31 Years Later, A Cancelled SNES Game Has Been Revived

Published Sep 21, 2026, 7:30 AM EDT James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC. Sign in to your ScreenRant account There really is something extremely tragic about a game being canceled when it's already quite far into development, and it happens all too often, even in 2026. That said, it was just as common in the past and there are thousands of games over the years that we never got to enjoy in the way the developers intended. As someone who grew up in the 1990s, Nintendo really were the undisputed kings of the field for a while and their consoles were the ones that kids wanted to play the world over. While we got loads of brilliant games at that time, one canceled effort for the SNES could have been really quite a big part of that era if it had ever seen the light of day. Now it's about to return thanks to the dedicated work of fans, and it's well worth a go if you're a fan of the existing franchise. As first reported by DSO Gaming, a dedicated fan has been able to fully recreate Kid Kirby for the PC, a game that was canned ahead of an intended release in 1995. The fascinating tidbit here is that, if it came to fruition, it would have been the only Kirby game in history to be developed by a Western studio. The studio in question is DMA Design, who you might recognize as they went on to evolve into Rockstar North, who then decided to develop a subversive indie title known as Grand Theft Auto (which has supposedly become a series in the intervening?) Very little has been known about the game up to this point, though the introductory text for Kid Kirby was intended to read as follows: "Kirby was dreaming in Dream Land because that's what you're supposed to do there. Dreams were warm and cute. But his dream was cut short by a big commotion outside! Kirby put away his dream so he could use it later on. Nothing seemed to be wrong at first, but as he watched, something amazing happened... The Dream Spring stopped! Well this just wouldn't do, would it? He would have to restart it! He packed away his adventure kit to deal with anything he might find. This mystery was going to be solved! Stepping outside, brave little kid kirby [sic] started on the path that would lead him all over Dream Land. Good Luck!" This new PC version has eight levels and one boss fight, with each level you complete adding new mechanics to keep the gameplay exciting. In fairness, the game looks like a nostalgic blast, and it's available to download entirely for free from the developer's itch.io page, if you want to give it a go for yourself. While having another Kirby game in the mid-90s would undoubtedly have been great fun, if it had come to fruition, Nintendo may have brought the developer on for another title. In turn, that would likely have put pay to any chances of Grand Theft Auto being brought into existence, and who knows what the gaming landscape would have looked like in that case. Brand Nintendo Original Release Date August 23, 1991 Original MSRP (USD) $199 Hardware Versions SNES Weight 2.12 lbs