The secret projects of Appaloosa: The Smurfs Dreamcast/PlayStation 2 in video and the Parrot project in Artworks
While a number of Dreamcast Unreleased titles have made the headlines due to their cancellation, notably Half Life , Agartha or Castlevania Resurrection, others have remained more mysterious or fallen into obscurity, such as poor Kyskrew.
Don't hesitate to browse the list of canceled games from the Dreamcast if you want to learn more about the story that could have been. SEGA's last console died too soon.
We can only see the tip of the iceberg. Games were developed in the greatest secrecy, they were classified. They were never announced or shown to the general public.
Remember Stamped DC which took the whole community by surprise a few years ago?
A Runecraft employee explained that he had worked on versions of Monopoly and Scrabble for the Lady in White.
«I think we had very early versions of Monopoly and Scrabble running, they were barely playable. I don't know why they were cancelled. I suspect Hasbro approached Runecraft about the Dreamcast port.»
Going back to an old conversation from several years ago. An industry veteran confessed to me that he had programmed The Smurfs for Dreamcast and Playstation 2. I hadn't paid much attention until yesterday.
The video of the Smurfs Dreamcast/PlayStation 2
The Smurfs are a series of Belgian comic books created by Peyo in 1958, telling the story of an imaginary people of little blue creatures living in a mushroom village in the middle of a vast European forest during the mythical Middle Ages.
They were defending themselves from their nemesis Gargamel, accompanied by his cat Azraël, who was relentlessly stalking them.
There have been many video game adaptations of the Smurfs' adventures. From the Coleco to today's consoles, all have had the opportunity to create a more or less successful game based on the Smurfs franchise.
What nobody knew, apart from the employees of Appaloosa Interactive, the Hungarian development studio best known for the Ecco the Dolphin, was that Dreamcast and Playstation 2 versions were in the pipeline.
Video of a Smurfs PS2/DC prototype by Mihály Sáránszki
Zsolt Prievara (Programmer) : «I wrote the control program for the wasps, for the cat, for Jokey Smurf's explosion box and the main menu where you can select the level and try out the character animations.»
The Appaloosa Smurfs game was at an early stage of development before its cancellation. It was at 30% of development. A few levels, very well realized, were playable. The video above shows the maps and gameplay. Watching it, the viewer will have the impression of seeing a finished product ready to storm the living rooms of gamers worldwide!
«The Smurfs were very playable, it was my favorite project.»
Designed as a platformer, this DC/PS2 Smurf adventure was similar to Pikmin from Nintendo. To progress through the levels, you would have had to give orders and tasks to other Smurfs.
«He had great potential with commands and control.»
The game, in video, runs on PC (level editor). In all probability, it can be played on the machines for which it was intended.
The game does not work with a DC or PS2 emulator. Its owner has used the GDE player, exported in PC format (GD is Appaloosa's game engine and level editor).
The reasons for its cancellation are mysterious. Some believe that Appaloosa never obtained the rights to the Smurfs franchise. Others believe that the project was abandoned due to the collapse of Infogrames, the game's publisher at the time.
We'll have to be satisfied with this video. Its owner does not wish to release it publicly on the Internet.
How many of these games created in the shadows could exist?
Screenshots of the Smurfs Dreamcast/PlayStation 2
In addition to the video above, photos of the Dreamcast/PlayStation 2 Smurfs have been taken from Game Designer (Appaloosa Interactive's in-house editor/engine), here they are:
Artworks of the Parrot project
Behind closed doors, as with the Smurfs, Appaloosa was working on a TPS (Third Person Shooter) called "Projet Parrot". It's worth noting that the Hungarian company had a small, dedicated team of the most talented of their employees, who operated alongside the studio's big productions (Ecco 1, Ecco2) on top-secret projects. The hero of "Parrot" was a cute parrot named Lory, but no further information was divulged about the game. Some Artworks of the title that will probably never reach the playable version stage:
In my research at Unreleased, I had the opportunity to interview some developers. I took the opportunity to devote articles about these canceled games with new information: