i tried out bio force ape because of this video and holy crap its a shame it never got released. the gameplay is super fast for an NES game, i really enjoy it
The article I saw this in back of box follows the information about this game: “The Raisins are in a jam! They’re been nabbed by the Wild Bunch. A rival band that plays terrible music. The bullies sealed up your pals in the record studio. And even worse, they stole all the music that the Raisins use for crooning! Get ready to climb, tumble, moonwalk, and lob fistfuls of jelly! You’ve got to rescue your buddies before the concert! And while you’re at it, grab a little sunshine. After all, a Raisin’s got to stay healthy! 4 warehouse wonderlands, from Maize Maze to Jelly Factory. Find hidden caves - escape it you can! Search a fruitful underworld and duke it out with the produce! Grab the four Golden Notes, then face the biggest bopper, Alexender the Grape! Being a raisin isn’t all song and dance. You heard it through the grapevine: the Wild Bunch has kidnapped your four raisin buddies--and stolen all your music. Get ready to brave Sour Grapes and other bad guys to rescue your musical pals in this Nintendo caper. But don’t miss a beat. Or you’re a solo act.” Mega Man wasn’t the only frame of reference of California Raisins. The cartoon-style graphics, for instance, are reminiscent of Capcom’s other hit of the time, DuckTales. This combination of gun-toting action against a cartoony atmosphere wouldn’t be used again until Capcom’s own Darkwing Duck one year later, in 1992. Unlike most of Capcom games which were developed in house, California Raisins was programmed by Radiance Software, based in California no less, but I'm sure that wasn't the reason they were chosen to develop California Raisins. The name probably doesn't ring a bell to many, but they were responsible for the fantastic game published by Hi Tech Expressions called Rollerblade Racer, They were also responsible for THQ's release called The Great Waldo Search, so they sure had a few quality NES titles in the book. Before the game hit the stores, yeah I know it never did but read on anyway, Capcom included a poster with Bionic Commando, I believe, as an advertisement for their upcoming Disney games, Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers and Adventures in Disneyland the latter 2 which later was renamed to Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers and Adventures in the Magic Kingdom respectively. It also featured small descriptions of their current games, 1943: The Battle of Midway, Strider, Legendary Wings, Mickey Mousecapade, The California Raisins, Mega Man 2 and Bionic Commando, yes I know California Raisins wasn't released, you don't need to remind me, but Capcom seemed to be pretty far into the production since they decided to mention it as released. The article I saw follows information about the game: “The hottest thing to happen to raisins since wrinkles! Direct from their successful tour of the grapevine, and ready to perform for you… The famous Raisins are up to their old wrinkled tricks and really raisin’ a ruckus in this action packed video hit. Take a trip on the grapevine, and they will have you rockin’ and rollin’ in no time.” “The hottest thing to happen to raisins since wrinkles! Direct from their successful tour of the grapevine, and ready to perform for you… The famous Raisins are up to their old wrinkled tricks and really raisin’ a ruckus in this action packed video hit.” The funny thing about the prototype found is that it says licensed by CALRAB 1990, but the license seems to have been made a few years earlier, 1988, one can only wonder if there were earlier attempts to make a California Raisins game? When Capcom released Gold Medal Challenge, they also included a small brochure with their NES game library, California Raisins had disappeared mysteriously. This brochure also mentioned Gold Medal Challenge as "Barcelona '92" so it was clearly made before the game was finalized. The game appeared to have been largely finished as it was given a full review, along with hints, by Video Games & Computer Entertainment: Complete Guide to Nintendo Video Games (November 1990), the “Nintendo Game of the Month” in “Game Player’s Magazine, #19 (January 1991)”, Videogames & Computer Entertainment (January 1991), “Game Player’s Strategy Guide to Nintendo Games, Vol. 4, No.3 (March 1991)” as the Hot 100, and “Game Player’s Encyclopedia of Nintendo Games Vol. 3 (April 1991)” released a complete walkthrough for the game in their 3rd edition encyclopedia. The game was listed on GameMania for $57.99 and was also listed on Video Game Land for $14.00-$27.95 on the winter 1990-1991 edition of GamePro. According to VideoGames & Computer Entertainment's COMPLETE GUIDE TO NINTENDO VIDEO GAMES, ONLY $9.50, California Raisins was released, was officially categorized as "Crime Fighting," and was good. Especially the violence rating-- only 1 out of 10? What kind of crime fighting game doesn't involve violence? The only thing I can think of is a game where you paint and hang up signs that say, "Please no crime. Thank you!" It's nonviolent, non-offensive arcade entertainment at its most bland. “Visit your local game retailer today!!! Hottest titles for Nintendo!” The mystery surrounding this Raisin game only gets more mysterious as we follow its trail. Flyers included with Capcom NES games such as DuckTales, the Game Boy DuckTales, Disney’s Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers, Gargoyle’s Quest, Little Nemo: The Dream Master, Street Fighter: 2010: The Final Fight, Destiny of An Emperor, Yo! NOID, and Mega Man 3 released around 1990 also included the title as an upcoming game. It was developed by Radiance Software and Capcom USA produced it in 1990, and planned to publish this game, and would have been licensed by Nintendo for play on the Nintendo Entertainment System, slated for release in North America in December 1990 or March 1991, but it was cancelled due to The California Raisins’ dawdling popularity because of the downfall sales of raisins in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s. But that wasn’t the only reason it canceled the game. By the time this NES title was ready to hit the market, Nintendo would’ve have already released its next-generation Super NES, making the NES (and all its games) obsolete. This game appeared on the Spring Summer and Fall Winter 1991 Sears Wish Books advertised for 44.95. It was so close to release there was a multi cheat (2 page guides mostly? Some built in codes, plus Game Genie codes at a Scholastic book fair that had guide/code for this game as “the latest hit.” And the game wouldn‘t resurface online for another 13 years until a prototype of this game was found in Florida on January 21, 2003 by Brandon Murphy. After an article was published, game collectors began haggling with Brandon to sell the game and release the ROM, and so the cart was sold to collector, followed by a ROM image being released 7 months later, on August 1 of that same year. So it is a valuable collectors item. But if the whole raisin why toxic things wasn’t the reason Capcom decided to release it. According to many sources, the game was to be released in 1991, which contradicts previous knowledge that it was to be released in 1990. But that was not the only reason it canceled the game. By that time this NES title was ready to hit the market, Nintendo would’ve already released its next-generation Super NES, making the NES (and all its games) obsolete. Got a VidPro card with preliminary artwork. What this game lacks is a grape with appeal. This is why the undoubtable one of the most well known unreleased games of all-time for the NES. But none the less, a very cool piece of NES history has been saved…
The California Raisins: The Grape Escape was set to be a Capcom licensed title, in the same vein as Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers, Ducktales, Darkwing Duck or the Mega Man series of games.
@@CaptainJack1 There was an NES port in the works of Street Fighter 1. But the only thing that exists that we know of are screenshots. Looked a bit like the C64 and Dos ports but maybe a bit better color.
hell yeah new captain jack vid!! :D
NGL it's a miracle we got Bio Force Ape.
I agree
bro. this is on of my new favorite YT channels. I just went through a bunch of my NES unlicensed rom game folders too on my pc. Great video!
Really liked Tesla Driver: Elon man!
Sunman is my favorite unreleased NES game and it's a Superman game of all things!
There could have actually been a good Superman NES game? WOW!
i tried out bio force ape because of this video and holy crap its a shame it never got released. the gameplay is super fast for an NES game, i really enjoy it
Just tried it out as well and I’m blown away on how fast it is
The article I saw this in back of box follows the information about this game: “The Raisins are in a jam! They’re been nabbed by the Wild Bunch. A rival band that plays terrible music. The bullies sealed up your pals in the record studio. And even worse, they stole all the music that the Raisins use for crooning! Get ready to climb, tumble, moonwalk, and lob fistfuls of jelly! You’ve got to rescue your buddies before the concert! And while you’re at it, grab a little sunshine. After all, a Raisin’s got to stay healthy! 4 warehouse wonderlands, from Maize Maze to Jelly Factory. Find hidden caves - escape it you can! Search a fruitful underworld and duke it out with the produce! Grab the four Golden Notes, then face the biggest bopper, Alexender the Grape! Being a raisin isn’t all song and dance. You heard it through the grapevine: the Wild Bunch has kidnapped your four raisin buddies--and stolen all your music. Get ready to brave Sour Grapes and other bad guys to rescue your musical pals in this Nintendo caper. But don’t miss a beat. Or you’re a solo act.”
Mega Man wasn’t the only frame of reference of California Raisins. The cartoon-style graphics, for instance, are reminiscent of Capcom’s other hit of the time, DuckTales. This combination of gun-toting action against a cartoony atmosphere wouldn’t be used again until Capcom’s own Darkwing Duck one year later, in 1992. Unlike most of Capcom games which were developed in house, California Raisins was programmed by Radiance Software, based in California no less, but I'm sure that wasn't the reason they were chosen to develop California Raisins. The name probably doesn't ring a bell to many, but they were responsible for the fantastic game published by Hi Tech Expressions called Rollerblade Racer, They were also responsible for THQ's release called The Great Waldo Search, so they sure had a few quality NES titles in the book. Before the game hit the stores, yeah I know it never did but read on anyway, Capcom included a poster with Bionic Commando, I believe, as an advertisement for their upcoming Disney games, Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers and Adventures in Disneyland the latter 2 which later was renamed to Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers and Adventures in the Magic Kingdom respectively. It also featured small descriptions of their current games, 1943: The Battle of Midway, Strider, Legendary Wings, Mickey Mousecapade, The California Raisins, Mega Man 2 and Bionic Commando, yes I know California Raisins wasn't released, you don't need to remind me, but Capcom seemed to be pretty far into the production since they decided to mention it as released. The article I saw follows information about the game: “The hottest thing to happen to raisins since wrinkles! Direct from their successful tour of the grapevine, and ready to perform for you… The famous Raisins are up to their old wrinkled tricks and really raisin’ a ruckus in this action packed video hit. Take a trip on the grapevine, and they will have you rockin’ and rollin’ in no time.” “The hottest thing to happen to raisins since wrinkles! Direct from their successful tour of the grapevine, and ready to perform for you… The famous Raisins are up to their old wrinkled tricks and really raisin’ a ruckus in this action packed video hit.” The funny thing about the prototype found is that it says licensed by CALRAB 1990, but the license seems to have been made a few years earlier, 1988, one can only wonder if there were earlier attempts to make a California Raisins game? When Capcom released Gold Medal Challenge, they also included a small brochure with their NES game library, California Raisins had disappeared mysteriously. This brochure also mentioned Gold Medal Challenge as "Barcelona '92" so it was clearly made before the game was finalized. The game appeared to have been largely finished as it was given a full review, along with hints, by Video Games & Computer Entertainment: Complete Guide to Nintendo Video Games (November 1990), the “Nintendo Game of the Month” in “Game Player’s Magazine, #19 (January 1991)”, Videogames & Computer Entertainment (January 1991), “Game Player’s Strategy Guide to Nintendo Games, Vol. 4, No.3 (March 1991)” as the Hot 100, and “Game Player’s Encyclopedia of Nintendo Games Vol. 3 (April 1991)” released a complete walkthrough for the game in their 3rd edition encyclopedia. The game was listed on GameMania for $57.99 and was also listed on Video Game Land for $14.00-$27.95 on the winter 1990-1991 edition of GamePro. According to VideoGames & Computer Entertainment's COMPLETE GUIDE TO NINTENDO VIDEO GAMES, ONLY $9.50, California Raisins was released, was officially categorized as "Crime Fighting," and was good. Especially the violence rating-- only 1 out of 10? What kind of crime fighting game doesn't involve violence? The only thing I can think of is a game where you paint and hang up signs that say, "Please no crime. Thank you!" It's nonviolent, non-offensive arcade entertainment at its most bland. “Visit your local game retailer today!!! Hottest titles for Nintendo!” The mystery surrounding this Raisin game only gets more mysterious as we follow its trail. Flyers included with Capcom NES games such as DuckTales, the Game Boy DuckTales, Disney’s Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers, Gargoyle’s Quest, Little Nemo: The Dream Master, Street Fighter: 2010: The Final Fight, Destiny of An Emperor, Yo! NOID, and Mega Man 3 released around 1990 also included the title as an upcoming game. It was developed by Radiance Software and Capcom USA produced it in 1990, and planned to publish this game, and would have been licensed by Nintendo for play on the Nintendo Entertainment System, slated for release in North America in December 1990 or March 1991, but it was cancelled due to The California Raisins’ dawdling popularity because of the downfall sales of raisins in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s. But that wasn’t the only reason it canceled the game. By the time this NES title was ready to hit the market, Nintendo would’ve have already released its next-generation Super NES, making the NES (and all its games) obsolete. This game appeared on the Spring Summer and Fall Winter 1991 Sears Wish Books advertised for 44.95. It was so close to release there was a multi cheat (2 page guides mostly? Some built in codes, plus Game Genie codes at a Scholastic book fair that had guide/code for this game as “the latest hit.” And the game wouldn‘t resurface online for another 13 years until a prototype of this game was found in Florida on January 21, 2003 by Brandon Murphy. After an article was published, game collectors began haggling with Brandon to sell the game and release the ROM, and so the cart was sold to collector, followed by a ROM image being released 7 months later, on August 1 of that same year. So it is a valuable collectors item. But if the whole raisin why toxic things wasn’t the reason Capcom decided to release it. According to many sources, the game was to be released in 1991, which contradicts previous knowledge that it was to be released in 1990. But that was not the only reason it canceled the game. By that time this NES title was ready to hit the market, Nintendo would’ve already released its next-generation Super NES, making the NES (and all its games) obsolete. Got a VidPro card with preliminary artwork. What this game lacks is a grape with appeal. This is why the undoubtable one of the most well known unreleased games of all-time for the NES. But none the less, a very cool piece of NES history has been saved…
The California Raisins: The Grape Escape was set to be a Capcom licensed title, in the same vein as Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers, Ducktales, Darkwing Duck or the Mega Man series of games.
Thanks bot
Excellent video, make a part 2, and 3 and 47. There are many gold nugget unreleased NES games to know more about!
Great list! Secret Ties looks really awesome.
It's actually pretty good! Although I might have to give Eon Man the runner up on this list!
@@CaptainJack1 There was an NES port in the works of Street Fighter 1. But the only thing that exists that we know of are screenshots. Looked a bit like the C64 and Dos ports but maybe a bit better color.
I don't even need to see the rest of the video. I'm subbing just for the turtle.
4:31 "Exscape" lol
Awesome video, thanks for the golden nuggets of unreleased treasure!
Great finds!
i thought that thumbnail was scott hall
heck yeah!
nice
Nice Video ! Sub & Big Like ! And Love Retro Nes Games !