Games that Never Were: Sabreman Stampede

During the 1980s, an intrepid explorer named Sabreman became the star of Rare's (Ultimate at the time) Sabrewulf, in which he dealt with the vicious titular beast while collecting amulet pieces. He starred in some other games before being retired. His comeback started in 2000, when he made a cameo appearance in Banjo-Tooie. Four years later, Sabreman became the star of a Game Boy Advance version of Sabrewulf, which was a surprisingly fun action/puzzle platform game in which the explorer used creatures to help him collect treasures and gather the amulet pieces needed to imprison Sabrewulf once again. As it turned out, Rare had other big plans in store for Sabreman; namely, giving him his very own 3D game that actually started out as a racing game starring Donkey Kong. Sadly, the game in question, entitled Sabreman Stampede, ended up being one of the many Rare games that fans would have wanted to check out, but which ended up being canceled. Let me tell you what is known about a game that could have really sparked renewed interest in Sabreman, but never had the chance to do so.

The story began in 2001, when Rare and Nintendo still had a close relationship. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo that year, Rare unveiled Donkey Kong Racing, a racing game for the Gamecube that had Donkey Kong and his friends riding on animals. I wrote an article earlier about this game, which became a casualty of Microsoft's acquisition of Rare after more than a year of being kept under wraps without further details or even additional screen shots or trailers. As it turns out, not only did the public never see any footage of Donkey Kong Racing beyond the teaser trailer, but Rare did not work on the game any further after the trailer. Instead, following the move to Microsoft, they would gradually retool the game to feature Sabreman, much as they retooled some of their Game Boy Advance games to feature some of their own characters instead of Donkey Kong and friends since they could no longer make any new Donkey Kong games.

Rumors of the revised version of the game came along as early as late 2002, when there was word that Donkey Kong Racing was being changed to Sabreman Stampede. Soon thereafter, it was confirmed that Rare was indeed working on a Sabreman game for the Xbox, and Sabreman Stampede was that game. It would maintain the idea of racing on various animals, and according to some reports, the music would have been composed by David Wise, whose credits include the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Diddy Kong Racing, and Star Fox Adventures. For a while, however, there was not a lot of information revealed about the game, and what details were mentioned were often quite vague. Rare did not even reveal screen shots or trailers about the game, though perhaps they felt that it was not far enough along to show footage to anyone at the time.

By 2005, when Microsoft released the Xbox 360, word got around that the Xbox version of Sabreman Stampede would be canceled in favor of a version on the new console. Notably, members of that game's staff, credited as the Stampede Team, would help other Rare staff members finish Kameo: Elements of Power and Perfect Dark Zero in time for the launch of the Xbox 360. It was speculated that development of Sabreman Stampede was temporarily halted as a result. Then 2006 came and went without a single word about the game, as Rare was focused on bringing out Viva Pinata and revealing a teaser trailer for what became Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. Finally, in 2007, it was more or less confirmed that Sabreman Stampede would never come out, and there would be no other facts or even screen shots or movies to give fans an idea of what might have been. At least, that would have been the case if not for a brief video of the game posted on YouTube.

The eighteen-second clip would surprise many people by showing that the game had been retooled more drastically than they had believed. Instead of being a racing game, Sabreman Stampede had become a 3D adventure game. Some time later, the recently-closed web site MundoRare reported that the game was, indeed, still a racing title after Rare dropped the Donkey Kong characters, but that at a late point in development, they changed it into an adventure game. It would involve Sabreman exploring an island on which he and his wife Flo crash landed. He would complete a variety of tasks for its inhabitants and also be able to catch and ride animals to get him from one location to another. This latter feature was controversial in that the team wondered whether the act of capturing animals that did not wish to be caught would promote animal cruelty. Additionally, the graphics started out as being more cartoon-like before Microsoft asked Rare to make them more realistic. Concept art and additional videos found on MundoRare show further details of what players might have experienced. One picture shows the vicious Sabrewulf, but it is unknown what his role in the game would have been.

As for why the game was ultimately canceled, the development team simply felt that they were not getting anywhere with it. While more scenery and mechanics were tossed in, there was no focus on the story or the game's objectives. Realizing that productivity from many of the Rare teams was low, Microsoft ordered members of the Stampede team to leave that project and aid the teams working on Kameo: Elements of Power and Perfect Dark Zero to ensure that both games would be ready for the release of the Xbox 360. Only the game's artists remained, and they added more scenery before figuring that the game would simply not get anywhere. By 2005, production on the game was halted indefinitely, though it would be another two years before Rare fans got the message. As such, we will never know whether or not Sabreman Stampede would have been a game worthy of being a Rare masterpiece.

I think back to the Game Boy Advance version of Sabrewulf, and upon completing that game, players could talk to the non-player characters who would usually tell Sabreman that his adventures are over for the time being. However, they sometimes ask him "What was that you said about a sequel?", which clearly implied that Rare had big plans for Sabreman. Perhaps Sabreman Stampede was the sequel that was being hinted at, and perhaps with a great deal of work, it could have been a pretty good game. As a racing game, it likely would have been a fun and exciting experience. As a 3D adventure title, it would have surely had plenty of exciting tasks to perform, and riding on the animals would add to the enjoyment. Had development on the game continued, Rare would have surely made the game even stronger, giving the game a strong story and providing the players a variety of mandatory and optional quests, giving them a game that would be guaranteed to hold their interest for a long time.

Alas, the chances of seeing Sabreman in any game, whether it is a racing game, an adventure game, or something entirely different, are pretty slim at the moment. Rare has stated that they will not be focusing on any of their beloved franchises for the time being, and the fact that they are ignoring those series in favor of Kinect Sports makes me believe that it may be a long time before Sabreman experiences another revival, if it happens at all. That is unfortunate because Sabreman Stampede could have been a solid title in spite of its troubled history. Instead, it became one more Rare game that will never see the light of day. What could have been a great way to introduce Sabreman to a new generation of players as well as a way for old fans to become reacquainted with him will never come along, which is tragic.