HardcoreGamerRare were a video game powerhouse in the 90s with games like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and the Conker series all under their belt’s. Now, they’ve released never before seen footage of a predecessor to one of their most popular titles, Banjo-Kazooie.
2015 has been a re-awakening for UK based developers Rare, with pirate-based Sea of Thieves set to be their biggest release in years. But it’s not the first time they’ve had a crack at a pirate game, as this new footage of canned game Dream shows.
Apparently, Rare were attempting to recreate something along the lines of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, using the graphical technology from Donkey Kong Country. The game was meant to be a more mature venture for Rare, and was switched from the Super Nintendo to N64 and changed focus from a fantasy theme to pirates.
Designer Gregg Mayles said:
We felt we could still have a lot of fun with [the pirate theme], Rare-style. But it had that kind of broad appeal, kind of slightly more mature feel.
During the game’s development, Mayles noted that the studio had doubts about a more mature theme, and the boy character – Edson -in Dream became Banjo, and the whole project was scrapped, giving Banjo his own platformer.
We really liked the bear. We just kinda took Banjo out of Dream and put him in the game that eventually became Banjo.
Rare are currently working on Sea of Thieves which will be exclusive to Microsoft, described by Microsoft executive Kudo Tsunoda as “the best Rare game ever made.”
Mark is the Gaming Editor for UNILAD. Having grown up a gaming addict, he’s been deeply entrenched in culture and spends time away from work playing as much as possible. Mark studied music at University and found a love for journalism through going to local gigs and writing about them for local and national publications.