The Squirrel Kingdom

Lore & Background

The game follows Conker, a greedy, hard-drinking red squirrel who must return home to his girlfriend, Berri, after an evening of heavily drinking at the local pub. The setting is the Fairy Panther King's Kingdom. The plot involves Conker getting lost after a night of binge drinking, and the Panther King ordering his servant Professor Von Kriplespac to capture a red squirrel to use as a table leg. Conker's quest to return home leads him through various absurd situations, including confronting the Great Mighty Poo, working with the Weasel Mafia, being drafted into a war between grey squirrels and the Tediz, and ultimately facing the Panther King and Von Kriplespac's creature Heinrich.

In Their Own Story

The acorn rain had stopped an hour ago, but the mud still clung to every burrow entrance like a brown glaze. Conker sat on the lip of his den, a half-empty bottle balanced on his knee, watching the last of the kingdom's residents file in for the evening. Binky trotted past, ears flat, muttering about the king's latest decree. Somewhere deeper in the wood, a branch snapped under a too-heavy paw, and a distant voice—gruff, amused, faintly drunk—called out a greeting that was less a word and more a full-bodied wheeze. The Squirrel Kingdom settled in for the night: small, loud, and entirely uninterested in being anything other than itself.

Reader's Guide

The game is a platform game with later shooter elements. The player controls Conker through three-dimensional levels. An overworld allows transition between levels, many blocked until Conker earns cash. Gameplay involves completing linear challenges for cash rewards. Conker can run, jump, smack enemies with a frying pan, swim underwater, climb ladders or ropes, and push objects. Health is restored by eating anti-gravity chocolate. Context-sensitive pads grant temporary abilities. A multiplayer mode allows up to four players in seven game types: Beach, Raptor, Heist, War, Tank, Race, and Deathmatch.

Did You Know?

• Conker's Bad Fur Day was originally intended for a family audience under the title Twelve Tales: Conker 64.
• The game features graphic violence, alcohol and tobacco use, profanity, dark humour, toilet humour, fourth wall breaks, and pop culture references.
• A remake, Conker: Live & Reloaded, was released for the Xbox in 2005.
• The original version was included in the Rare Replay compilation for Xbox One in 2015.