You may or may not know that there were many games that never made it to production for whatever reasons existed at the time; problems with copyright, modifications needed or software companies going bankrupt.

This article hopes to set the record straight on some of these rumours, and to provide information on some of the games themselves - why they weren't produced, what stage they got to, etc.

The list is provided in alphabetical order, sorted by the title of the game.

Orlando M Pilchard (Aka Nick Pelling) - 198?
Details are very sketchy on this game; even Orlando is quiet about it. But he has said he will possibly submit a copy of what he did of it. Orlando, by the way, wrote over thirty pieces of software which were never released.

Gary Partis - 1987
Another almost finished game which Partis wrote for Superior Software. It was based upon the "man in black" from the Cadbury's Milk Tray adverts, and was a sideways scrolling game. Limitations with the copyright licence stopped this ever being released though.

Author Unknown - 1985
Another game which, according to Richard Hanson, was not quite good enough for release but was very interesting. The central character was a man on a pogo stick who could jump over sky scrapers. As this was completed, I suppose there is a larger chance of someone having it on an old disk somewhere. Maybe you wrote it!

Richard recently summed up the game in this small review: 'Superior Software received many games for evaluation. Of all the complete games that Superior Software considered, Jeremy Goes Jumping is probably the best BBC Micro/Electron game that didn't quite make it to publication.

'The game is unusual, featuring a character called Jeremy who is equipped with a jet pack enabling him to fly - provided of course he manages to keep it topped up with fuel. The game is set on a strange cosmic landcape with asteroids whizzing overhead. Jeremy has to avoid asteroids while he flies over bushes, trees, rivers and many other obstacles which he encounters as the game progresses. Eventually he also has to dodge gunfire and bombs, and wind his way through narrow tunnels.

'It's an atmospheric game with a soundtrack of "Scarborough Fair", a traditional piece of music popularised by Simon and Garfunkel. It has a kind of surreal feel to it at times as you fly high above the landscape. A reasonably good game overall; there are a few rough edges here and there, but it's fun to play - and has some novel touches.'

Delos D. Harriman - 1987/1988
Yes, I know that you're thinking "That was actually released!" Well no, not exactly, this is the version Delos wrote for Aardvark Software but Nick Pelling got into trouble with Atari over it and it was never released. Delos then went on to change the name to Skirmish, modify the graphics and release it under Go-Dax software, further making a welcome appearance on Play It Again Sam 12.

Jason Benham - 1986/1987
Not really unreleased, so far as it was never actually written for the Electron, one of the only games which Superior only outed on the C64. However, Richard Hanson informs me that if it had been converted, he would have probably published it for the Electron.

Author Unknown (Thought to be working for Martech though) - Abandoned in 1988
Half-finished copies, according to Jeremy Grayson, did leak out, and it's supposedly a bit like the Superior Software game Death Star.

Author Unknown - 198?
Mentioned only in the back of a book written by Richard Hanson. I have no other information on this game, what stage it reached or why it was never produced.

Mat Newman - 198?
Supposedly a clone of Marble Madness, this was offered to Superior Software, but turned down as Richard Hanson thought it needed some gameplay modifications before it was good enough to release. The result was it never got released by all by Superior and, as far as I know, no-one else snapped it up.

Peter Johnson - 1986
Richard Hanson mentioned this in an interview with The BBC Lives web site. Apparently this only exists in demonstration form as it was abandoned before completion. I have recently gotten hold of a copy and it is really quite a bit more than a demo - you can actually fly a Harrier Jump Jet in a sort of 3D way but you do not have a way to fire the missiles. I think it is about 60% to 70% complete as you can be killed by the other planes.