10 Famous Video Games That Started Out As Something Else Entirely

5. Star Fox Adventures

The game known as Star Fox Adventures originally went by another name: Dinosaur Planet, a Nintendo 64 title which had no ties to Nintendo's popular series of 3D space shooters. Instead, players would be able to switch between the sword-wielding Sabre (seen above, with Tricky the dinosaur) and a blue female cat named Krystal. After seeing the game running on the Nintendo 64, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto commented on how nice the game looked, but noted that Sabre bore a strong resemblance to none other than Fox McCloud, and that he wished they would use Star Fox characters so that they could call it "Star Fox Adventures." With that comment and a remark about making a call to the team, it's apparent he did just that. Among the many tweaks and fixes used to make the game fit into the Star Fox universe, one of the most significant would be changing Krystal from a cat to a fox, setting her up as a potential romantic interest for series lead Fox McCloud. This would indeed play out in future games, with some endings in Star Fox Command featuring the two with a family. Overall, there was disappointment among the Rare staff working on the game, though they also saw the potential brought on by the Star Fox license. Along with a switch to the GameCube around the same time, Star Fox Adventures became quite a different game from what the developers originally set out to create.