Brass Balls and Poo! (Conkers Bad Fur Day (N64))

Member Name: Squiggles

Product:	Conkers Bad Fur Day (N64)
Date:	22/10/01 (804 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hilarious, Excellent longevity

Disadvantages: A bit too linear, Not suitable for under 15s

RareWare have to be one of the best game developers out there, the quality of the video games they produce is second to none! Following on the heels of Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo Tooie is their latest offering, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, yet another superb piece of gaming software…as long as you don’t mind a fair dollop of smutty humour and a few swear words to go with it!

The game is a platform/roaming adventure type game, of similar genre to Banjo and Donkey Kong, although not as extensive, and the idea is to guide Conker the Squirrel home after a particularly hard night on the tiles, hangover in full rage! Where it differs, is in the language it uses (definitely not suitable for under fifteens this one!), and the fact that the characters all speak words out loud rather than just text upon the screen! The voices are a riot, from the Scouser accented dung beetles to the very small and incredibly not frightening Grim Reaper (who is called Glen by the way!). Some of the cut scenes in this game are just hilarious, and will have you helpless with laughter (assuming your sense of humour is as tacky as mine anyway!)

If I tell you that I’ve just completed three rounds with an opera singing great lump of poo, followed by despatching a brass monster (with balls of brass you know!!) using just two bricks and a lot of enthusiasm, I think you can get the idea of the way this game goes! Humour is what makes Conker so special, the animations and the voices are all superb, the graphics astounding and it’s very much like being part of a huge comic story where you control the action. The humour is very tacky in places, but it actually adds to the appeal of the game. It can also get a bit saucy in places; one scene involving a male cog having his female counterparts returned to him and fitted on correctly will certainly raise an eyebrow or two! And hopefully, a few titters aswell. It actually rendered my husband incapable for a few good minu
tes as he writhed on the floor in giggles!!

Although it’s great fun to play, it is surprisingly difficult in places. It took me a while to realise that the cute baby dinosaur/bird critter I had just hatched, was in fact to be sacrificed on a slab in a particularly bloody scene. I felt wicked as hell; poor little baby had been following me around like a lost sheep calling me ‘mummy’ for a good time too. :O( Expect to see many cutesy animals being disposed of in similarly gruesome fashion!

Another favourite part of the game for me was when Conker hit the Rock Club, a nightclub playing the best in club music with a whole bunch of stone men (and buxom stone blonde women!) dancing merrily! If you let Conker rest by letting go of the joypad, you can watch him get into the swing of things with his own style of break dancing! Just too funny! :O) Conker is fond of his drink, it has to be said, so much so that when completely off his face, he can unzip himself and ward off enemies by directing a stream of urine at them!

If you can handle tacky humour, poor jokes, an abundance of snot and poo, and like to giggle, then this game is for you! The puzzles are certainly challenging enough, and the game has good longevity. It also offers a great multi-player option, so if you and a few sozzled pals get together, you should be in your element! You can also replay any of your completed ‘chapters’ at any time, great if you want to recap on some of the best and funniest cut scenes.

Pricewise, like most games for the N64, it isn’t cheap. It retails at £60 but the prices have come down since first released and you should be able to pick up a brand new copy of the game for around £40. But it IS a bit rude!! ;O)

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