Release Date: March 5, 2001
Platform: Nintendo 64
Cost: Go to an Used Games store, Amazon is over priced. Free by Emulation
Conker's Bad Fur Day is a wonderful M rated game made by Rare. It's style is very similar to that of Banjo Kazooie, another great game made by Rare. It features a very colorful landscape and a usage of textures that where widely viewed as some of the best the Nintendo 64 had to offer. As far as controls go, it handles very much like Banjo Kazooie. Most everything you need to know is taught to you within the first 10 minutes of gameplay. The game features a very wide selection of characters, each with their own personality. All of the dialouge within the game is voice acted, and the sound quality is very nice for the limits of the Nintendo 64. The music for the game is well written, and changes as you move across the world. The storyline is very simple and easy to understand, if not a bit goofy. It starts off with a very dark toned cut-scene, with Conker on a throne. After some dialogue, it takes you back to the beginning of the story, where Conker calls his girlfriend, Berri from a bar, to tell her he won't be home that night. The game features a large amount of profanity and toilet humor. Only a very select few words are censored during the entire game. The game was remade for the Xbox later on in 2005 titled Conker: Live and Reloaded. It featured better graphics, but was censor much more strongly. Many preferred the original over the remake.
Graphics and Sound:
The graphics of Conker's Bad Fur Day are some of the best the Nintendo 64 has to offer. The models are a bit sharp and blocky, as one would expect from a game of it's time, but it does not subtract from the gameplay. The music for the game is also very well written. It changes to fit what part of the map you are on, just as it does in Banjo Kazooie. Most of the music is very clever and appealing to the ears. The dialogue for every cutscene, be it long or short, has it's own voice acting. To add to that, whenever a character speaks, the model's mouths are moves to lip sync it. The music, voice acting, and graphics, can most notably be seen together within one of the game's most renowned boss fight, the Great Mighty Poo.
<Warning = Profanity>
The Great Mighty Poo
Also, within the game is a very large amount of work put into the face of Conker. Whether he is happy, mad, or scared, his face will be able to show it. This allows for some very great facial expressions, such as the one at the end of the video above.
Gameplay:
The game plays much like Banjo Kazooie (seeing a trend here?) but instead of having to run around collecting moves you are treated to to these pads that are "Context Sensitive", as in they "Give you what you need at that time".
<A Context Sensitive Pad>
if there is something that needs to be done in a situation, the game will explain it to you. The camera works as an entity floating around Conker, so at some points during the game, your camera may be angled very awkwardly and you may not get the view you would like. The physics of the game are cartoony. Some of the falls you encounter may do more damage than the others depending on the distance you fall, but camera angles can make the distance hard to determine. One notable downside of the physics engine is the lack of breast physics They appear to float as if weightless. This was probably done to appeal to the eyes of men.
Plot:
You are a Red Squirrel who just wants to go back to his house after waking up hungover from a guy's night out, but you get involved in a series of mishaps. Not much else to say. Can't get much simpler than that.
Multiplayer:
It has that, also. It has varying game modes that can be played with up to 4 players or with bots. The game modes and characters are unlocked as you continue through the game, or if you use cheat codes, which are required for some of the characters anyways.
Summary:
The game is very straight forward, as there is not a large amount of pointless items that you are required to collect. There is a wide collection of characters that you get to interact with, each one with it's own personality. The story line of the game is short, but the rest of the game makes up for it. If you are easily offended by profanity, sexual themes, and scat jokes then this game is not for you. It was rated M for a reason. Overall, it's comical approach to normally dark themes and parodies of some classic movies such as Saving Private Ryan or The Matrix make this game one to remember.
