Duckman Platform: PlayStation Publisher: Playmates

The Basics

Duckman, the hero, of sorts, of the USA Network animated series would have starred in this single-player graphical adventure called Duckman: The Legend of the Fall. You would have controlled Duckman and guided him through puzzles and away from traps, all the while attempting to outwit King Chicken - Duckman's arch nemesis. The game would have offered more than 40 locations and 80 different scenes to explore, all of which took 10,000 frames of hand-drawn animation to create. About 35 characters from the show, including Bernice, Ajax, Charles, Cornfed, and Mambo would've populated these locations. The character's voices would've been provided by the show's original actors, as well.

WHAT HAPPENED?
Playmates canceled the title for unknown reasons.

Earthworm Jim 2
Platform: PlayStation
Publisher: SCEA
Developer: Playmates Interactive

The Basics

From what we understand, Earthworm Jim 2 for the PlayStation made it through development at Screaming Pink just fine (Shiny was busy working on what would become MDK and Wild 9). Paralleling development was a Saturn version of the game that actually shipped. Character artwork, backgrounds, etc. were all enhanced for the platforms, but they were still ports rather than total conversions.

WHAT HAPPENED?
In short, Sony wasn't satisfied with the 16-bit version the Saturn saw, believing 3D gameplay was necessary for the 32-bit environment. So Sony Computer Entertainment America failed to pass the game for fear of tarnishing the system's 32-bit name and challenging its technological position - not wanting to settle for anything short of 3D. Sony Europe, however, accepted the game due to its popularity there. We caught up with Scott Herrington, the EWJ producer who was with Playmates Interactive Entertainment from 1994-1996, and who's now with Shiny Entertainment, to find out if our facts were straight. He offered the following statement: "For Playmates Interactive Entertainment, the inability to get EWJ 2 approved put PIE at odds with Sony. Between that and the whole 'Tohshinden' fiasco (another story for another time), the relationship between the companies got off to a rather rough start.... "

Elric
Platform: PlayStation
Publisher: Psygnosis
Developer: Haiku Studios

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The Basics

Based on the popular book series by Michael Moorcock, Elric, which was being developed by Haiku Studios, was to be an overhead adventure/RPG game. Similar to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and the popular PC game Diablo, the game hoped to immerse players in a 3D fantasy/role-playing world on a mystical quest to bring down evil forces.

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Rather than creating a new property, Psygnosis was bringing Michael Moorcock's Elric character to video-game consoles for the first time. The science fantasy book series has many installments, and the character of Elric has quite a history. Elric, an albino warrior and the last of the Menilbonean emperors, kills his opponents with the soul-stealing rune sword Stormbringer. Condemned by the gods to battle everything (and everyone) in his path, Elric is one bad mother.

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The game contained nine levels for you to explore on your quest to bring Elric's beloved Cymoril out of her eternal sleep. Battling through a variety of dungeons and villages, you had to defeat the dark wizard Almon and complete the Cross of Chaos, which had to be set on Cymoril's coffin to wake her. Using an array of weapons and spells, the game played like an adventure game with added RPG elements. Additionally, a variety of monsters and enemies provided plenty of things to hack and slash while you learned new spells and picked up a variety of helpful objects.

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The graphics in Elric looked impressive, and the game looked to be one of the better RPG-type games on the horizon. All the action was took place in real time (using an overhead view similar to Legacy of Kain), and the 3D graphics were rendered on the fly. Word has it that Haiku Studios was also working on a split-screen mode that would let two players go through the game at once.

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RPG fans would likely have enjoyed Elric, and players with more mainstream tastes would likely have found it more accessible than most other games in the genre. The game was originally scheduled to be released during the first quarter of 1998.

WHAT HAPPENED?
In April of 1998, Psygnosis told Gamespot News that Elric was not necessarily dead. According to Brian Kemp of Psygnosis, Elric was "currently on hold" that month, but added that it "very well might make the year." That was last year, folks, and Elric ain't here or on its way. Until Psygnosis tells us otherwise, we believe we won't be seeing it anytime soon, if ever.

 

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