Pulling up Socks

Back in March we reported on the news that a working ROM of the unreleased SNES title Socks The Cat Rocks The Hill had been found by Tom Curtin, and that he hoped to publish the game with the help of crowdfunding.

The notion of resurrecting a game that is over two decades old and stars the (now deceased) moggie of a former US President might sound ridiculous, but Curtin wasn't bluffing. Socks The Cat has now arrived on Kickstarter with a funding goal of $30,000. If it reaches that figure then this almost-lost piece of gaming history will actually get a physical release on the SNES.

The game is being produced by Second Dimension and is expected to ship in July next year. According to the Kickstarter page, the title is complete and now entirely free from bugs thanks to the efforts of the Second Dimension team.

Here's the backstory, taken from the page:

Socks the Cat is the most anticipated unreleased video game of all-time. Ever. For any platform. Don't believe me? Grab some popcorn and "Google" it.

The premise was wacky yet simple. You play as Socks the Cat, or Socks as we affectionately call him. The ultimate pet of the 90's. The White House cat. The "First Pet" of the Clinton administration. Your mission? To fight your way through the White House battling all sort of enemies, including spies, Dobermans, protestors and satirical versions of famous political figures as end bosses. The game was set to be released on the ever popular, Super Nintendo Entertainment System or SNES in the early 90's.

The game was well received by some, disliked by others, but all agreed it was a great theme with excellent end bosses. Several publications reviewed the game but when the publisher closed its doors, Socks went missing. For years. And years. And years.

20+ years later some retro gamers and enthusiasts wondered what happened to Socks and started asking questions. There were some disagreements. The developer said it was complete while former employees of the publisher whole-heartedly disagreed, saying the game was nowhere near completion.

Then in 2011 things got really interesting. A private collector allowed a friend to shoot some video footage and upload it to YouTube of what appeared to be the Socks the Cat video game. Instant vitriol would follow. While some were happy there was finally proof of the existence of the long lost game, others were upset that the collector would not release the game for others to enjoy. One thing was clear, the 20 years of speculation were over. Socks did exist. This created even more questions.

Was it complete? Did it play well? What was the plan for it? Well those answers would start to be answered in 2012 when another collector, Tom Curtin, purchased the only known copy of Socks. His plans were simple, he wanted to release the game. He has since teamed up with retro video game publisher, Second Dimension. Finally, hope.

Curtin would acquire the rights to Socks the Cat a couple of years later and pursue the release. He hired a dream team of retro game experts. A publisher, a programmer, an artist, and two experts in releasing previously unreleased games. They would work together to bring Socks the Cat, the most anticipated unreleased game of all-time to reality.

Will you be backing this project? Let us know by posting a comment.

[source kickstarter.com]