the nes game that never was

[tantone56]

To bad this game never got released

 

http://www.cenobite.com/collect/vg-cd-ad2.jpg

 

I bet it would have kicked ass!

[Bratwurst]

I kinda doubt it on the kicking ass part.. this -was- Color Dreams. They always hired better artists for their box art than they did for the in-game graphics.. puzzles me to no end.

[tantone56]

heres a title screen

http://www.cenobite.com/collect/vg-cd-title2.jpg

 

Im a sucker for horror movie video games

[Jasoco]

The NES version was supposedly going to be 16-bit quality. If it had been made and released, I think things would be different now.

[tantone56]

how so?

[Jasoco]

Basically through the use of a LOT of extra chips and processors.

 

One must wonder how much it would have COST if it had come out. Think about the Genesis version of Virtua Racing.

 

If one could go back in time...

 

Oh.. Google.. Of course:

 

http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/articles/re...5/hellrais.html

 

The cartridge had a Z-80 processor in it running at 2 MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second). This gave the game 3 times the computational power of the NES console alone. The cartridge also had 64k of RAM (Random Access Memory) on-board. This means that the game could store 64 thousand characters of information independent of the NES console.

 

...

 

It would have cost in the range of $80 for someone to buy, and because most stores refused to carry Color Dream's games for fear of retaliation from the Big "N", consumers would have had a difficult time buying the game--thereby causing potentially small sales. In the end it all came down to the issue of money as it does with many things in life, and the title was scrapped to a box to gather dust.

[Ze_ro]

I remember reading an article in GamePro about the technology Color Dreams was planning on using for this game (as well as others)... they called it "Super Cartridge", and were essentially hyping it up as a low-end alternative to buying a 16-bit system. Might have worked better if it had been done by a better company. Color Dreams aren't known for quality games.

 

Hellraiser is an excellent basis for a game, but it almost certainly would have ended up being just another generic platformer.

 

I'm curious what the supposed Lynx and Genesis versions would have been like though. I'm guessing neither of them were even started.

 

--Zero

[Susuwatari]

I remember that articvle as well. I believe it might have showed the prototype of the game PCB as well as a few screen shots.

 

Thankfully CD didn't release that, it'd be another rare game for NES collector to find. And nearly all CD games just sucked anyway.

[Bratwurst]

What really would have turned heads is if some company had released a module that would have enabled the NES to crank out TG-16 quality graphics and sound, and then provide specific cartridges to be used on that module. Sort of like how Camerica's Aladdin was incorporated- way cheaper to buy the add-on with all of the necessary components in one unit and then get the software seperately.

[Ze_ro]

You mean like the 32X?

 

--Zero

[Bratwurst]

It would have been a lot cheaper to make something viable for the NES than a dual-processor mess for the Genesis.