Project Dream

Premise

During most of its development, Project Dream was an RPG centered on a boy named Edson and his pets Dinger the dog and Billy the parrot. In the story, pirates led by Captain Blackeye sought a substance called floaty to make their ships fly. Edson got into trouble with the pirates and fled with his girlfriend. The SNES version used an isometric perspective and a fairy tale theme; Edson fought trolls with a wooden sword while Dinger could dig holes or go ahead to assist. A dinosaur occasionally appeared, signaled by falling leaves and a shaking camera. On the Nintendo 64, the game became a larger 3D RPG with a stronger pirate theme. Edson was replaced first by a rabbit and then by Banjo the bear. The final version was a linear platformer resembling Donkey Kong Country.

Development

After the success of Donkey Kong Country, Rare staff decided to apply its graphics technology to a non-platformer and settled on an RPG, as they were fans of the genre. The codename Dream was chosen to evoke a fantastical, magical feel. The game was inspired by Japanese RPGs and LucasArts adventure games, and was developed by the Donkey Kong Country 2 team over 16 months. It was announced in 1995.

As development progressed, the team felt the game was too large for a SNES cartridge, and the introduction of the Nintendo 64 made the Silicon Graphics technology obsolete, so they switched to the N64. The fantasy theme was gradually dropped because the team did not want the game to be too childish; they brought in the pirate theme from Diddy’s Kong Quest, believing it would have broad appeal. Edson was replaced as protagonist because he was losing relevance, first by a rabbit and then by Banjo, a minor side character chosen by cofounder Tim Stamper. Banjo was given human qualities and a backpack.

Aftermath and legacy

When the Dream staff saw Super Mario 64, they realized it would set the standard for 3D games and ruin their project, so they scrapped their work. Banjo was kept because the team liked him, and the fantasy theme was restored. Within another 16 months, Rare finished Banjo-Kazooie, released in 1998 to commercial success and critical acclaim. Captain Blackeye appears in cameos in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie; in Tooie he complains that a bear stole his glory. The pirate theme was later recycled in Rare's 2018 game Sea of Thieves. For years little was known about Dream until a short documentary, Rare Revealed: A Rare Look at Dream, was released in December 2015 on YouTube, featuring developer commentary and previously unreleased gameplay footage.