10 Lost Video Games That Were Discovered Years Later

Lost media is undeniably interesting. Video games' big hits and misses are etched into history for all to look back on, but what about the games that almost didn't make it?

After all, video game development is no small feat. Months, perhaps years, of work can go into a project that never sees the light of day (or does so briefly) for one reason or another. It doesn't really matter whether the game is good or bad, video game historians want to know about it because it's part of the wider tapestry of how we got from the Amiga to the PlayStation 5.

The following list will look at games that vanished for years before they eventually resurfaced. Thanks to the power of the internet, the video game community and emulation experts the proceeding titles are all available to play - even if they were never finished - in some form. 

Celebrating the titles who made it past the finish line in a blaze of glory isn't enough. Sometimes it's more interesting to focus on those that history nearly forgot about.

Sega developed a host of memorable franchises in the early 1990s that included Sonic the Hedgehog, Alex Kidd, Streets of Rage and, perhaps the most overlooked of them all, Ecco the Dolphin. Between 1992 and 1995, the franchise had three instalments that all received rather consistent critical and commercial acclaim.

When Sega braved new waters with the Dreamcast system, the majority of their established IPs never got a chance to shine on their 128-bit machine. However, Ecco was one of the few that made it across with the 2000 reboot Defender of the Future. Again, there were rave reviews and as such developers Appaloosa Interactive got to work on a follow-up.

However, fans had no idea that this was even the case for years as the sequel was cancelled before it was even announced, thanks to the Dreamcast's unfortunate discontinuation. A prototype was discovered in 2007 but it took another nine years before a copy was released to the public. Ecco II: Sentinels of the Universe looks impressive for a game at a suggested 30% completion but it's hard to know how it would've turned out for sure considering how much is missing.

However, Sentinels of the Universe is of particular note because - aside from the 2002 PS2 port of Defender of the Future - Sega's Bottlenose friend has otherwise been lost at sea for twenty-three years encounting.