Recently, Duke Nukem Forever was released. As everyone knows, this game was in development for so long, that it was feared to be canceled at one point. With the lukewarm reception the game has received, it might as well have been canceled. However, not all games are fortunate enough to see a release, let alone after this long. The following is a list of releases that never made it off the cutting room floor. BTW, this list does not include ports or translations of games that were canceled, just games that were canceled completely, so you can miss me with the emails about why the Dreamcast version of Shenmue 2 isn’t on here.
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It’s incredibly primitive by today’s standards, but Yie Ar Kung Fu is the grandfather of the whole fighting game genre. Taking control of Oolong, a generic Chinese fighter, you take on 11 different opponents, each with thier own abilities. Although you can’t play as the other fighters, the matches have a lot of strategy and variety. With Oolong being able to perform 16 different attacks, the game was surprisingly deep given it’s age, It was ported to several older systems, and updated on various gaming download services. The Xbox Live arcade port has remixed graphics. The Game Boy Advance version, included as part of Konami’s Arcade Advanced complication, has 2 secret opponents which can be unlocked via (what else?) the Konami code. It also has a two player mode in which players can play as any of the game’s fighters. If you like fighting games, you’ll definitely want to check out this Lost Classic.

Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh was the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran. He won Time Magazine’s ‘man of the year’ award for 1951, and was even called ‘The George Washington’ or Iran. He nationalized the oil industry ticking off the British. The C.I.A led a coup against him, removed him from power, and replaced him with the Shah of Iran. In this free-to-download game (I use the term ‘game’ in passing) developed by Peter Brinson and Kurosh ValaNejad, you get to learn some history about one of the world’s most misunderstood regions, and it’s got a pretty unique art style to boot. Don’t worry, I won’t beat you over the head with round 56789324324 of the ‘games as art’ debate. I’m just saying though, if you’re one of those people that think it is, then this is another piece of evidence supporting your argument.
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Tokyo Cop is one of those games that remind me of why the arcades are still awesome. Created by [Barcelona-based] developer Galeco (the makers of Big Karnak), it’s fun, but you have to wonder if any of the development team is actually from or has been to Japan. You sit into a seat (with force feedback) and rumbling and drive through Tokyo’s four districts in an attempt to apprehend the city’s most dangerous criminals. You have a small amount of time and you’re careening through traffic at breakneck speeds like a Grand Theft Auto chase mission while some very Americanized rock music is playing. You can pick one of 4 agents. Strangely one of them looks black. You can use the keypad to enter a pin number to keep track of data on the machine. It lets you know how many bad guys you caught, keeps track of stats and unlockable vehicles, and it lets you know if any criminals have escaped from prison. Despite all the advances in technology, motion sensing gameplay, and online networking, you just can’t get an experience like this just sitting at home.

To the layman’s eye, Terraria may seem like another Minecraft rip off. However, if you give this platformer a chance, you’ll find a bit more to it than that. After customizing your character, you are then given several tools for digging. All you have to go on (beside the game wiki) is a man who offers you a few hints as to what to do. Your task ideally is to build, build, build. Your tools give you the means to gather the materials you need to build houses, weapons, and other supplies. The houses allow people to move in, and before long your empty world is a village full of people who can provide goods and services. Oh, and there are also enemies to fight. The slimes and other small creatures you battle during the day are rough enough, but when it gets to night, you’ll have to deal with zombies, demons, and other strong creatures. Thankfully you can create weapons that will come in handy. The game encourages exploration, but it’s imperative that you concentrate on building. The game also features online multiplayer. The game controls well with a keyboard, but it would benefit from keypad/joystick support. The game is fun and addictive, and you’ll want to go deeper and deeper as you play, and the game’s 16-bit pixelated art style will appeal to old-school gamers.

Bill Laimbeer may have been a douchebag in the eyes of many Basketball fans, but after a few brief stints in Italy and with the Cleveland Cavs, he was a somewhat significant part of the Detroit Pistons franchise throughout the 80s and early 90s, until his 1994 retirement (his jersey number 40 was retired as well). He gained a reputation for hard physical fouls and his attempts to bait officials into calling fouls against his opponents. For what it’s worth, he is the franchise’s all-time leader in career rebounds. Still, why a developer in their right mind would make a game starring him given the dozens of more popular and established stars at the time is anyone’s guess.
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Global Warming, Climate Change, or whatever you want to call it, is a great source of controversy. There are many who believe that it is a very real possibility and a serious threat. On the other side, there are people who believe that Global Warming conspiracies are part of an anti-corporate/anti-christian conspiracy to raise taxes and give power to big government. U.K-based Independent developers Red Redemption seem to be on the former side, and have produced the game Fate of the World, a successor to thier 2006 browser game Climate Challenge.
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Super Mario is the long forgotten entry in the Super Mario franchise, yet at the same time, it’s one of the most enjoyable. This Game Boy launch title was the first portable Mario game since the Game & Watch era, and it was developed by Gunpei Yokoi (rather than creator Shigeru Miyamoto), who was basically the brains behind Nintendo’s entire direction ever since they decided to make video games. While it contained the same platforming action from the NES, although it added in a few twists of its own. As the mustachoed plumber, you’re out to save Princess Daisy (not Peach/Toadstool), and the rest of Sarasland (not the Mushroom Kingdon) from the evil Tatanga (not Bowser). Like in SMB, you collect mushrooms to grow bigger, and flowers to shoot fire. However, in some levels, you pilot a vehicle. Also, the levels have more variation in thier backgrounds. One level features an Egyptian motif. While the world itself may have forgotten about SML, it’s sequel is best known for introducing Wario to the franchise. SML is slated to be one of the first games to be released on the 3Ds download service, so I advise you to check it out.