Once upon a time, Sony wasn't the video game behemoth it is today – it was simply an electronics giant which eyed the video game industry with interest. To that end, it launched its own game publishing label – CSG Imagesoft, later Sony Imagesoft – in the late '80s and planned to release three games on the NES in North America, all of which were originally produced in Japan.

However, of the planned trio, only one game actually made it to market – Super Dodge Ball. Super Rescue (a localisation of the Famicom game Flying Hero) was displayed at the Winter CES in 1989 before being passed on to Nexoft, which advertised it as Blazebusters in 1991 but ultimately never published it in North America.

The third game, Super Sushi Pinball, was also never released, despite being advertised in the region (its Japanese version, Super Pinball, doesn't have any sushi in it).

Why was it canned? Rumours have been circulating that Nintendo itself rejected the game, but this seems unlikely, especially as it appears to have passed the company's LOT Check process – and, as we've noted, was advertised by Sony more than once back in the late '80s and early '90s.

Whatever the reason, Super Sushi Pinball was considered lost – until now. Thankfully, the wonderful folks at The Video Game History Foundation have not only tracked down a copy of the game, they've preserved it online for a whole new generation to experience.

The pre-release prototype owned by Ed Semrad has been digitised and uploaded to Hidden Palace, so head over there if you fancy giving it a try. Hopefully Super Rescue / Blazebusters will be found next!

[source gamehistory.org]