Lost Classics: Rollerbabes (Amiga/DOS)

(Collins English Dictionary defines "phwoar" as a "British informal" word meaning "an admiring sound, roughly same as 'cor'; used to denote sexual attraction to another person," in case you really wanted to know.)

They promised me rollerbabes, and all I got was a cancelled Amiga game.

The time-honored sport of roller derby went through something of a resurgence in the late 1980s/early 1990s...kinda. The TV series RollerGames premiered in 1989, lasting only one season, but it got a pinball table, an arcade video game, and an NES game. There was an unreleased NES game called War on Wheels.

Then there's Rollerbabes for the Amiga from Cinemaware. It also never saw the light of day, but it would have included teams of over-the-top characters negotiating equally over-the-top obstacles, more like RollerGames than traditional roller derby. Actual screenshots show a game that's much less sexy than the name and publicity would suggest.

(Source: Internet Archive)

British magazine Zero had a two-page spread on Rollerbabes (see above), and it was even on the front cover, but the world was just never meant to experience the wonder of this game.

It's important to note that Cinemaware had gone under in 1991, which is mentioned in the Zero feature. By this point, the Cinemaware assets had been purchased by British publisher Mirrorsoft. Cinemaware founder Bob Jacob's new company Acme Interactive would continue development; Rollerbabes was set for a release later in the year.

Unfortunately, Mirrorsoft had its own problems following owner Robert Maxwell's untimely death. "Certain assets" of Mirrorsoft were sold to Acclaim, and that was that.

The magazine Retro Gamer claimed Mindscape ended up with the Cinemaware assets and ultimately passed on Rollerbabes, but I have found nothing to substantiate that.

Konami was supposed to release the DOS version in the US as part of their publishing deal with Mirrorsoft.

Other links of interest:
Bob Jacob looks back at Cinemaware (Amiga Power [UK])
Rollerbabes 1991 Calendar (from The One magazine [UK])

From a 1991 Konami catalog