It’s not as if we have few games to play precisely: every week two new must-haves are released, three indie gems you should try, a Humble Bundle full of things you missed… There are more video games than you could play in a hundred lifetimes, and yet we always want more. And it’s inevitable to be curious about those that once existed and then ceased to do so, that for a few months (or a few seconds) could be played before fading into oblivion, into the cloud, into nothingness.
Today we are going to create a bit of FOMO for you with six games that you will probably never be able to try for one reason or another. And yes, some will hurt you especially because they are pieces of a larger puzzle or simply curiosities that you are dying -we know- to get your hands on. In no particular order, let’s create new impossible needs for you to satisfy!
Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
In 2004, no one was quite sure yet how mobile games should be (and even less how to make money from them), so studios ventured into making versions and spin-offs of their big hits. Square Enix, for example, focused on Final Fantasy VII, and released exclusively for the Japanese FOMA service a two-dimensional RPG called Before Crisis, which took place six years before the main game.
Afterwards, and in view of the good results, it was launched for a couple more mobile services, such as EZweb and Softbank Mobile, but in 2018 it closed without leaving a playable ROM along the way. Yes, you can see what it was like on YouTube and the story was told in Ever Crisis, which is nothing more than a simple gacha, but it’s not the same. At the time, 200,000 people played it, but due to technical problems it never left Japan, not even in the thousand and one compilations there have been of the Final Fantasy spin-offs. We can only mourn its loss.
Final Fantasy 64
No, you did not read wrong. At that time when no one knew what the outcome would be of Sony entering the console battle, Square Enix created a technical demo of Final Fantasy VI in three dimensions for Nintendo 64. And it was fully playable! Known as Final Fantasy 64 (but actually Final Fantasy VI: The Interactive CG Game), it had a huge visual impact and served as a testing ground for Final Fantasy VII.
That does not mean, by any means, that the seventh installment of the franchise was being prepared for Nintendo 64. In fact, as stated years later by Square itself, they had not closed any deal with the Big N and decided that their future was not in cartridges, but in CDs, which is why they made the leap… and left this demo in the limbo of games that no one will ever try again.
The Godfather
I know what you’re thinking: there were already a couple of The Godfather games for Xbox almost twenty years ago. But I’m not referring to those, rather to a SEGA version that was supposed to coincide with the theatrical release of The Godfather III. The lucky one in this case was going to be the Master System, and it was so developed that reviews even came out.
Really, The Godfather was nothing more than a platformer similar to others of the time in which we would control Don Corleone, who had to shoot his enemies. It even had first-person screens, which obviously resembled Francis Ford Coppola’s movie as much as an egg resembles a plant. Fans on the Internet have found the game’s backgrounds and box, but nothing more. However, there is a former tester who claimed to have tried it and -oh surprise- it had absolutely nothing to do with The Godfather. In other words: as much as we want to play it out of curiosity, it’s an offer we can indeed refuse.
Akira
It’s not that there haven’t been Akira video games: there have been, although none are particularly remembered. A text adventure in 1988, a horrible action game for Amiga, and a pinball game, specifically. Isn’t something missing? A good game from one of the most well-known animes in the world? It existed, and we even had demos before THQ canceled it at the last minute. And it’s a shame, because those demos were lost -partially- like tears in the rain.
In fact, at the time, the release on VHS in the United States even included a $5 coupon to redeem for the game, which never came. According to reports, Akira was barely 30% complete, and although we have seen prototypes of the game for Game Boy and Sega Genesis, there is still much to discover. Will any brave group dare to complete it someday?
BS The Legend of Zelda
No, BS is not a diminutive of “Bullshit”: it was the nickname given to SatellaView games, a device for Super Nintendo that launched games via a kind of Internet that were only available for a week. For example, a Zelda in 16 bits where the hero was not Link, but the avatar of the person playing, in the style of Mii.
The game also had orchestral music that was broadcast live and even different voice actors telling you the story. The graphics and music quality were much better, although it had a downside: it was only available one hour a week. Somehow, there are dungeons that have survived, but others have been lost forever in the history of Nintendo. Sadly.
Mario Artist
And since we are talking about Nintendo games that were only released for a limited time thanks to a proto-Internet, let’s talk about the Super Mario game that no one has played in a long time: Mario Artist, a pseudo-sequel to Mario Paint for 64DD, which allowed them to be played with disks and could be shared later over the Internet. There were a total of three Mario Artist: Paint Studio (for painting), Talent Studio (which allowed 3D animation), and Polygon Studio (with which you could almost make a very simple video game, but is more famous for leading to the Wario Ware series).
With them, there was another “game”: Communication Kit, which allowed you to upload your fantastic creations to the Internet via the RandNet network. There was another title in preparation, Sound Studio, but they didn’t even finish it before the system went down the drain. If you want to play them, you’ll need to get a Nintendo 64, the 64DD, and these games, if by chance they work. Spoiler: it seems like it’s not worth the effort.
