Review - Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)

[Nightcrawler]

Conker's Bad Fur Day

I first played this game when I was about 20. I remember it well because I went on a road trip for a friend whom was graduating college out of state. I also came down with one of the worst cold/flu type sicknesses of my life right before we left. On the ride up, I was basically flopped across the back seat in a proverbial coma for the entire drive. Once we arrived, I was still so sick I didn't feel up to doing anything. However, my friend had an N64 there with Conker's Bad Fur Day. So, I curled up with the controller and played. I took an instant liking to the game then and taken back by the crisp graphics, voice acting, and 'mature' content on the N64. My trip was only a few days long, so while I got a good chunk into the game, I had to leave. I always meant to play through that game over the years, but I never did until recently.

Now, I kind of wish I had played through it back then. I recall laughing out loud and thinking it was one of the funniest games ever. Fast forward all these years, and I guess I must have matured past some of it. There were still plenty of funny moments, but I think the cursing, puking, peeing, and poop humor was in over-abundance and felt too force fed after awhile. At that point, it's not funny anymore. Granted, I did still laugh at the singing poo boss. That ranks up there as one of the most outrageous things I've ever seen in a video game. I couldn't help but laugh at that!

The game tried hard to vary quite a bit from world to world and level to level. I really enjoyed playing the final level, which was a big matrix spoof. I just found the game mechanics, presentation, and level layout for that stage just right for me. I actually wouldn't have minded a few more levels like that. The game made it a point though to make each world distinctly different in gameplay. On one hand, you get varied gameplay and things do not have time to get repetitive. On the other hand, some worlds were more fun than others and you wished more of the game would have been like that. Overall, I guess the something for everybody, varied approach works.

I think the only problem with the game was that it was often difficult to have any idea what to do next, and a bit too hard in some areas (although I am a below average player at 3D platformers). I didn't like the swimming controls either. In the age of walkthroughs and savestates though, it's possible to get by less enjoyable parts and move on to more enjoyable parts for maximum fun! I find that in my adult world of increasingly limited time, I turn to these avenues to speed things up, avoid wasted time, and limit frustration. What's the point to playing if you're not going to enjoy it, right?

This game is certainly worth a look if you are agreeable to the brand of humor or gameplay it employs. If you enjoy outrageous, crazy and wacky games, this is also for you. It is definitely not predictable.

Story:

The totally wacky story is probably one of the best reasons to play this game. It's a mish-mash of crazy situations, spoofs, drama, and unexpected twists along the way. The game tried hard to be different from world to world, so the story, characters, and agenda change quite sharply. I was surprised at some of the twists toward the end of the game. It was a bit refreshing to see such a dark ending.

Graphics:

The game still holds up decently well today. The graphics were amongst the best on the N64, and the cartoony style ensures it still looks half-decent even by today's standards. The characters were well animated, the cut scenes were good, and the world was fairly vibrant to the depth the system was capable of. No complaints there.

Music:

Music was a mixed bag. Some tunes were great. I especially liked the music in the beginning when you first got to the open world with the windmill, beehive, and dung beetle entrances. Other tunes were terrible such as the dung beetle music, which is basically fart tunes strung together.