Rare has finally revealed video footage and interviews with developers of the early Banjo Kazooie prototype, Project Dream. If you don’t know, I’m a huge Banjo Kazooie fan like most N64 owners and was blown away by the gameplay when it was released. Get an inside look at the development cycle and how a bear and bird became the heroes:
Project Dream’s started off with a boy Edson and his dog Dinger as they explored the land of giants. There were pirates too as the main villians! As Rare moved from the SNES to the N64, they abandoned their isometric game engine for 3D and changed the tone of the game be more like Donkey Kong Country. When Super Mario 64 was released, it radically changed their direction from the sidescroller camera view to full on 3D adventure/platformer.
Rare made the right move to emulate the Super Mario 64 world and gameplay elements. I wouldn’t expect Rare to be able to be create a test 3D map within a week of Mario 64 coming out. 16 months later, they released the finished game Banjo Kazooie. It looks a heck of a lot different from their very early prototype. I’m glad they changed the style from the boy and dog cliche and created truly memorable characters, platforming and dialogue.
I’ll end with Rare’s video on the making of Banjo Tooie that’s also worth a watch for their insight into Bottle’s Revenge and other development changes:
