26 Years Ago, Rare Designed a Dinosaur RPG That Actually Became Star Fox Adventures

By the time Star Fox Adventures launched on the GameCube in 2002, it already carried a strange anomaly: it was an action-adventure title in a rail-shooter franchise, developed by a studio that was on the brink of being acquired by Microsoft. But the real surprise is that this title began life as something entirely different. Before Fox McCloud and long before transitioning the game to GameCube, Rare was developing an ambitious dinosaur-themed RPG for the Nintendo 64.

What followed was one of the most fascinating pivots in gaming history: a genre-shifting, IP-merging, platform-jumping evolution that turned an original new world into the final first-party collaboration between Rare and Nintendo. Below is the development story, beginning with the RPG Rare set out to make, the circumstances that reshaped it, and how Star Fox Adventures ultimately emerged from the transformation.

What was Rare’s Dinosaur RPG, Dinosaur Planet?

Rare’s original concept, Dinosaur Planet, began as a standalone Nintendo 64 project that had no connection to Star Fox. The studio had split into teams after the release of Diddy Kong Racing, with one assigned to build a new, large-scale adventure late into the N64’s lifespan. The team iterated through multiple genres before settling on something heavily inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: a story-driven adventure game set in a prehistoric world populated by anthropomorphic heroes.

An RPG Built Around Dual Protagonists

The central characters were Sabre, a wolf warrior, and Krystal, a fox adventurer: two leads with intersecting storylines designed to be swapped between using a mechanic called the “SwapStone.” Both characters had accompanying animal companions: Tricky and Kyte, who survived largely intact into the final game. Rare even planned a complex family dynamic involving Randorn, a wizard who served as Sabre’s father and Krystal’s adoptive father. Still, Randorn did not make it to the final iterations of the game. By all accounts, Dinosaur Planet was poised to be Rare’s final and possibly grandest N64 release, but a seemingly chance moment in the lead-up to E3 2000 would change everything.

A Timeline of the Dinosaur Planet-to-Star Fox Transformation

• 1999: Development on Dinosaur Planet begins shortly after Rare finished Diddy Kong Racing. During the early conception phase, Timber (from Diddy Kong Racing) is pitched as the lead character before being replaced by Sabre and Krystal. Rare shapes Dinosaur Planet into an open-world action-adventure with two protagonists and N64 Expansion Pak support.
• 1999–2000: Nintendo begins early work on a separate Star Fox Adventures concept, originally planned for N64.
• E3 2000: Rare was preparing a Dinosaur Planet presentation for the now-defunct E3 convention. Nintendo proposes merging Star Fox and Dinosaur Planet.
• 2000–2001: Development shifts from N64 to GameCube as the teams integrate Fox, redesign Krystal, and restructure the story.
• 2002: Star Fox Adventures launches as Rare’s first and final GameCube title. In September, Rare was acquired by Microsoft.
• 2021: A near-final N64 build of Dinosaur Planet leaks online, revealing that Fox McCloud was already inserted before the platform switch.
• 2025: A version of the leaked build gets the recompilation treatment.

How Nintendo’s Interest and Internal Projects Redirected Development

While Rare was developing Dinosaur Planet, Nintendo was experimenting with a very different project: an action-adventure reimagining of Star Fox for Nintendo 64. Takaya Imamura, Star Fox creator, personally requested to work on a sequel. The early Star Fox Adventures concept shifted away from rail shooting and toward on-foot exploration, under Shigeru Miyamoto’s direction, but progress stalled as staff were diverted to titles like Mario and The Legend of Zelda for the GameCube.

The E3 Demo That Changed Everything

The turning point came when Miyamoto observed Rare’s Dinosaur Planet demo. There came the question whether Rare’s new project should adopt Star Fox characters. Before E3 2000, Nintendo asked Rare to keep quiet about the demo and arranged meetings to explore merging the two concepts. Both teams saw an opportunity. Dinosaur Planet had strong worldbuilding and characters; Nintendo had an established, recognizable franchise that needed a bold reinvention. Simply put, the combined game could benefit from both.

Merging Universes and Reworking Characters

The agreement led to a new Star Fox game that would be called Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet. Rare devs traveled to Japan to work with Nintendo on integrating characters, adjusting art direction, and reconfiguring the narrative and lore. Fox replaced Sabre as the primary protagonist, but Krystal and Tricky remained. Sabre was eventually dropped entirely, though Sabre-like elements persisted in Fox’s early N64 model.

Nintendo’s involvement extended beyond story integration. Imamura collaborated closely with Rare to redesign Krystal, leaning toward a more mature, sex-appeal-driven interpretation inspired by comic book character Vampirella. Miyamoto had reportedly wanted a more “mature” tone for the Star Fox series, and Krystal’s redesign became part of that shift.

The Platform Jump

While the initial plan was still N64-based, the timing proved problematic. The console was waning, and the GameCube was advancing rapidly. Recognizing the project’s scale and seeing the potential of strengthening the GameCube launch title lineup, the teams agreed to move development to the new hardware.

Star Fox Adventures Ultimately Grew Out of Rare’s RPG

When development shifted to the GameCube, Rare reworked the project into a full Star Fox title, dropping the “Dinosaur Planet” subtitle and restructuring the narrative around Fox’s perspective. Yet large pieces of the original world survived: its characters, regions, and tone carried over, even as the storyline became more tightly linked to the Star Fox universe. Composer David Wise adapted the soundtrack midway through development, adding Star Fox musical callbacks only in the later stages: another sign of how long the project had existed as a separate entity.

When Star Fox Adventures launched in 2002, it became Rare’s only GameCube title and its final major collaboration with Nintendo. Microsoft purchased Rare shortly after release, ending an era and cementing Star Fox Adventures as a closing chapter: a hybrid of two ambitious projects and two companies whose creative partnership defined a franchise.