Back in the 90’s, screenshots for a Zelda-ish Game Boy title developed by Epic/Sony called Hyouryuu Shounen Keith (Castaway Boy Keith) began popping up in various Japanese video game magazines. Unfortunately, the game never saw the light of day. I wonder if there’s any ROMs floating around out there…

The crazy part is, as much as Castaway Boy Keith looks like Link’s Awakening, these screens were released 3 years before Link’s Awakening even came out.

From Disgruntled Designer:

The title means “Castaway Boy Keith”, and you obviously play Keith, a young adventurer set adrift in the South Pacific who winds up marooned on a small island called Harrods Is. To overcome the devil king Drakhe, Keith has to assemble musical notes, for it’s music which will ultimately defeat him. (Well, all this sure sounds awfully similar to the plot to Link’s Awakening, doesn’t it?)

Keith gets advice and purchases items from what looks like Doraemon but is actually a tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog in folklore, folks), and meets old wise men, as per the usual RPG quest. The graphics look quite blocky and tiled compared to more modern ARPGs like Neutopia and Link’s Awakening, but they’re passable for a 1990 GB title. All the usual things are here as well: heart meters, sub-screens, dungeons, items to collect, and a map to explore. If it had come out in November 1990 as planned, I’m sure we all would have had great fun delving into the mysteries of this Zelda derivative. Now, just why was it canceled?

Check out more screens here.

Keith, a GB Zelda clone from 1990 (Lost Levels forums) [Via Tiny Cartridge]