Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) and Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)

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Retro STrife
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Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) and Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)

Postby Retro STrife » July 22nd, 2017, 11:58 pm

I remember the hype for Conker's Bad Fur Day back in the early 2000's, and it definitely sucked me in. I was maturing as a gamer and the promise of an adult-themed platforming game was too much to resist. And for those that don't recall, Nintendo was very big on its "family friendly" image in those days (even bigger than now), so the fact that Conker was appearing on the N64 was a very big deal. Compelled by the hype and great reviews, I bought the game as soon as I could after it came out in 2001, and played it straight through to completion. ... Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed by the game. It's not remotely adult-themed... "juvenile themed" is more like it. It got a laugh out of me in a few spots, but it's humor is mostly annoying things that a 12 year old would think are "adult". Still, it manages to have a good personality to the game, in spite of itself. How about the gameplay? Well, it's a below average 3D platformer with bad combat, boring gameplay, and a bunch of fetchquests. The Matrix level toward the end was amazing, though, and it's still one of my most memorable experiences on the N64 ... I'd ramble on further about the game, but I just read the Critic's review and it's dead-on with my opinion, so I'd say just read that. Conker has some uniqueness because of the concept, but overall as a game I can't recommend it.

Then came Conker: Live and Reloaded for the original Xbox. Fool that I am, I thought it was a sequel to Conker's Bad Fur Day, and I was hoping that it retained the adult concept while shoring up the gameplay. So I forked over the $30 that it sells for...only to learn, nope, it's just a remake of the N64 game. And it has a competitive multiplayer component tacked on. Well, I finally popped it in my Xbox tonight. First, I tried one round of the multiplayer, which seemed to be some sort of 8-on-8 team deathmatch, and I played against bots. It seemed ok, but tough to tell without human opponents. Next up, I tried the remake of the single player game. The graphics are definitely improved over the N64, and the dual analog sticks helps the camera and controls a lot. But overall, it's the same old boring gameplay and "edgy" juvenile humor. I played an hour of that, but I won't be playing it again. Conker, you've let me down again...

I think Conker is worthy of a C- or D+. Really overrated in my book, and the game's personality is its only saving grace. For those that insist they want to play it, the Xbox remake probably is superior to the N64 original, and it's half the price. The game is also on Rare Replay for Xbox One.

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LoganRuckman
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Re: Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) and Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)

Postby LoganRuckman » July 25th, 2017, 12:57 am

What I don't understand at all is why the Xbox remake is MORE censored than the N64 original. I mean, isn't Nintendo known for being the family company that appeals to the younger demographic? And part of the appeal of the original Xbox was that it was "hardcore" and "edgy" and appealed to the 18-34 male demographic, am I right? So why not take advantage of that and make the remake completely uncensored rather than more sanitized like it was? I legitimately don't get it, so perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me could explain the situation.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) and Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)

Postby Retro STrife » July 25th, 2017, 8:38 am

I didn't even realize that it was more censored... But I agree with you that that makes little sense. I think by beating the single player game you can unlock uncensored swearing in the multiplayer portion. But the single player game always remains censored. Really makes little sense.

I'm also surprised that Rare never gave Conker a true sequel. It's a little late now, but I think it could have sold well on the Xbox or early in the Xbox 360 years.

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JustLikeHeaven
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Re: Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) and Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)

Postby JustLikeHeaven » July 26th, 2017, 10:42 am

I've never been a fan of Conker. I think it's one of the MANY over-hyped games on the N64. I remember back in the early 2000s you could get brand new, sealed, copies of Conker 64 for $10 shipped! My only regret is I didn't buy them all and hold onto them so I could sell them at a mint now!

Juvenile is the perfect word to describe the game. I'm not above a good poop joke, no sir, but I found most of Conker's humor to fall incredibly flat. Couple that with gameplay that wasn't exactly the greatest thing ever and I think what you're left with is a totally average game. Then again, I've never been a fan of the collect-a-thon 3D platformers that Rare was so keen on producing during that era.

It's funny because it seemed like a crazy move for Nintendo to let Rare go, but they clearly knew the studios best days were behind them. That decision looks more and more like a no brainer for them.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) and Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)

Postby Retro STrife » July 26th, 2017, 11:25 am

JustLikeHeaven wrote:Juvenile is the perfect word to describe the game. I'm not above a good poop joke, no sir, but I found most of Conker's humor to fall incredibly flat.


Same here. Nothing wrong with quality poop jokes, but poop just for the sake of poop isn't enough. The Conker writers seemed to think that just putting poop on the screen was enough to be funny, but it doesn't work that way.

I think the other problem is that the game was promised to be one of the first games truly meant just for adults. Leading up to it, there was huge hype that no one under 18 years old should be playing Conker. So my disappointment was only heightened when the game turned out to be mostly middle school humor. If they embraced that from the start, I might have lived with it more.

It's interesting, too, to think back to the gaming scene at that time. Funny games simply did not exist. Adult games simply did not exist. Game writing has come a long way since 2001, and the emergence of humor and adult storylines has been a huge part of that. So when Conker came out in early 2001, it was really promising something new and exciting. But I think it failed to deliver then, and in 2017 it's even harder to appreciate. I think the real jumping off point for adult games came several months later, in late 2001, when Grand Theft Auto III was released.

TheBlondeGamePunk3
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Re: Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) and Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)

Postby TheBlondeGamePunk3 » July 26th, 2017, 12:29 pm

The Only reason I got the game which is about $79 for just the Cart on Ebay is because when I first played it I was laughing my a** off over the "Sunflower" bewbs joke in the game and the insane references to The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan. I also got it because I wanted to own one of the "Rare" N64 games, And because I wanted to see how the Multiplayer mode is.

Nowadays it might look aged but It does bring back laughs when I think of it, Haven't played it in a while but I might again now that I've mentioned it. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ;)

eneuman96
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Re: Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) and Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)

Postby eneuman96 » July 26th, 2017, 2:09 pm

IGN gave Bad Fur Day a 9.9/10 back in 2001, and to this day, I have no idea why. The fact that its gameplay changes up a lot is a somewhat interesting idea, but it's handled rather clumsily and none of the gameplay segments seem quite as fun as it should be. It simply hasn't aged well. However, I'll give props to the multiplayer modes for being far more creative and varied than I expected. If you absolutely need to try Bad Fur Day, get it on Rare Replay, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than the N64 version and has 29 other games.

JWK
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Re: Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) and Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)

Postby JWK » July 26th, 2017, 7:58 pm

I own both the N64 and OG XBox versions and I have to agree with the shared sentiment here. Conker's a pretty cool and likeable character that stars in a mediocre platformer with potty humor. I have no clue why the game is so highly revered, other than the novelty of playing a game on the "kiddie" N64 with a *warning* on the cover.


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