Canceled Games That Would Have Been Huge Hits

In a perfect world, every awesome video game idea would become reality...but as you've probably noticed, our world isn't perfect, and many sure-fire hit games never make it past the beta stage. It's a shame to lose out on the copious amounts of sheer fun (and funds) many of these games would've generated, so let's sift through the scrapyard of cancelled games and look for the ones we wanted to play the most. 

Batman plus anything usually equals success (unless Joel Schumacher is involved). Most likely, Gotham by Gaslight (based on the one-shot comic book of the same name) would've been no different. We were to play as Steampunk Batman, roaming Victorian England in search of Jack the Ripper. Why Jack? Because after dealing with the Joker for so long, it's sometimes good to relax with an easier foe. Sadly, Day One Studios, the company behind Gotham by Gaslight, was unable to sell publisher THQ on a free-roaming Batman game where Bruce goes toe-to-toe with one of the most infamous killers in history, which ultimately spelled doom for the whole idea. Gaslight Batman currently lives on in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, Arkham Origins, Infinite Crisis, and Scribblenauts Unmasked.

Games based on TV shows and movies are hit-or-miss, to say the least. Highlander looked like it would've been a hit. Your exploits as an Immortal would've sent you throughout history to locales like Ancient Rome, Pompeii, and New York City. It'd be like playing all of the Assassin's Creed games at once (ultimately saving yourself a thousand bucks in underwhelming sequels). As an Immortal, you'd perform all sorts of cool death-y stunts, like leaping down skyscrapers or electrocuting yourself, without actually dying. Eidos (and later, Square Enix) tapped an actual writer from the Highlander show to write the project, so it's not like the game's story would've been butchered. Sadly, Square Enix itself did the butchering, cancelling the game in 2010 for reasons they never bothered to explain. The studio was probably too busy dragging its feet with the next Kingdom Hearts to set aside a weekend and just finish Highlander already.

If you enjoy mindless party games as much as you love fiery explosions, Hi-Ten Bomberman would have been your jam. It was regular Bomberman on steroids, allowing up to 10 people to play at once, either against each other, in groups, or—if anyone's feeling particularly sadistic—nine vs. one. More Bombers, more bombs, and more explosions—who could ask for anything more? Unfortunately, Hi-Ten Bomberman never went anywhere, aside from a few Japanese video game conventions in 1993. Now that we have ultra-HD and online multiplayer, why not give it another go? In a society that still actively enjoys turning each other into crispy critters, Hi-Ten Bomberman would be a smash hit today.

In Intrepid Computer Entertainment's B.C., you controlled a tribe of Neanderthals on a quest to kill anyone not in your tribe, thereby evolving the human race in your image. Along the way, you had to battle angry apes and gigantic, man-eating dinosaurs, both of whom hated you and found you delicious. Sadly, B.C. was simply too ambitious to become reality, with features like constantly changing weather, a large-scale food chain, using any object you find as a weapon, NPCs that independently lived their own lives, and the ability to choose who to let into your tribe. Intrepid called the game in 2004 due to how impossible it seemed to create. But in 2016, B.C. would fit right in, and likely be among the best.

Lots of us love survival horror games, so imagine somebody who truly knows horror giving it a shot. This would have been the case with Insane, a 2012 game directed by Guillermo del Toro of Crimson Peak, The Strain, and Pan's Labyrinth fame. Insane was to be the most terrifying sandbox game of all time. Plus, del Toro had a trilogy in mind, so you can't fault him for being ambitious. THQ could, however, as financial difficulties forced them to focus solely on guaranteed hits, rather than experimental horror projects ran by somebody who presumably commanded a very hefty salary. Currently, del Toro owns all rights to Insane, so he could always make it a reality with another game company, or simply turn it into a badass movie franchise, provided he's not too busy explaining why Hellboy 3 still isn't happening.

The Nintendo Entertainment System's Hit the Ice sounds like Taito threw every game genre into a hat, drew two of them, and forcibly smashed them together. In this case, the Sorting Hat gave us hockey mixed with a role-playing game. You would roam the countryside like in Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, randomly battling amateur hockey squads along the way. Its "dungeons" were professional hockey arenas, and the bosses were the teams the stadiums host. Beat them all and you won the championship—a shockingly simple story, but relatable nonetheless. After all, who doesn't like to be champion? Sadly, Taito quickly canned this version of the game, releasing other Hit the Ices without the RPG element; they were just NBA Jam-style smash-mouth hockey games which, while certainly fun, didn't stand out in the least.

Star Wars 1313 sounded perfect for anyone who prefers their faraway galaxies to be tough and gritty. As a young Boba Fett, you would navigate the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is underground Coruscant, where there are no Jedi to keep the peace. 1313 focused almost entirely on guns, blasters, and whatever else a bounty hunter needs to get his dirty job done. Unfortunately, this amazing concept couldn't survive the one thing more evil than the Dark Side: corporate takeovers. When Disney bought the Star Wars franchise in 2012, it quickly cancelled anything LucasArts had in the pipeline, including 1313. Electronic Arts oversees the development of future Star Wars games, though it has shown little interest in 1313, preferring to focus on more mainstream games related to the films, like Battlefront. LucasArts, meanwhile, has since only managed to release games like Angry Birds Star Wars II, because the sad truth is that cuteness sells. Unfortunately, Star Wars 1313 is left somewhere in the junkyard, likely near Luke Skywalker's dismembered hand.

Silent Hills was supposed to be the product of a joint effort between Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro, starring the voice talents of actor Norman Reedus. This trifecta of legendary figures in the entertainment industry would have made for an incredible psychological horror experience on the PlayStation 4, but it was sadly cancelled. Rumor had it that Kojima was leaving Konami, which was why the project was pulled, so now we'll never get to experience the horrors that might have been. P.T., the playable teaser for the game, has been pulled from the PlayStation Store, but you can still relive the terror of the hallways within if you kept the demo in your library. Sadly, it's the closest you'll get to Silent Hills.

You know what's awesome? Mega Man. Know what would have been even more awesome? The ability to make your own levels and customize your very own Mega Man. That's the premise for Mega Man Universe, a side-scrolling platformer that was supposed to be released on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. Just think Mario Maker, but with Mega Man levels instead. We would have loved to have seen what kind of sick, twisted platforming gauntlets creative players could have shared online if this game came to fruition. And even cooler was the fact that Ryu from Street Fighter and Arthur from Ghosts 'n Goblins were planned as DLC characters. Sadly, the game was cancelled in 2011, so now we only have our super fighting robot dreams to hang onto.

You'd think releasing a direct sequel to the original Star Fox on the Super Nintendo would have been a no-brainer, but it didn't work out that way. Star Fox 2 would have continued the story and reassembled the original team to fight Emperor Andross and protect the Lylat system, introducing new ships and new characters. Unfortunately, the arrival of the Nintendo 64 stopped development on the title, although Japanese versions of the prototype leaked online in 2015. Star Fox 2 was destined to never see release as a standalone title, but in 2017, Nintendo finally made long-suffering fans' dreams come true when they bundled the long-unreleased sequel in with their Super Nintendo Classic console.

This action-RPG would have let you control a dude name Drew, a young man with a dragon companion named Thuban. As Drew, you would have been able to direct Thuban's actions when he wasn't being controlled by the AI, with the option to gain full control of the beast through the Dragon Link mode. Unfortunately, our dreams of having a dragon buddy stomping next to us on our adventures never took flight, since Microsoft Studios announced it would end production for Scalebound on Jan. 9, 2017. Developer PlatinumGames also posted about the cancellation on its official blog, saying, "We are very disappointed things ended up this way, especially since we know many of our fans were looking forward to this game as much as we were." For now, Drew and Thuban will remain in our gaming dreams, engaging in large-scale fights we've only imagined thanks to movies like Dragonheart. Even more heartbreaking: there could have been potential for a Sean Connery voice pack for Thuban as DLC.