An absolute masterpiece concocted by Rare.
The story of this game is not what you would expect from a typical platformer. You play as Conker, a fowl-mouthed drinking squirrel who, after an extreme hangover, tries to find his way back home to his girlfriend. However, as you can probably tell within the first few minutes of gameplay, the journey home is not going to be a simple walk in the park.
While the game is essentially a platformer, it separated itself from other 3-D platformers in which there is little to no backtracking and tedious collecting found in other games. You simply needed to complete the task and move forward. That's what made it so accessible to older gamers at the time. Your goal throughout each stage is to simply do a series of tasks, or even just staying alive, so you can earn money. Money is of course needed to access more levels in the game. The controls remain spot on throughout the game and there is certainly little falter with them. The camera, while problematic in a few spots, generally works fine most of the time.
One of the game's biggest gameplay innovations was the use of context-sensitive actions. At certain points you can press the B button to do a number of different things, like throwing knives, pulling out a shotgun, triggering a rather gory event, and more. This is what helps to keep the game linear and less brain taxing since essentially you don't need to unlock new moves since everything is at your disposal with the press of a button.
This is also without a doubt the most gorgeous game to appear on the N64. All of the colors, textures, animations, and character models help to make this game truly stand out. There is also the excellent use of real time lighting and shadows that really set the bar for the system, and it doesn't even require an expansion pack. Probably the biggest standout with this game has to be the humor and writing. This is certainly a very hilarious and crude game with memorable characters, writing, and moments that truly made this stand out amongst other platformers, let alone other Nintendo games. The great voice acting helps to bring this writing to life. The music is also quite memorable, especially the ever popular Great Mighty Poo.
PROS:
-Precise controls
-It is definitely the best looking N64 game I have ever seen
-Catchy music
-Hilarious and memorable characters
-Clever puzzles and platforming
-Great sense of humor
-Context sensitive moments before they were done to death
-Raunchy, violent fun from beginning to end
CONS:
-Camera problems in a few spots
To put it simple, this is basically a must own for anyone with an N64 that's around 17-years-old. If you don't own the system, but manage to have an Xbox, then there's always the glorified remake. He may have started out all family-friendly, but in here, you shouldn't be deceived by Conker's cutesy look. If you are a fan of Rare's previous works like Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Donkey Kong 64, then you'll love Conker's Bad Fur Day.