1995 Rare
Platforms: SNES, N64
Project Dream, also known as Dream: Land of Giants, was an ambitious RPG in development at Rare during the mid-1990s, initially for the Super Nintendo before development moved across to the Nintendo 64. After numerous changes in direction, the project was eventually abandoned and reworked into what would become Banjo-Kazooie.
The original game starred a young boy named Edson, who became caught up with a group of pirates led by Captain Blackeye. Rare had ambitions to create a large RPG influenced by the likes of Japanese RPGs and LucasArts adventures, using and expanding upon the graphical technology developed for the Donkey Kong Country series.
Eventually, Dream proved too ambitious for the Super Nintendo and development moved to the Nintendo 64. The project continued to evolve significantly, with Edson eventually replaced first by a rabbit and then a bear named Banjo. Rare ultimately abandoned the RPG concept altogether and concentrated on creating a platform game around Banjo, leading to Banjo-Kazooie in 1998.
There is already a huge amount of information about the development and evolution of Project Dream, with excellent detailed histories available at Unseen64 and The Cutting Room Floor, which we’ve linked to here and below. Rather than repeat all of their research here, we’re going to concentrate on a significant development in the preservation of the original game. If anything else comes to light about the development, then we’ll add to the page here.
SNES prototype released
On 9 September 2026, an anonymous source using the name FvckAsha&Phil publicly released what they describe as the SNES proof-of-concept alpha of Project Dream onto the Internet Archive. According to the release notes, the source had possessed the prototype for a number of years, having received it through several other people. They declined to reveal exactly how the prototype had originally surfaced, partly out of concern that doing so could potentially get someone into trouble.
The source explained that concerns about potentially getting someone into trouble had previously prevented them from releasing it, but that after so many years they now felt it was more important for the prototype to be properly preserved and examined by those with the technical knowledge to investigate it further.
The archive contains a raw .bin dump of the prototype together with an identical copy renamed with an .sfc extension for easier use with SNES emulators, as well as the accompanying release notes. This is particularly significant because although Rare itself had previously shown footage of Dream, having the actual prototype publicly preserved means the early development can now be explored and analysed.
The anonymous source also expressed hope that releasing Dream might encourage others to preserve prototypes they still have in their possession, specifically mentioning a prototype of Twelve Tales: Conker 64 which they believe still exists somewhere. They stressed, however, that Project Dream was the only prototype they personally had to release.
Hopefully their wish comes true and more material from Dream, Twelve Tales and other lost Rare projects eventually finds its way into preservation.
For now, it is fantastic to finally see this important piece of Rare history publicly preserved after all these years. We’ve included links below to the prototype itself, along with the extensive existing coverage at Unseen64 and The Cutting Room Floor for anyone wanting to delve much deeper into the fascinating development history of Project Dream.
With thanks to Vinícius Medeiros for heads up about the release via Twitter.
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some of those backgrounds have strong donkey kong country 2 vibes
I love the graphic style, it feels like a development from Donkey Kong Country but with more humanoid figures. The brief clip of music on the video is great, too.