Platforming

Lore & Background

Conker the Squirrel made his debut as a playable character in Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64, confirmed before E3 1997. At E3 1997, Rare showcased a game titled Conker's Quest (later renamed Twelve Tales: Conker 64), a family-friendly 3D platformer. In 1999, Conker's Pocket Tales was released for the Game Boy Color, marking his first solo platforming title. During development, Rare struggled with Twelve Tales: Conker 64, citing oversaturation of Mario 64-style games. Rather than cancelling and restarting, the project was retooled into Conker's Bad Fur Day, adopting scatological humour and a mature tone. Conker was reimagined as a foul-mouthed, fourth-wall-breaking alcoholic armed with guns, throwing knives, and a frying pan. Chris Seavor came on board as designer after E3. The first level, the beehive, added machine guns shooting wasps, which Rare found funny and kept pursuing. After two more years of development, the game emerged as Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001), targeting adults. According to Rare co-founder Chris Stamper: 'When people grow up on games, they don't stop playing. There aren't games for people who grew up on the early systems.' The game suffered from relatively poor sales but gained a cult following. After release, Rare began development of a new Conker game referred to as Conker's Other Bad Day, a direct sequel dealing with Conker's unsuccessful tenure as king. It was never confirmed which console it was for. In 2002, Microsoft purchased Rare from Nintendo, so instead of finishing and releasing the sequel, Rare remade Conker's Bad Fur Day for the Xbox in 2005, renaming it Conker: Live & Reloaded. It features improved graphics and minor gameplay alterations, and was also censored. It includes a new multiplayer adaptation for Xbox Live. After Live & Reloaded, Rare started development on Conker: Gettin' Medieval, an online multiplayer third-person shooter, but it was ultimately cancelled. At E3 2014, Conker was announced as a character in Project Spark. In 2015, Conker returned in a new episodic campaign for Project Spark titled Conker's Big Reunion, set ten years after Bad Fur Day. The first episode was released on 23 April 2015; however, before any more episodes could be released, Project Spark was discontinued.

In Their Own Story

The platform creaks under Conker's weight. Below, a chasm of rusted gears grinds slowly, and the gap to the next ledge is wider than it looked from this side. A sign bolted to the railing reads, in faded paint, 'NO REFUNDS.' Conker snorts, adjusts his grip on the edge, and leaps. The tail flicks. The landing is rough, the knees buckle, and for a half-second he is dangling over the machinery. Then the next ledge. Then the next. Somewhere behind him, a distant voice calls out, 'Bit of a stretch, innit?' Conker does not turn around. He does not need to. He runs.

Reader's Guide

The mainline games in the series are Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001, Nintendo 64) and Conker: Live & Reloaded (2005, Xbox). Conker's Pocket Tales (1999, Game Boy Color) is a family-friendly handheld title. Young Conker (2016, Microsoft HoloLens) is the most recent installment. Related games include Diddy Kong Racing (1997, Nintendo 64), Project Spark (Conker's Big Reunion) (2014, Xbox One), and Rare Replay (2015, Xbox One).

Did You Know?

• Conker's Bad Fur Day received a Mature rating from the ESRB with a content advisory on the packaging and title screen.
• Conker: Live & Reloaded was released on June 21, 2005 in North America for the original Xbox.
• Conker's Bad Fur Day was included in Rare Replay and Live & Reloaded.