For millennials, the N64 provided countless hours of screen time, instilling an instantly recognizable polygonal aesthetic. Those even slightly out of that age group can dismiss this article. For the rest of us, allow me to introduce the dinosaur game that never was – Dinosaur Planet.
Leaked in a tweet from @forestillusion, Dinosaur planet has you play an anthropomorphic feline and none other than Fox McCloud from the StarFox series on a quest saving dinosaurs from bullies and oppressors. If you’d like to play the game, it’s free to download and works using emulators.
Now I have to admit, this game – even if it was released – is not as great as Turok, which allows you to fight dinosaurs with a bow and arrow, nor does it have the deep lore of Jurassic Park Trespasser – whose main character is voiced by none other than Good Will Hunting’s Minnie Driver.
But what it does have is a smart-aleck microceratops, in-universe known as Earth Walkers, who immediately enrages Fox McCloud with clever remarks after a harrowing bobsled escape from a vicious gang of raptors. Yes, I count this as a loss for our childhood.
All this love would have anyone ask: why did it never see the light of day? The answer: timing and branding. As this game was developed, the Gamecube was set to succeed the N64 and needed titles. So, the powers that be reskinned the game to be a Star Fox property.
Nowadays, there is about as much nostalgia for the Gamecube as there is for the gymnastic abilities on display in The Lost World.