may simply not be finished or misinformation) - according to an interview
• Return of Donkey Kong
• Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen (European version)

Based on Nintendo of America card-hero.com domain name:

• English version of Trade & Battle: Card Hero

Datamining

From The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition code:

• Japanese version of Dr. Mario 64
• Panel de Pon 64

From unused Kousoku Card Battle: Card Hero code, and a registered Card Hero trademark by Nintendo of America:

• English version of Kousoku Card Battle: Card Hero

Leak

Lots of content was leaked from the 2019 Nintendo, Microsoft data breach case.

Cat protagonist game?

Exclusively to the Korean version of Super Paper Mario, there are unused assets for landscapes featuring a cat protagonist and various cat characters. Specific details are unknown. If this would be a game, it is not known who the developers or publishers would have been.

The Legendary Starfy series prototypes?

Similarly, cancelled assets from unrelated games (likely TOSE teams) can be found in the Japanese version of Super Princess Peach and Densetsu no Starfy 4, as well as possibly assets from The Legendary Starfy series prototypes.

See also

• List of cancelled Nintendo hardware
• List of Nintendo tech demos

External links

• Wikipedia article (also used for reference)