CONKER'S BAD FUR DAY

Reviewed By: Erik Hawkins
VOLUNTEER GUEST REVIEWER
GAME TECH INFO

Computer Platform: N64
Produced by: Rare
Price Range: $50-60
Learning curve time: 20 min.
Age level: 17+
ESRB Rating: Mature

Genre: Action/Adventure
Christian Rating: 1 of 5
   (very offensive)
Gameplay: 5 of 5
   (excellent)
Violence: 1 of 5
   (extreme)
Adult Content: 1 of 5
   (extreme)

Logo from 'Conker's Bad Fur Day'

Hyped for more than a year as the game that would introduce adult gaming styles to Nintendo's predominantly “kiddie” platform, “Conker's BFD” evolved from a typical childrens platform-hopper, Mario-style, to a crude, rude, and violent raunch-fest packed with a lot of gameplay and humor.

On the technical side, the game is absolutely superb, with beautiful, deep graphics and taut, responsive control as well as smooth action. However, this adventure game has the most vile content of any Nintendo game released.

Bad language is extremely frequent (almost every character curses), with many offensive words and phrases spoken clearly and loudly. These words include "sh*t", "p*ssy", "a**hole", "b*tch", and other unmentionables which are just barely bleeped out, but it is always clear enough what is being said in the explicit context.

References to drunkenness, fellatio, penis size, and breast size among others are tossed around gleefully, along with an enormous helping of “poop” and fart jokes which are infinitely juvenile and at times, very gross. At one point in the game, your character is in a level composed completely of feces, battling an enemy of feces who breaks into a crude and raunchy song which includes many scatological terms for feces and even a crass term for female genitals.

Violence is cartoonish, but extreme and graphic, with severed heads, GALLONS of spurting blood and guts, halvings, and dismemberments. With all of this, plus rear nudity of several characters and partially blurred frontal nudity, "Conker's Bad Fur Day", while an impressive achievement technically, is more likely to leave memories of the raunchy phrases and offensive images in young gamers minds than how good the game was.

Year of Release—2001




Neutral—Tre, I don't think you should've give away the ending. So, if any of you are thinking about this game, don't read the comment below. Now, I have to admit that I found this game funny. Everything is in bad taste, but it's funny. In fact the least offensive jokes are about poop and bathroom problems. The gameplay is excellent, it is varied and you always want to find out what happens next. Parents PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE RATINGS. I've already heard stories of several parent who bought this game for their kids, and then became angry at Nintendo when they found out what was in it. For goodness sake, the main character is holding a glass of beer on the front of the package and the package as a fairly large, additional warning (in addition to the ESRB rating and content descriptor) stating that the game contains content that is not suitable for anyone under 17. Now, I think a 17-year-old is mature enough to decide for themselves whether or not they should play this. There is no realistic danger from playing this game as everything is unbelievably over-the-top and cartoony. The worst message in this game is probably the drinking habit that the main character has. There is also some sexual innuendo and content, but it is not near as bad as the way drinking is promoted. Towards the end of the game, things get more serious and it's not really supposed to be funny (such as the War portion of the game). Conker (the main character) is defintely no role model. He is selfish and greedy. However, you find out that there is a price to pay for being selfish and greedy, and the developers do their best to make this clear. I do not, however, consider this a redeeming quality in the moral character of this game. The whole game centers around making fun of, enjoying, and laughing at all types of sinful things. If you are an American over 17, you will probably not be exposed to anything that you haven't been exposed to before, and this game is honestly a lot of fun. Also, you are not likely to pick up any bad habits by playing this game, but you have to ask yourself if it is really acceptable for you to play a game that is basically in the same vein as South Park, only it's funny. Another thing I should mention is that it has decent multiplayer that kept me and my friends busy for quite a while, and the price is now much cheaper. Rare definitely did a good job in making something innovative and creative. If you play this yourself you will realize that all of the objectionable material is not just thrown in for "shock value", but it really is part of the game play and the gameplay would not be the same if it were “clean.” Overall, it is excellent as a gameplay experience, but it is full of everything bad. My Ratings: [1/5]
   —Andy, age 18

I noticed that all of the comments made on the review were made by people UNDER 17. What the heck are they doing playing this game anyway? CONKER'S BAD FUR DAY IS NOT FOR KIDS! I think, however, that this game has one redeeming value. Conker lives selfishly the entire game; he does everything for money, and doesn't care who he has to trample over to get it. The melancholy ending reflects his bad decisions. Although he gets all the money he could ever wish for, he ends up losing everything important to him. "The grass is always greener, and you really don't know what you have until its gone…" is what Conker has to say after his adventure. Now, does this make “CBFD” worth playing? Probably not. No one under 17 should even touch this game. But the ending did make me think about how a selfish life will leave you: lonely, depressed, and spiritually broke. My Ratings: [1/5]
   —Tre Perry, age 21

This is the stupidest game Rare has ever produced. It would be a decent game if all the objectionable elements were removed- they are totally unnecessary. This is obviously an attempt by Rare to appeal to more “mature” gamers. My Ratings: [1/4]
   —Paul Price, age 15

Neutral—It was crude, funny at times, and I beat it. Thought it was an ok game. My Ratings: [1/5]
   —Matt, age 13

…Conker's Bad Fur Day is extremely crude. Compared to South Park, I'd say it's all the language, thrice the violence, and half the sex… My Ratings: [1/5]
   —Adam, age 13

Negative— Why is everyone giving this game 5's and 4's on gameplay? If you were fans of Rareware (The people who made this game) you would know it does not live up to the rare name. The multiplayer mode was very, very, fun. But rare absolutely dropped the 1P adventure. The only chapter of the 1P adventure that I enjoyed was Heist. And the 1P adventure was way too hard. And what's with all the cursing? It was not neccasary at all. Some of it is funny but Rare just went to far. This is obviously Rare's worst. My Ratings: [1/3]
   —Markis Davis, age 13


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