Dinosaur Planet: Inside Rare's Cancelled Zelda Clone

In 1994, Nintendo would buy a majority stake in British developer Rareware. On the Nintendo 64 the team would develop Dinosaur Planet, an Ocarina of Time-inspired adventure game with two protagonists, Sabre and Krystal. At Nintendo's request the game was reworked into Star Fox Adventures, and shortly after release Rare would be sold to Microsoft effectively ending their golden-age and one of gaming's most important partnerships.

NOTE: A clip was removed at 16:44 regarding a false claim by a Rare developer that DK64 included the expansion pack because of a game-breaking bug.


GET IN TOUCH:
luckstatevan.bsky.social
luckstat.com
https://www.twitch.tv/luckstatevan
https://www.instagram.com/luckstatevan

SOURCES:
History of Rare
https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/07/28/ign-presents-the-history-of-rare

Kevin Bayliss - VGC article
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/opinion/dinosaur-planet-leak/

Takaya Imamura Nintendo Dream Interview - Translation
https://shmuplations.com/starfoxadventures/

Takaya Imamura Nintendo Dream Interview - Original
https://archive.org/details/nintendo-dream-2002-11-21-vol-078-600dpi-ozidual/Nintendo%20Dream%202002%2011%2021%20v078%20%28J%20OCR%29/page/n119/mode/2up

Fan translation of gap comic
https://www.reddit.com/r/starfox/comments/10xd7lr/farewell_beloved_falco_fan_remaster/

Nintendo Delays Dolphin Launch
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-delays-dolphin-launch/1100-2541764/

Rare Thief Old Assets
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/

Restoration project
https://famiboards.com/threads/restoration-of-dinosaur-planet-has-really-come-far.8803/

DF Retro Interviews with Kevin Bayliss on Dinosaur Planet
https://youtu.be/IFalhK5DLVM?si=C4v5GGbBVk0YzFMp

New Tour
https://youtu.be/PDG9id0GzJg?si=hn8yLywsiFy3XxLM

Making of Banjo
https://youtu.be/kq-fpnnGzyU?si=Y8tJN8_ITaIJIW88

2001 IGN Article
https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/01/27/dinosaur-planet

Banjo Kazooie: The Oral History
https://www.inverse.com/gaming/banjo-kazooie-rare-oral-history

The Making of the Game that was once Dinosaur Planet - Phil Tossell interview
https://www.timeextension.com/features/the-making-of-star-fox-adventures-the-game-that-was-once-dinosaur-planet

Miyamoto Didn’t like DKC
https://www.vice.com/da/article/donkey-kong-at-20-years-old-442/

Next Generation Interview w/ Stamper Brothers
https://archive.org/details/next-generation-24-dec-1996/NEXT%20Generation%2038%20Feb%201998/page/15/mode/2up?view=theater

Inside Rare’s 90s Farmhouse HQ
https://www.timeextension.com/features/sacred-spaces-rares-manor-farm-hq-nintendos-90s-hit-factory

The Story of the Gamecube
https://web.archive.org/web/20140705003643/http://www.dromble.com/2014/01/07/dolphin-tale-story-of-gamecube/

IGN Dinosaur Planet Preview
https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/05/18/walking-with-dinosaurs-2

Gone to Gamecube
https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/02/11/gone-to-gamecube

Rare Erases Dinosaur Planet
https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/05/03/rare-erases-dinosaur-planet

Joe Staten meeting Microsoft at E3 2000
https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-complete-untold-history-of-halo-an-oral-history/

Who Killed Rare?
https://www.eurogamer.net/who-killed-rare

Microsoft at E3 2000
https://www.ign.com/wikis/e3/Microsoft_at_E3_2000

Ed Fries Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUULNTLw0Ko

PD: Zero on Gamecube
https://web.archive.org/web/20130716093146/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/129610/interviews/perfect-dark-zero/?page=2

Grabbed By the Ghoulies on Gamecube
https://www.gamesradar.com/why-rares-supposedly-worst-least-popular-game-actually-my-favourite/?tag=grsocial-20

Kameo on Gamecube
https://youtu.be/1ePfDEOJ-TY?si=71g85UGR3pVV5LU8

Star Fox Adventure Dinosaur Planet - E3 2001
https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/06/04/inside-star-fox-adventures

Announcement Video
https://www.ign.com/videos/star-fox-adventures-gamecube-gameplay-2001-05-30

E3 2001
https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/05/31/gamecube-at-e3-the-goods-and-the-bads-4

Rare Removes Dinosaur Planet from Website
https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/05/03/rare-erases-dinosaur-planet

IGN Console France Source
https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/03/03/star-fox-planet

Console France Reporting
https://web.archive.org/web/20010424032223/http://gamecube.consoles-france.com/articles/lineup/

HD E3 2001 Trailers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOngTp449mU

Pikmin and Star Fox Adventure
https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/05/31/gamecube-at-e3-the-goods-and-the-bads-4

Pre-E3 Dinosaur Planet
https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/05/15/pre-e3-star-fox-adventures-dinosaur-planet

Donkey Kong Racing
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/02/month_of_kong_whatever_happened_to_donkey_kong_racing

Activision Microsoft Bidding war
https://web.archive.org/web/20160124110251/http://www.develop-online.net/news/activision-s-deal-to-steal-rare-collapsed/0108032

Sources on Nintendo Not Forcing Rare to change Dinosaur Planet
https://www.vgfacts.com/game/dinosaurplanet/