Retro game curators have discovered and released a title from Nintendo 64 long lost and destined for release in the year 2000, based on a film by famed director Tim Burton. The topic of video game preservation has grown in importance in recent years, as live launches and the closure of stores such as the Nintendo 3DS eShop raise fears that some games may one day be lost forever. This has given rise to dedicated preservation groups that aim to ensure that copies of the games are available to everyone.
A popular group of game preservers called Forest of Illusion has been working to discover and share previously unreleased video games for years, often bringing to light titles that disappeared from publishers’ lists, and even some unannounced releases that were completely unknown to the community. of players. Whether a game was canceled due to budget issues, creative differences, or lack of support, Forest of Illusion is dedicated to preserving the history of Nintendo for everyone to enjoy.
Through Twitter, Forest of Illusion has announced that the group has published files with playable content for Carnivalé: Cenzo’s Adventure, a game created as a companion to the animated film of the same name by director Tim Burton. The final version of the 1999 prototype is now available for download via the shared link on the Forest of Illusion website. Forest of Illusion thanks Baker64, a video game enthusiast, for submitting his N64 cartridge for his preservation, though it is unclear how Baker64 came into possession of this prototype.
Carnivalé: Cenzo’s Adventure is a retro platform game for the N64 that was to be released alongside the corresponding animated film directed by Tim Burton, but was canceled after its premiere at E3 1999. Terraglyph Interactive Studios, the developer of Carnivalé : Cenzo’s Adventure, quietly canceled the game due to financial difficulties. The film was only released in Europe and was not as well received as Burton’s other works. The film focused on a group of children who make their way through an amusement park after being teleported to another dimension. The game would follow the same storyline as the film, using popular carnival games and standard platform game mechanics as the main direction of the gameplay.