Conker's Bad Fur Day is an example of a truly spectacular game, even with it's violent features.
User Rating: 9.6 | Conker's Bad Fur Day N64
Since this was Rare's last game on the Nintendo 64, and the PS2 was already gaining high ground and pretty much took over the gaming industry from there, Conker's BFD was easily forgotten and it lived a somewhat short life as people started getting into the PS2 era. It's a shame that Conker's Bad Fur Day had to go down like this, because it's truly one of the best games I have ever played. Released a bit prior to the death of the N64, Conker's Bad Fur Day is a 3D platformer. Not only that, but it is also a straight out deathmatch in multi-player. If you and at least a friend are playing Conker's Bad Fur Day, you can load up the multi-player and start playing from there. Most of the multi-player options like "War" and "Beach" try to capture the sense that the multi-player is more of a war game like Medal of Honor and Battlefield 1942. Some locations in the game take place in the famous D-Day, and follow the story from there. It seems cartoonish that a game like Conker's Bad Fur Day gets placed as a war-type game, but it very well fits with the multi-player options that you can choose from. The single-player for Conker's Bad Fur Day is more towards a platformer genre than an action type genre. You'll spend most of your time jumping from platform-to-platform and figuring out what to do. You'll also spend alot of your time on the chapters in the game, and trying to piece together the story as a puzzle. Some of the jumps are frustrating in the single-player, but being able to switch the camera angle around can change the whole perspective about the game. As for the single-player itself, it's a true gem platformer. There are plenty and plenty of things to explore, and even after finishing the initial game on it's own, there's still a lot more to explore. You really have to use your brain and figure out what's missing and the like, which is why Conker's Bad Fur Day isn't just a simple platformer where you jump from platform to platform activating switches and stuff. There's a lot more toit, which makes it really unique and quite fun to play. Conker's Bad Fur Day stays true to the platformer genre, offering the options a platformer always offers. With that said, it's not your typical platformer. The "M" rating that Conker's Bad Fur Day gets is well deserved. The game is filled with some adult humor and some vulgar cutscenes. Playing it the first time, and usually all the time, the cutscenes actually become funny and you'll be glad that you run into one. One of the main problems with Conker's Bad Fur Day is that it's frame rate causes slowdowns. One example is plugging in 4 controllers and playing the multi-player. Let everyone meet in one area, and let everyone pull out a grenade and get closer to each other. Everyone will blow to bits, but prior to that, the game will have a HUGE slowdown, that the game has a big chance it will freeze. You will notice this slowdown be just suiciding yourself alone, but it won't be as big as everyone suiciding at the same time. It causes some problems in the game, but either way, you're going to have to deal with it. Slow downs are usually a big problem, but even at times, you really won't even notice. For multi-player, you can either play with friends of at least 2, or play with computer A.I. bots. You can also switch their settings from either easy or hard, but either way, with the bots responding to their difficulties, they still attack you if you're on their team and if you're in their way. Some of the bots also don't really work as a team, as everyone just follows their own little road. Playing with bots definitely doesn't feel like playing with humans. To get the most practice out of Conker's Bad Fur Day, you're simply going to have to play with friends, family, or human players. Playing with bots is a nice addition to the game, but the bot isn't as "reliable" and "smart" as a human player even put on the most difficult setting. You're definitely going to get the most out of Conker's Bad Fur Day with the multi-player mode, especially if you're playing with human players. With many different modes to choose from, it'll be an all out brawl. But the lack of levels (in this case, there's only 5) and the lack of more changeable options let the game down. Even with these faults, the game still has alot to offer to fans of the genre. Conker's Bad Fur Day also shows off some good visuals, graphics, etc. in one package. Using an expansion pack will definitely hold to your advantage, as the expansion pack is compatible with Conker's Bad Fur Day. It's easily one of the best graphics on N64's console, and the graphics look crisp and fresh, there's a lot to be had here. One of the great points in Conker's Bad Fur Day is it's music and sound. It has some of the best music and sound to date on the N64. None of the sound is interrupted with the gameplay, which gives a huge factor over other games. It's so high quality, especially on Surround Sound, you can actually hear bullets and rocket launchers at their finest. It's simply spectular to hear. In the end, Conker's Bad Fur Day is more than a 3D platformer. It not only has that aspect as a part of it, but it also has a multi-player to boot. The bots' A.I. could of had some minor improvements for better multi-player action, but the bots should be worth checking out just for fun. The heart of the gameplay lies in the multi-player, as it is a mix of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. One issue for the game is it's horrible frame rate. Slowdowns will definitely occur in multi-player, and it could somehow be very difficult to get used to. Once you do, the problem will be out of you're way for good. Really, that's just about all that's wrong with Conker's Bad Fur Day. Other than that, this is truly such an amazing game with plenty of options to boot. I haven't played something so spectular like Conker's Bad Fur Day. One with an N64 would be nuts and crazy to not own Conker's Bad Fur Day. It's that good.
