LEGO® Sea Challenge Intro
The intro storyboards to LEGO Sea Challenge
Here are a list of all the games that were planned but never got off the ground for one reason or another, some have gameplay footage available while others only have concept art and scripts to view.
Classic Games[]
Linking Leroy Visits LEGOLAND[]
This would have been the first LEGO game ever released if finished, it started production in 1992 for the Commodore 64 and was to be a 2D platformer where the player controlled the titular character, Linking Leroy through levels based on the Town and Classic Space themes. A demo of the game exists to play on the Internet Archive here, although the project was abandoned after the developer, Fairlight broken connections with LEGO.
LEGO Sea Challenge/Beneath the LEGO Phanta Sea[]
This was intended to be a direct sequel to LEGO Island, also published by Mindscape and using the same engine. It would have been in a first person view with the player now tasked with saving the Phanta Sea from The Brickster. Unfortunately due to the company laying off all their staff, the game was cancelled.
LEGO Adventurers/DIG[]
Another game that was intended to be part of the LEGO Island series, the series was planned to have at least six games in total, with the first LEGO Island being the first in the series. Unfortunately it was also cancelled when Mindscape laid off all their staff. The plot would have been that the player would be exploring an Egyptian styled lost city in search for buried treasure while avoiding thieves.
LEGO Castle[]
Another game in the LEGO Island series that was cancelled when Mindscape laid off all their staff. Unlike the previous two games, only a single page document and a sketch were uncovered by this point.
LEGO Space: UFO Invaders[]
The final uncovered planned game in the LEGO Island series, it would have been based on the UFO and Roboforce subthemes from the Space theme. While it was cancelled, some of the space elements were carried over to the Ogel Island level in LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge.
The LEGO Island Learning Project[]
This would have been LEGO's plan to create LEGO Island themed educational games. Only a single storyboard page has been uncovered so far of The Infomaniac and Pepper inviting the player to come and play with them in different Lego themes.
LEGO Friends II[]
A direct sequel to the first LEGO Friends, now focusing on Tuff Stuff becoming a worldwide pop sensation. It would have included more customization options for the entire band, microphone compatibility for the player to create their own songs and a money management feature. This was to be the second in an entire software library aimed at girls, including a LEGO KidPad, a tablet device for both software and physical dolls, but unfortunately never got off the ground.
Adventures with Horses[]
Another planned game for the Scala line of LEGO, this time a PlayStation game focused on horse raising and riding with some math elements included. This was also cancelled early.
LEGO Puzzle[]
Only the game's logo has been uncovered, it appeared alongside the logo for LEGO Racers and was said to be a competitive Tetris like game.
LEGO Circus[]
A LEGO Duplo game in the same vein as the My Style duology. The player was going to be in a Duplo circus build, playing different minigames. The game was cancelled back when it was still in its Alpha state when LEGO Lab (which was in charge of the game's creation) shut down.
LEGO Creator: Star Wars[]
This was a planned entry into the Creator series, this time focusing on the Star Wars series. The game halted production when LucasArts lost interest in the project. A couple screenshots of what the game would have been like and some parts used for the game were uncovered.
LEGO Soccer 2000[]
A planned sports game that started production in 1998 by Data Design Interactive, the team behind LEGO Rock Raiders. This game was cancelled a year later and Silicon Dreams Studios instead created Soccer Mania.[1]
LEGO Bionicle: The Legend of Mata Nui[]
This would have been an action adventure game in the same style as Nintendo 64 Legend of Zelda duology, meant to be developed by Saffire. It would have followed the plotline of the original 2001 Bionicle storyline but was cancelled a year later. A trailer for the game and animations of Pohatu were found but the rest of the Toa had only concept art.
Fans did manage to piece together the game as best they could and made it playable on BioMedia Project as The Legend of Mata Nui Rebuilt, although the game itself was never officially released.
LEGO Racers 4/Drome Racers 2[]
This was to be a direct sequel to the original Drome Racers and followed Max Axel's younger brother as he searches for his missing sibling, the game would have featured a new speed boost mechanic that would give the player an intense sense of speed but also make their car harder to control. It would have also featured a new game engine that would allow the streaming of data off the DVD the game would have been on, letting the game be bigger and have a more intricate play area. Unfortunately, LEGO and EA didn't think the engine would work so the project was cancelled.
LEGO Racers CC[]
Another planned sequel to Drome Racers unrelated to the previous one, magazine ads for the game came out but the game itself was cancelled when Attention To Detail went out of business.
Silk Road[]
This was a planned game based on the LEGO Adventurers' Oriental Expedition theme, Pepper Roni would have accompanied Johnny Thunder and his team on a journey across Asia. It was scrapped early in production and instead the third game in the Island series became Island Xtreme Stunts. An image of Johnny in The Brickster's bi-plane used in Air Chase exists, but there's no other information about this planned game.
Football Mania 2/LEGO Soccer Adventure[]
This would have been a sequel to Soccer Mania but would be more of an action platformer rather than a straight forward soccer game. It would have been developed by Blitz Games, character models have been uncovered so far, but nothing else.
TT Games[]
LEGO James Bond[]
A test animation involving James Bond, as well as Indiana Jones and Lara Croft were shown off by TT Games in 2005, however this was also around the time the Bond film, Casino Royale came out. LEGO cancelled the game as the James Bond series would have been too gritty to adapt. It's unknown what films this game would have adapted.
In November 2024, a video surfaced online of a leaked trailer for a LEGO James Bond project. The video was reportedly taken from a build of LEGO Dimensions. The video is said to be a pitch for a standalone LEGO James Bond game, however, the project was apparently once again not picked up due to the franchise's mature themes.[2] The video has since been taken down.
LEGO Tomb Raider[]
As stated above, Lara Croft was one of the minifigures shown off and a LEGO version of the Tomb Raider games was planned. However, TT Games thought the series wouldn't be able to stand on its own and asked LucasFilms to have Lara be featured in an Indiana Jones crossover. George Lucas turned it down, calling Tomb Raider "a ripoff of the Indiana Jones series", thus the latter series was adapted into a LEGO game on its own with no mention of the Tomb Raider characters or setting.
LEGO City Undercover 2[]
A sequel to LEGO City Undercover was pitched by TT Games employees, but never came to be for unknown reasons.[3]
Other Games[]
Bionicle: City of Legends[]
This as intended as the sequel to Bionicle, but due to the game receiving poor reviews it was cancelled. A tech demo was leaked online in 2012 but no other information about the game was gathered.
LEGO Racers: The Video Game[]
This game was planned out in 2009 for the Nintendo DS and was developed by Firebrand Games. Not much information is known about the game other than a few screenshots and the box art. It's unknown if this would have been a straight up remake of the original LEGO Racers or a new game in the series. It was advertised on set boxes for 2009 Racers sets but canceled before the release for unknown reasons.
The ad on set boxes was all that was known about the game, until 2013 when a developer from Firebrand Games posted samples of work he’d done on the game, and stated it was unreleased without an explanation why. Included were four rendered videos (showing three car models and an animated minifigure), and two in-game screenshots.
The developer said the game was for Nintendo DS, but the screenshots show higher graphical quality than the DS is capable of and are 640×456—a standard resolution for Wii games. Going by other games developed or ported by Firebrand, it seems likely the game was planned for both systems.
LEGO Star Wars Battles[]
This was a real-time strategy game based on the Star Wars franchise. It was released in beta for Android devices in 2019, but was scrapped in development and all servers were shut down two years later. The game later released on Apple Arcade in September 2021.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://brickstobytes.org/games
- ↑ Dinsdale, Ryan (2 December 2024). "Lego James Bond Pitch Video Leaks Online, Shows Fans What Might Have Been". IGN. Accessed 13 December 2024.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230416131916/https://twitter.com/moons_artwork/status/1647517572991008768