It appears a playable build of Rare’s canceled SNES fantasy RPG, Project Dream, has suddenly surfaced online. Fans have been desperately wanting to see more of the game that eventually led to the development of the N64 classic Banjo-Kazooie for years. As to why the prototype has leaked now, well, the person taking responsibility says it has to do with being unhappy about the state of the game industry and, in particular, Xbox’s “mismanagement of Rare” and “support and approval of literal genocide in Gaza.”
On September 9, an Internet Archive user with the username “FVCKAsha&Phil” (seemingly a reference to current Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and former boss Phil Spencer) uploaded what they claim to be a “SNES proof-of-concept alpha” of Rare’s canceled RPG Dream: Land of Giants.
Here’s some footage of the alleged prototype build of Project Dream running on original hardware:
The user behind this leak says they won’t share specific details on how they got it so as not to get anyone in trouble, but claims they acquired the build “from someone who got it from someone, who got it from somewhere.” As to why they are leaking it now, the user says they’re fed up with Xbox and the general state of gaming.
“With the current state of the industry and Microsoft’s current heartless gutting and mismanagement of Rare and other companies it controls, plus with how long it’s been, I feel it’s more important to make sure this is properly preserved, and the ROM dissected by people with far more knowledge on how to do such things,” wrote FVCKPhil&Asha on the Internet Archive page hosting the alleged SNES build of Project Dream.
“I hope by releasing this, that it also inspires other people to release what they have as well. I know the Twelve Tales Conker 64 prototype is out there somewhere, but sadly, this is the only thing that I have. There is little joy left in the industry, as it relentlessly marches towards AI, layoffs, l anti-preservation and ownership tactics, and, in Microsoft’s case, the support and approval of literal genocide in Gaza.”
“Let’s get the last beautiful things hiding on our hard drives out there for everyone. That’s all we have left,” they continued. “Please delete Microsoft and Sony from your lives, install Linux, boycott Switch Game Key Cards and buy Nintendo Switch 2 titles that still come with the full game on the cartridge. Your dollar is the only thing that counts in our late-stage capitalist hellscape.”
What is Project Dream?
Rare fans and retro game enthusiasts have long wanted to see more of Project Dream. We’ve known about the game for decades and even seen some official snippets of gameplay, both of its SNES version and a later N64 version. Development on the project started around 1995.
Eventually, the game grew too big and ambitious for the SNES, and development began on a version of Project Dream for N64. This version also became more of a pirate game and eventually ditched its young human protagonist for Banjo, an anthropomorphic bear who was originally a side character in the RPG.
But once the team working on the project saw what would later become Conker’s Bad Fur Day, development shifted entirely, and what was left of Project Dream became a platformer, a genre the team was more comfortable with at the time. The main villain from Project Dream, a pirate named Captain Blackeye, appears as a cameo in Banjo-Kazooie and complains about a bear stealing his glory.
For many fans, this is quite the surprise and a bit of a holy grail of retro gaming history, assuming this is actually a prototype build of Project Dream.