by 
Well, this wasn't on my bingo card for this week. Out of the blue, yesterday, a user uploaded to the Internet Archive what appears to be a demo of the unreleased Rare title Project Dream for the SNES, the game that would later evolve into Banjo-Kazooie for the N64.
We've seen screenshots and footage of the unreleased game before (most notably in a featurette on the Rare Replay collection in 2015), but this appears to be the first time players have been able to try what's left of it themselves.
We say 'appear' because concerns remain (at least for now) about its authenticity.
What seems to be the sticking point for people is the manner in which it has been dumped online, with the uploader posting it under a pseudonym, "Fvck Asha & Phil" (a reference to Xbox's current CEO Asha Sharma and her predecessor Phil Spencer) and refusing to elaborate on how exactly they came across the build, besides saying they "got it from someone who got it from someone, who got it from somewhere."
In response, on Twitter/X, the former Rare composers Grant Kirkhope and Dave Wise suggest "it looks real," lending weight to the theory that it is legitimate. It's also been claimed that dataminers have found "leftover sprites from Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run," suggesting that if it is a recreation, then it's a pretty elaborate one.
Alongside the dump, the person responsible posted the following message, which they requested be published in full:
"Today, I’m releasing the SNES proof-of-concept alpha of Project Dream, the prototype that would go on to become Banjo-Kazooie.
I’ve held on to this for years, it was fun to have something that only a handful of people had, and as I am several people removed from how it got out of Rare to begin with, I didn’t want to risk that it could somehow get someone else in trouble, (so how I got it is a story I don’t plan to share.) I will just say that I got it from someone who got it from someone, who got it from somewhere.
But with the current state of the industry and Microsoft's current heartless gutting and mismanagement of Rare and other companies it controls, plus with how long it's been, I feel it's more important to make sure this is properly preserved, and the ROM dissected by people with far more knowledge on how to do such things.
I hope by releasing this, that it also inspires other people to release what they have as well. I know the Twelve Tales Conker 64 prototype is out there somewhere, but sadly, this is the only thing that I have.
There is little joy left in the industry, as it relentlessly marches towards AI, layoffs, anti-preservation and ownership tactics, and, in Microsoft’s case, the support and approval of literal genocide in Gaza.
Let’s get the last beautiful things hiding on our hard drives out there for everyone. That's all we have left.
Please delete Microsoft and Sony from your lives, install Linux, boycott Switch Game Key Cards and buy Nintendo Switch 2 titles that still come with the full game on the cartridge. Your dollar is the only thing that counts in our late stage capitalist hellscape.
The attached zip contains a .bin file of the raw dump, and then the same file renamed to a .sfc to work in emulators, as well as this text file.
If any game journalists choose to report on this prototype release, I would ask they kindly include the full contents of this text file as courtesy to me for finally getting this out to you all.
Be blessed, and love each other.
Signed,
FvckAsha&Phil"
You can watch some footage of the build here: