One of the final bright sparks in the dying embers of the Nintendo 64, Conker’s Bad Fur Day took platform games into a new direction – still the same colourful, cute and cartoony environments that many expect in platformers, then alienating the younger audiences by throwing in a brilliant script with a fantastic storyline filled with hilarious sexual innuendos, film spoofs and toilet gags – as well as plenty of violence. The last Rare game for the N64 had you surfing across seas of lava after being mugged by a gang of cavemen, meeting the Grim Reaper, bouncing on the breasts of a giant sunflower in order to reach a pile of cash on the ledge above, fighting ‘The Great Mighty Poo’ (a huge singing mountain of the stuff, making for one of the most memorable and entertaining boss battles ever seen in a videogame), and even had nods to great films such as Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, Alien and The Matrix. The best part of all this was that behind the humour was an extremely playable platform adventure, with a loveable cast of characters and an extensive single player as well as a selection of surprisingly excellent multiplayer modes which complimented the main game perfectly and provided hours of enjoyment after the single player game was done and dusted.
For those who played – and loved – the original, you’ll be pleased to know about the two main features of the upcoming Conker: Live and Reloaded for Xbox. Not only is the single player mode a reworking of the original CBFD with updated and enhanced visuals, but the multiplayer modes have been extended, improved, updated – and online-enabled. There is a whole new multiplayer campaign for you to get to grips with along with your friends across the globe, with huge, dark, deliberately Terminator-esque environments and a wide variety of weapons for you to get to grips with. Rare have yet to reveal whether the classic original multiplayer modes like War, Heist and Tanks will be available to play online, or even available to play at all, but if they are you can be assured of another reason why this game should sit in pride of place between Halo 2 and Black Arrow when it’s released.
As for the updated CBFD single player mode, seeing everything once again with a glossy Xbox sheen and a few gameplay tweaks here and there should be more than enough to warrant a purchase for anyone who played the first one. For those of us who were lucky enough to get their hands on the N64 version, seeing the Great Mighty Poo again in glorious Xbox-O-Vision will bring a tear of joy to the eye. For those of you who missed out one way or the other, I urge you to pick this up in March 2005 – not only does it have a fantastic single player mode and a multiplayer that’s looking better by the minute, but you can rest assured that Conker: Live and Reloaded will be one of the funniest games you have ever played – for all the right reasons.
James Hamilton
