Prototype leaks are always exciting, but it’s not every day that a cancelled Rare game suddenly appears on the interwebs almost three decades after it was originally being worked on.
That’s exactly what has seemingly happened with Project Dream, though, with a playable SNES proof-of-concept ROM now ready and available to download for anyone who wants to take a look at it.
If that name is ringing those distant bells, this is the project that would eventually evolve into the absolute classic that is Banjo-Kazooie.
Project Dream is finally playable
The ROM in question was uploaded to the Internet Archive on September 9 by an anonymous user going by “FVCKAsha&Phil”, who claims to have been sitting on the build for years after it passed through several different hands.
According to the uploader, they ultimately decided to release it because they felt the “mismanagement of Rare and other companies” Microsoft controls meant preservation was now more important than keeping a crazy piece of Rare history tucked away.
The build is described as a “prototype release”, containing a rough introduction and several small areas that can be explored, giving us a proper look at the isometric RPG Rare was experimenting with.
Even in this extremely early state, the visuals are seriously impressive for Nintendo’s 16-bit hardware. It has dense environments, water effects, shadows, and an overall Donkey Kong Country look.
Project Dream began life after the team’s work on Donkey Kong Country 2, with Rare planning an RPG before ultimately shifting development to the Nintendo 64. The concept continued to change until the main character Edson was replaced by an animal protagonist, eventually giving us the aforementioned Banjo we all know today.
It’s worth noting that neither Rare nor Microsoft has formally authenticated this particular ROM, and is unlikely to ever do so, but the material lines up closely with footage Rare has previously shown publicly.
Either way, seeing a lost slice of Rare history preserved like this is pretty special.
