Vapor Trails - Gone But Not Forgotten Feature on GamePro.com

Feature: Vapor Trails - Gone But Not Forgotten

Feature by DANELEKTRO | 02/04/2004 | 13:40:27 PM PST

Why is some software previewed but never released? GamePro uncovers the true stories behind some of the greatest games that never existed.

It's called "vaporware"-game software that's announced, developed, promoted, and previewed, but never released. Years of effort and millions of dollars go down the drain, and eventually, even the public forgets the game ever existed. But why does it happen? We dug deep to find the real stories behind the games with potential that just plain disappeared.

Our search for "vaporware" continues with Vapor Trails 3.0 in the March 2004 issue. However, our Vapor Trails investigation started many years ago, here is a quick look at our older findings.

The blue dude with the 'tude never got to bring his new moves like the SpinSlash to the Saturn.

Sonic X-Treme (By Sega for the Saturn ? Not released Fourth Quarter '96)
The Hype: Sonic's long-awaited Saturn debut pits the blue dude with a 'tude against Dr. Robotnik in a polygonal 3D world, this time collecting the six magical Rings of Order. New moves include the SpinSlash and the SpinStreak.

What Happened: "This game was like a test kitchen for future Sonic titles and other Sega character-based games," says a Sega spokesperson. "The concept was very high-end, and the game would likely not have been released by the holiday season 1996." Interestingly, the project wasn't a total loss: "Some of the design ideas and art helped in the creation of Sonic R."

Madden NFL '96 missed the PlayStation's first season.

Madden NFL '96 (By EA Sports for the PlayStation ? Not released Fourth Quarter '95)
The Hype: The first Madden game on Sony's then-new PlayStation, Madden '96 was to be chock full of killer visuals and TV-style presentation. Many expected Madden NFL '96 to be the killer app that would help sell PlayStations by the truckload, much like the Madden series did for the Genesis.

What Happened: Shortly after Christmas '95, EA announced a nine-month delay and told gamers not to look for the game until the following fall. An EA spokesperson says the company was dissatisfied with the quality of the gameplay and wanted to "assure customers that the game would not only look good, but provide high-quality play for the life of the product." Apparently, that wasn't possible, and the franchise restarted from scratch with Madden '97.

Because retailers weren't excited about Parodius, U.S. gamers never got the chance to decide for themselves.

Gradius Deluxe Pack and Parodius (By Konami for the PlayStation ? No official American release date)
The Hype: Three games from Konami's hit Gradius series of side-scrolling shooters were assembled as a collection on one PlayStation disc and released to the Japanese market. As its title implies, Parodius parodied the company's own success, offering shooter gameplay with paper airplanes, octopi, cat-shaped pirate ships, ballet-dancing pandas, girls in bunny outfits, and other utter weirdness.

What Happened: According to a Konami rep, "The market size wasn't big enough" to warrant U.S. distribution for either title. "The retailers weren't excited about these games and that didn't make them economically feasible to bring over."

Problems with graphics and speed kept Comanche grounded.

Comanche (By Nintendo for the SNES ? Not released Fourth Quarter '95)
The Hype: NovaLogic's assault helicopter hit for the PC, ported to the SNES in all its Mode 7 glory. At the 1995 E3 show, Nintendo had the prototype connected to a swanky pilot's chair.

What Happened: A Nintendo spokesperson says that the game just wasn't up to snuff. Graphics and speed problems could not be resolved, so the project was killed. A classic case of quality over quantity.

If you want to play Super Turrican 2, better find a friend in Colombia to buy it for you.

Super Turrican 2 (By Ocean for the SNES ? Not released late Summer/early Fall '95)
The Hype: The sequel to the cult-hit shooter, Super Turrican 2 "pushes the envelope with intense graphics, sounds, and action that don't let up for a moment," according to Major Mike (see ProReview, August '95).

What Happened: While Super Turrican 2 was complete for our review, and actually released in, of all places, Colombia, South America, U.S. shooter fans never saw this one hit the shelves. The most popular theory is that Ocean didn't feel the original game was a big enough hit to justify bringing its sequel stateside.

Three guesses why this game about singing, dancing firemen never saw the light of day.

Duelin' Firemen! (Runandgun! for the 3DO ? Not released March '96)
The Hype: Singing firemen. That's right, singing firemen. In this full-motion video outing, Air Force One crashes into the Sears Tower, setting all of Chicago ablaze. Emergency personnel have abandoned their posts, so it's up to the player, in the boots of the fire captain, to find "buildings that are not burning, where the captain and his crew quickly create an intricate dance accompaniment to the captain's musical selection of choice." If a rival brigade shows up in the same building, "Watch out! It's time for a hoedown!" To win the game, you have to score a contract with a Japanese record company. We are not making this up.

What Happened: This one will remain one of the great mysteries of vaporware; staffers at 3DO could only offer guesses as to why this game never materialized, and the developer's phone number is no longer in service. Was it the 3DO's demise as a platform? Did the game's student developers run out of money? Or maybe everybody suddenly realized that they were making a game about singing firemen? The world may never know.

The Eternal Champions' final chapter was never written.

Eternal Champions: The Final Chapter (By Sega for the Saturn ? Not released Fall '95)
The Hype: The first 32-bit incarnation of Sega's console fighting franchise, presumably picking up where Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side left off on the Sega CD.

What Happened: A Sega spokesperson replies, "We channeled all our resources for fighting games into the Virtua Fighter series, which was more recognizable given its success in the arcades." If Sega scrapped EC to make a great home version of VF2, then it turned out to be a fair trade for gamers.

Similarities between StarFox 2 and StarFox 64 grounded the SNES game while the N64 version took off.

StarFox 2 (By Nintendo for the SNES ? Not released August '95)
The Hype: Powered by the FX2 chip, Fox McCloud returns with a spaceship that morphs depending on the battle's terrain. This time, there would be no rails to restrict Fox's flight path, and a split-screen two-player mode would let friends battle head-to-head.

What Happened: According to a spokesperson for Nintendo, the SNES sequel looked so much like the Nintendo 64 version it was also cooking up, the project was scratched. To the company's credit, most of StarFox 2's best elements-like free flight and multiplayer games-were incorporated into StarFox 64.