Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill (partially lost Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis 2D platformer; 1993-1994)

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Revision as of 19:36, 2 January 2018 by Rno (talk | contribs) (The SNES version isn't released yet; still lost)
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Socks the cat.jpg

Cover of the game.

Status: Lost (prototype of the SNES version)
Lost (ROM/Repro for SNES) (Sega Genesis)

Date found: 2002 or 2003, un-reported until 2008 (SNES version)

Found by: Jason Wilson (aka DreamTR) (SNES version)


Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill is an unreleased 1993 SNES/Sega Genesis platform video game that starred a cartoon, fictionalized version of Bill Clinton's famous pet cat, Socks.

Premise

According to magazine articles, the game centered around Socks fighting foreign rat spies invading the White House to steal nuclear plans, leading him through several levels to fight said enemies.

Bosses were allegedly based on real-life American politicians, including Ross Perot and a Jimmy Carter stand-in with a "smile attack".

Cancellation

Although the game was fully developed and featured in ads and game expositions, its release was cancelled for unknown reasons, although it has been speculated that it was due to the political satire inside the game that would not have possibly lead to legal problems. People who have worked on the game denied this, however, and stated that it was due to the publisher being shut down before release.

Availability

SNES

Only one prototype cartridge of the SNES version has been known to still exist. It ended up in the possession of Jason Wilson, aka DreamTR, an avid collector of video games and owner of a video arcade. However, he refused to make its ROM available to the public because it would lower the value of the cartridge, although he kept a duplicate of the ROM.

Aware of its uniqueness, DreamTR had a friend upload an (intentionally) blurry, poor-quality five-minute video of the game being played on a TV. He and his friend admitted they did it in order to "troll" fans/gamers who would wish to play it. After this, they got flooded with countless requests that he'd dump the ROM, some of them being extremely aggressive.

In a forum on NintendoAge, DreamTR explained that he refused to dump the ROM. However, he would sell the prototype cartridge for a minimum of $5000 or exchange it for either a Medieval Madness pinball machine or a copy of Stadium Events on the NES with the original box and manual, either also being worth around $5000.

Eventually, a member of the forum, MinusWorlds, did buy the cartridge and promised that he would release it to the public in the near future, but in the form of boxed reproduction cartridges, after which a Kickstarter was eventually launched.

Sega Genesis

No prototypes of the Sega Genesis version have resurfaced in any way and little is known about it in general apart from the fact that it would have been very different to the SNES release.

Gallery

5 minutes of gameplay (bad quality is intentional).

References