Project Dream

Lore & Background

The plot followed a young boy, Edson, who caused trouble with pirates. The SNES version used an isometric perspective and had a fairy tale theme. After transitioning to the N64, the project became a more complex 3D RPG with a greater emphasis on the pirate theme. Eventually, Dream was scaled back to a linear platform game starring Conker the squirrel, who became the protagonist of Conker's Bad Fur Day.

In Their Own Story

In the final game, Conker's Bad Fur Day, the story follows Conker—a hungover squirrel—as he stumbles through a bizarre, often nightmarish world. He must collect money to pay his bar tab, encountering characters like a panther king, a singing pile of dung, and a giant, psychotic teddy bear. The narrative is a darkly comic adventure that subverts typical platformer tropes.

Reader's Guide

The game was developed by Rare's Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest team over 16 months. It was inspired by Japanese RPGs and LucasArts adventure games. Dream was not completed because Rare believed it was too ambitious and different from their previous games. The game that became Conker's Bad Fur Day led them to retool it into a platformer inspired by Super Mario 64. The Dream concepts were re-integrated into Banjo-Kazooie.

Did You Know?

• The SNES version of Dream used an isometric perspective and had a fairy tale theme.
• The protagonist was originally a boy named Edson, not a squirrel named Conker.
• Dream was cancelled because Rare decided to repurpose the assets into a platformer (Banjo-Kazooie) after technical and design challenges.
• The antagonist Captain Blackeye has a cameo appearance in Banjo-Tooie but not in Banjo-Kazooie.