A Nintendo-related leak includes footage of a scrapped Retro Studios game as well as unreleased Ridge Racer title.
According to a post on reddit, shared earlier today, a number of different builds were found on a Nintendo Switch development kit. These include:
- Old Splatoon 2 debug builds
- Rime
- Unreleased Lego Civilization game
- Unreleased Ridge Racer prototype
- Unreleased Retro Studios game (Project Harmony)
- Arms debug build
The cancelled Ridge Racer game was reportedly in development with Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, and built on Unreal Engine 4.
Additionally, development footage of a prototype developed by Retro Studios under the title Harmony has also started being shared online. This early footage shows a small pixie-like character who is able to summon a number of magical mounts including a sort of winged fish.
Its menu meanwhile includes tabs for things like Log and World Map.
While nothing has been confirmed, Harmony could well be the music RPG which was rumoured to once be in the works at Retro Studios. In January, YouTuber Reece “Kiwi Talkz” Reilly interviewed a number of former Retro Studios employees, and it was revealed that the developer was working on a music-based project between Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Metroid Prime Remastered.
Reportedly, the main gameplay mechanic within this game was going to be singing – something shown in today’s leaked footage. However, Nintendo apparently halted work on the project as it was “a huge disaster” and it was “going nowhere” for many years.
Both of the above builds are said to be from 2017, despite the projects never being announced.
Elsewhere in Nintendo news, last week we finally got a good look at the company’s in-demand Switch 2 console. Pre-orders went live here in the UK soon after Nintendo’s presentation, with many stockists quickly selling out.
Of course, this means Switch 2s are already appearing on resale sites such as eBay for a higher price than the RRP.