Project Dream, Rare’s SNES prototype which evolved into Banjo-Kazooie, has leaked after 30+ years

One of retro gaming’s holy grails has been leaked online, as a protest at the current state of the games industry, and Microsoft in particular.

Project Dream was the codename for Dream: Land of Giants, an RPG that would eventually evolve to become Banjo-Kazooie. It initially featured a boy called Edson, who was feuding with pirates.

Rare started work on Project Dream in the mid ’90s, initially creating a SNES prototype which featured isometric viewpoint and pre-rendered sprites (similar to those used for the Donkey Kong Country games).

The project was then eventually transitioned to the Nintendo 64, where it was planned to be a larger action RPG, until it was eventually scaled down to a 3D platformer and Edson was replaced with Banjo.

Rare fans have always wanted to get their hands on either of the Project Dream prototypes, and now the SNES one has been leaked online by an anonymous user calling themselves ‘FvckAsha&Phil’.

The ROM is available to download now from the Internet Archive, as a protest – if the user name wasn’t clear – against the way the leaker believes Microsoft has treated Rare in recent years.

“I’ve held on to this for years, it was fun to have something that only a handful of people had, and as I am several people removed from how it got out of Rare to begin with, I didn’t want to risk that it could somehow get someone else in trouble, so how I got it is a story I don’t plan to share,” they wrote.

“But 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.

“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.”

Because the prototype is a very early test build, there isn’t much for the player to do other than run through a series of screens and attack enemies with their sword. A second controller can be used to control the enemies too.

Rare composer Grant Kirkhope stated on X that the leak “looks real to me”, and asked fellow former Rare composer David Wise – who Kirkhope then said was responsible for the music in the SNES prototype – for his opinion.

“It looks real to me,” Wise replied. “It was a long time ago, from a previous millennium (just like me and you), but what a millennium!”