A new leak from Nintendo has revealed a plethora of Game Boy games that were never released, including a Pokemon Picross title. The leaks were shared on 4chan, and have been circulating on social media since. What's most interesting about the leak is the fact that many of these games were fully complete, but weren't released for one reason or another. The leak includes games like Gimmick Land (from developer Alpha Dream), a Hello Kitty game compatible with the Game Boy Camera, and Rockboard, a Mega Man-themed board game. The leak also revealed fully-translated games that were never released in North America, including Legend of the Sea King and Gargoyle's Quest II.

- Title Screen is a funky remix of the original Pokemon Red & Green's series theme. Have a listen! pic.twitter.com/n5GIZDhmhf

— Lewtwo (@Lewchube) September 9, 2020

Since these games were acquired and released without the consent of Nintendo, it seems unlikely that the publisher will reveal any specific details about why these games might have been cancelled or gone unreleased. It stands to reason that many of them might have been scheduled for release late in the system's lifespan, when it might have been more expensive to release them as opposed to scrapping them. Of course, in Pokemon Picross' case, it seems like the game would have sold well for the company!

- It's "Purin's Microphone"! It has her pen marker from the anime as well.
- Also Misty!

The spritework is absurd here. In love with it pic.twitter.com/VU5hT6wAgk

— Lewtwo (@Lewchube) September 9, 2020

Throughout the history of the video game industry, there have been countless games that have been finished without seeing the light of day. Earlier this year, an unreleased NES game based on the film Days of Thunder was discovered across multiple floppy disks and recovered. After the game was reconstructed, a limited print run of the game was offered for sale.

Fans hoping to see some of these games receive a similar release should know there is a precedent for Nintendo bringing back cancelled games. When the Super NES Classic Edition was released, the retro console featured the first ever release for Star Fox 2. Like Pokemon Picross, Star Fox 2 was a completed game, but Nintendo opted to cancel the title, as they feared its 3D graphics might look antiquated compared to newer consoles, such as the original PlayStation. It took more than 20 years for the game to receive a release, but now Star Fox 2 is even available on Nintendo Switch. Perhaps something similar will happen for some of these games!

Posted: Sep 13, 2020 5:46 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/nintendo-leak-unreleased-game-boy-games-pokemon-picross/