A playable build of Rare's unreleased Dinosaur Planet has leaked online

A snapshot from the opening of Dinosaur Planet
(Image credit: Rare)

A project dedicated to preserving Nintendo video games has released a fully playable build of Dinosaur Planet, an unreleased game originally developed for the Nintendo 64. 

While the archivists, known as Forest of Illusion, acknowledged the game "will currently not run 100 per cent perfectly on any emulator" and requires a little work to get working, it does give a never-before-seen peek at the game that went on to become GameCube's Star Fox Adventures, including the appearance of Fox McCloud.

Here, take a look at the game's opening 50 minutes:

Dinosaur Planet was originally announced way back in 1999, but Rare was required to change direction when Nintendo requested it was rebranded under the Star Fox brand. It's only available online now because the group was able to secure the build from a private game collector in Sweden.

"Today we have released Dinosaur Planet by Rare for Nintendo 64. The development was halted and moved to the GameCube, where it was then released as Star Fox Adventures," the project announced via social media.

"The game will currently not run 100 per cent perfectly on any emulator. Expect many graphical issues with shadows and lighting, and some slowdown. It should, however, work perfectly fine with flashcarts," the report added. 

"We purchased this disc containing the build from a private game collector in Sweden. The file date lists the build as being from December 1st, 2000. It seems to be quite a late build of the game which is great, but it will need some hacking to be fully playable to the end."

ICYMI, a playable version of the canceled GoldenEye 007 Xbox 360 remaster also appeared online a few weeks back, days after gameplay footage emerged on Youtube.

A two-hour longplay of the remastered game showed up earlier this month, showing off the entire game with its updated graphics. The YouTuber behind that video, Graslu00, said they wouldn't provide a link to play the game, but that hasn't prevented it from spreading anyway, and now increasing numbers of people are getting access to the complete experience.

For more old-school goodness, hit up the best retro consoles available today. 

Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, 12DOVE

Vikki Blake is 12DOVE's Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.