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Conker’s Bad Fur Day is one of the most legendary video games of the 5th generation of consoles with quite a reputation behind it. It has been a game I have had an interest in trying for a long time. When I learned that it’s Xbox remake, Live and Reloaded has been made available for purchase on the Xbox Live store, I dug my Xbox 360 out of the closet for the first time in maybe a year just to download it and finally try it for myself.

The presentation is top notch. From the game select screen to the opening cutscene, Bad Fur Day sets itself up as something quirky and different. Sound design is equally excellent with many memorable and enjoyable tunes, including the legendary Sloprano. And where the original Nintendo 64 version was applauded for having some of the best graphics on the console at the time, this continues into the Xbox version. It really showcases how the Xbox was the most powerful console of the 6th generation and looks so good that I was not entirely convinced that it was not a very early Xbox 360 title. Many of the characters are quite memorable and amusing, my favorite being the snarky grim reaper Greg.

However, I would be lying if I said the game is a flawless masterpiece. Quite frankly, I’m not certain I would even recommend it. I understand that Bad Fur Day was a massive departure from what one would expect from Rare after the released of Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, but “different” does not translate to “great”.

The game is very linear and compared to prior Rare platformers, the player has an absolutely tiny novelist to utilize at any one time. On top of that, Conker himself is shockingly fragile and more prone to fall damage than any N64 platformer protagonist you can name. This makes the game much harder than it actually is and you WILL die often no matter how skilled you actually are at it. The game can be very obtuse with how you progress, to the point where I had to consult a walkthrough no fewer than five times on my first play.

The linearity ultimately works against the game since there’s too much ground to cover and any player of a 3D playformer will be compelled to explore to see if anything has changed over the course of the game. This can lead to a lot of uneventful wandering and backtracking, hoping to get more out of the game than there actually is.

While there are a lot of memorable characters in the game, many are let down by an abysmal vocal delivery usually carrying the same raspy delivery that sounds immensely underwhelming. I get that there were only three voice actors in this game with one proving more than 90% of the voicing, so that may account as an example of stylistic suck. But that again does not translate to something good and there were only a few characters with this kind of voice that I was able to like in spite of this issue.

The “context sensitive” feature only carries the game so far. It essentially serves as Conker’s entire advanced “moveset”. While always entertaining, it’s not used frequently enough to really make up for the long largely uneventful stretches between story points. The story and the comedy are easily the entire point of the game, and while it is good in that regard, the game can frequently feel like a slog. The final stretch of the Spooky chapter in particular I did not find fun at all. And once you play through the game once, there’s virtually no reason to come back for another ride.

At the end of the day, I have to say Conker’s Bad Fur Day is probably the most disappointed I’ve ever been for a game I have been sincerely excited to play. It has its strong points and I did laugh a number of times, I honestly can’t say if the game simply hasn’t aged well or if it was simply overrated. The infamous ending does not help its case either, especially since Project Spark was buried before it could really get going.

At best, the game is inconsistent and unbalanced. Give it a try if you’re really that curious, but I advise waiting for a sale.

I have an invitation to hand out to anyone who may be interested. A number of readers have started up an audiobook project for The Lost Element in a Discord group. I am also involved and the project is making some progress, though more voice actors are still needed.

To all who may be interested in voicing their favorite characters of the story, feel free to come on in and sign up. Auditions are open.