The forgotten mascot of the late-Eighties and Nineties who appeared on 7-Up bottles nearly had his own game. Nearly…

Words by Daniel Major

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...

GAMES THAT NEVER SAW THE LIGHT OF DAY

» Before he found himself working on Fido Dido, Jas Austin made a name for himself with games like Rex.

» Here’s an original design plan for what looks like an upsidedown stage, courtesy of Jas Austin.

» [Mega Drive] Fido still looks like he doesn’t care on this canned Sega version , but the level design looks like it doesn’t either.

If you were around in the early to mid-Nineties, there’s no doubt you probably would have crossed Fido Dido’s path and even drank from the same can as him. The lovable handdrawn comic-strip guy with the wavy hair appeared on everything from pencil cases to bomber jackets. Eventually, his creators Sue Rose and Joanna Ferrone would allow him to move away from the well-known fizzy drink 7-Up advertisement campaign and begin other adventures – namely a videogame.

In 1993, Kaneko USA was tasked with bringing Fido Dido and 7-Up to the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive with Teeny Weeny Games at the helm. The game was fully complete, shown at the 1993 Consumer Electronics Show in America and was even advertised in numerous magazines. According to Sega Power, it was ready for release. Unfortunately, Kaneko decided to restructure and the planned game disappeared into the void, like a plastic drinks bottle tossed into a bin in the local park, only resurfacing many years later as a dumped ROM online.