Conker's Bad Fur Day

"A good, humorous platformer but lacks length and replayability."

Introduction
When I first got this game, I was amazed at how funny it was and how well it played, but then I finished it. It's still funny and still plays well, but there's nothing left to play! Yes, this game is great, but just too short. I mean, if I can finish a game in only 6 days after buying it while writing a guide for it and playing about 2 hours a day, you know it's got to be short. Nevertheless, I do give Rare props for making such a fun-filled game. Everything about the game is great, but there could've been more.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics in this game are great, especially the cut scenes. Some of the main characters look a bit rough and choppy, but most everything else (i.e. backgrounds, items, weapons, etc.) look rather realistic (about as real as you can get in an animated game.) What really stands out are the movie parodies Rare put into the game. They resemble the actual movies so much, it's almost identical! Excellent graphics, but the characters could use some work.

Sound: 9/10
Finally! Real voices! After all the mumbling in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, having real voices in the game really makes my day. The character voices are hilarious and the dialogue has been articulated quite well. The Panther King's purring sounds so realistic, you get the impression that it may attack at any moment! Without voices, the jokes in this game would fall flat in an instant. The background music is also great, but the most noticeable features of the sound department are the voices and sound effects. Very well done.

Story: 8/10
Well, there really isn't much to the story. Conker the Squirrel goes out to the tavern and due to peer pressure, gets severely drunk, then wakes up the next day with a massive hangover. This just begins his ''Bad Fur Day,'' which takes you all throughout the game. That's about all there is to it. Everything that occurs during your play through the game is actually one big story that Conker's telling to you (and which actually happened.) Impressive? Sure. Complex? Not really. Overall, I'd say the story is pretty good, but nothing spectacular.

Gameplay: 9/10
The only problem I have with the gameplay is that there isn't enough of it. However, for what's there, it's great. You have both fun, and challenging quests to play through, such as swimming underwater past spinning blades or robbing a bank without being shot by the guards, or escaping from a building full of evil Tediz who are all after your skull. The concepts of each area in the game were obviously well planned and it shows. You also must use a bit of brain power for some things, as it isn't just first nature. However, I think the game could've used less cut scenes and more actual gameplay. Other than that, the gameplay is awesome.

Features: 9/10
Now, the question all who haven't played the game have been asking... what makes this game have an M rating? Well, first you have profanity (just about every known cuss word except the f-word), then you have lots of violence (destroying cows, exploding mice, shooting zombies' heads off, blood, gore, guts, brains, the usual.) Then you have the sexual themes (a sunflower with large ''stigmas'' and a bee who wants to ''pollinate'' her, an obscene cog who has some rather nasty things to say), then you have the other stuff such as vomit, urine, feces, alcohol, crude jokes, etc. Overall, all of this stuff makes the game highly enjoyable.

Replayability: 6/10
Ack! What happened, Rare? You have a total of 9 chapters to play through, most of which have several cut scenes within. If it weren't for the multiplayer mode (which is probably the only thing that will keep you playing after you beat the single player mode) I seriously would've lowered my score dramatically for this game. As I said before: the gameplay is great, but there just isn't enough of it. Rare should've added more chapters to make up for the massive amount of cut scenes, because there just isn't enough here, IMO.

Rent or Buy?
As much as I love this game, I strongly recommend a rental first. The game just isn't worth the $60 they're charging for it because you can easily beat it within 5 days. If you like it and decide it's worth keeping, by all means buy it, but for first time players, I'd stick to your local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video unless you want to toss $60 out the window when you could've just used $5.

Overall: 8/10
Rare is known for making great games, and this is definitely one of them. If it weren't for the excess lack of chapters, I would've easily given the game a 10. You see, the content is there, and it's great, but there simply isn't enough of it to hold your interest more than a week or two. Despite this fact, you won't find any game out on the market which equals the uniqueness of this one. Everything was programmed so accurately that whatever you do makes sense, unlike other games, where you're living in a world of fantasy. Hopefully we'll see the same humor and great gameplay in a sequel to this game only with many more chapters. Good game, just lacks the replayability.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/17/01, Updated 03/17/01