Conker's Bad Fur Day

Lore & Background

Conker's Bad Fur Day is set in the Panther King's kingdom. The morning after a night of binge drinking with his friends before they are drafted for a war, a drunken Conker loses his way while attempting to get home, and awakens to find himself lost in an unfamiliar land with a terrible hangover. Meanwhile, the Panther King, ruler of the land, finds that his throne's side table is missing one of its legs and orders his servant, Professor Von Kriplespac, to solve the problem. When Von Kriplespac suggests the use of a red squirrel as the fourth leg of his table, the Panther King sends his minions to capture one. During his quest to return home to his girlfriend Berri, Conker collects wads of cash scattered throughout the land as a gameplay mechanic, but his main drive remains his goal of getting home. This leads him to embroil himself in a series of increasingly absurd and often dangerous situations, including having to recover a beehive from enormous wasps; confronting a giant opera-singing pile of feces called The Great Mighty Poo; being tasked by Don Weaso, the head of the Weasel Mafia, to bomb an entire village of cavemen; being transformed into a bat by his vampiric ancestor Count Batula in order to feed him the blood of a villager mob; and getting drafted into the aforementioned war between grey squirrels and a Nazi-like group of teddy bears known as the Tediz, which Conker ultimately destroys. When Conker finds Berri, Don Weaso returns to enlist their help in robbing the Feral Reserve Bank. After entering the vault, Conker and Berri find that the bank scene was an elaborate trap set by the Panther King to capture Conker. In the confrontation, Berri is shot by Weaso on the Panther King's orders, and she dies in Conker's arms. The Panther King suddenly begins having chest pains and calls for Von Kriplespac. The Professor stands aside and watches gleefully as a Xenomorph-like creature bursts out of the Panther King's chest, killing him. Von Kriplespac explains that the creature, whom he names 'Heinrich', is one of his creations, and that he had planned to use this opportunity to kill the Panther King and escape his captivity. He then reveals that they are inside a spaceship, which he activates and takes into low orbit. From there, he instructs Heinrich to attack and kill Conker as revenge for destroying the Tediz, which were also his creations. Conker opens

In Their Own Story

The rain fell in sheets on the cobblestones of the Bumhole. Conker, nursing a hangover the size of a boulder, stumbled out of the Cock and Plucker. He had a vague memory of a bet, a missing girlfriend, and a dire need for a pint. A nearby sign, nailed to a rotting post, read 'Castle: This Way.' With a sigh that tasted of cheap ale and regret, Conker began his sodden, improbable journey, unaware that the day would involve a giant opera-singing turd, a bank heist, and a final, bloody confrontation with a king.

Reader's Guide

Conker's Bad Fur Day is a platform game, its later sections featuring elements of shooters. The player controls Conker the Squirrel through a series of three-dimensional levels. The game features an overworld where players can transition from one level to another, although many are initially blocked off until Conker earns a certain amount of cash. Each level is an enclosed area in which the player can freely explore to find tasks to do. The gameplay mostly relies on figuring out a way to help other characters by completing a linear sequence of challenges. These challenges may include defeating a boss, solving puzzles, gathering objects, and racing opponents, among others. The result is always a cash reward, which aids access to other areas in the overworld. As compared to the player characters in Rare's previous platform games Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64, Conker's abilities are simpler. The player can run, jump, and smack enemies with a frying pan. Conker can also swim underwater for a limited period of time, climb ladders or ropes, and push objects. To regain lost health, Conker can eat pieces of 'anti-gravity' chocolate that are scattered throughout the levels. The game employs 'context-sensitive' pads that allow Conker to gain different, temporary abilities when pressing the 'B' button atop them. For instance, in the beginning of the game, by pressing the B button on the first pad he encounters, Conker drinks some Alka-Seltzer to relieve his hangover, at which point players can proceed forward. Some pads can turn Conker into an anvil to slam into the ground, while others pull out his shotgun, blow torch, throwing knives, and slingshot. They also serve to inform players of what needs to be done next. The game includes a multiplayer mode where up to four players can compete against each other in seven different game types: Beach, Raptor, Heist, War, Tank, Race and Deathmatch.

Did You Know?

• The game was originally titled Twelve Tales: Conker 64 and was intended for a family audience, but after criticism for its kid-friendly tone at E3 1998, it was transformed into an adult-oriented version.
• Development lasted four years, with concepts originating during the development of Killer Instinct Gold in 1996.
• The game sold well below expectations due to limited advertising and a release towards the end of the Nintendo 64's life cycle, but has since developed a cult following.
• A remake, Conker: Live & Reloaded, was released for the Xbox in 2005, while the original version was included as part of the Rare Replay compilation for Xbox One in 2015.