For those gamers that like a little mature content with their platformer games, Conker’s Bad Fur Day hits all the right buttons. Released in 2001 for the Nintendo 64, fans of Banjo Kazooie and Donkey Kong liked it both for its wide-open, immersive environments that focus on adventure gameplay, and for its mature sense of humor.
Crass, uncouth, and greedy, Conker the squirrel just wanted to get home to his girlfriend after a night tying one on. Instead, he’s being targeted by the Panther King to be used as the..fourth leg of his throne’s side table (it’s missing, and apparently squirrels make good substitutes according to the elite). Aside from evading the Panther King’s goons, Conker dodges Nazi-like teddy bears, battles giant mountains of poo, and collects wads of cash all while cursing up a storm. Though Conker’s gameplay was simpler than other games for N64, there were still some things even true fans may have missed!
ALL THAT SWEET CASH
From the beginning of the game until the end, cash is everywhere. And it’s not just little sheets of printed paper sprinkled around - it’s big wads wrapped in a bend, with eyes and a mouth. These cash wads are sentient, often calling out to Conkers with a variety of insults until gets close enough to collect them and explain exactly how they’ll be used.
Collecting cash isn’t all just fun and games - you need it to give Mr. Barrell at the end of the game if you want to progress. Unless you hand over $2,100 in acquired bills, you have to go back through all the levels and find it. Some players have never found it all to this day.
10 LIFE SQUIRREL TAIL
Squirrel tails are scattered among each level, hanging from trees or hooked on objects. When Conkers enters the Underworld after his first death, Gregg gives him his first tail and explains he’ll want to gather all the squirrel tails he can to gain an extra life.
What some fans don’t know is that some tails grant more than one life. In the “Barn Boys” gaming area, at the cheese ranch, jumping towards the back wall makes a light bulb appear. Pressing B makes Conker become an anvil and smash the rock below the bulb, revealing to him to a hidden cave and a “special tail” that grants 10 lives.
ALL THE CONTEXT SENSITIVE ZONES
Most fans of the game like the fact that it presents you with most of the items and weapons you need to keep progressing through it. This happens when you come in contact with context-sensitive zones, indicated by the activation of a B Button Pad and a lightbulb overhead when you press it.
What some fans may not realize is there are trickier context-sensitive zones to find, and those won’t have a B Button Pad in plain sight. What they will have, if you keep an eye out for them, is a light bulb above where they might be.
ACTIVATING THE LASER SIGHT WITH THROWING KNIVES
Though some fans didn’t take to the multiplayer aspect of CBFD, there were ways to make it more fun. One way was finding a cross-bow, activating laser aim and then standing beside some throwing knives. Do this in the multiplayer game “Raptor”, and you’ll be able to surely have your throwing knives always hit their targets.
The laser sight even helps you navigate the map. If you stray too far from base, you can use the laser to find your way back just by aiming at it.
BANJO AND KAZOOIE CAMEOS
Conker’s Bad Fur Day, being a popular title for Rare Games, owes some of its success to a built-in fanbase of comical adventure games starring two beloved characters, Banjo and Kazooie. Straight from their own game Banjo-Kazooie, they have cameos in Conker's Bad Fur Day if you know where to look.
Unfortunately, the cameos aren’t all fun and games. Banjo’s head is stuffed and mounted above a fireplace in the opening game menu area and Kazooie has been made into an umbrella found in the closet.
TORCHING BUTTERFLIES
Conkers doesn’t have the best attention span, so if you stop his movements for more than a few seconds, he’ll find something to occupy his time. Playing Gameboy, doing yo-yo tricks, browsing for bikini-clad girls in magazines, you name it. He’ll even start whistling maudlin showtunes if you take a while.
But if you take a really long time, and happen to be standing next to a bunch of butterflies, you get the unexpected pleasure of watching him torch them all with a flame thrower he keeps around for just such an occasion.
BECOME A TRAITOR
If you’re a fan of the multiplayer mode, go ahead and select the “War” game, Colors Mode. If you kill one of your teammates, they’ll begin attacking you, but if you can get into the enemy base, none of them will shoot you. You’ve essentially defected and can now take out more of your team from the sanctity of the base.
Should you feel like being a double agent though, you can feel free to open fire on all of the fighters in the enemy base. Just don’t grab the flag, unless you want to prepare for your “frenemies” to become vicious. This can be done for either opposing side.
ALL THREE KEYS
For some, the controls of Conker’s Bad Fur Day are as bothersome as the levels themselves. But for those that can master the curious camera angles and not the gameplay, one level stood out; trying to get the third key at the Bat Tower. After obtaining the first and second key, climb the ladder, and you’ll see it on the left.
Before grabbing for that, jump from the ladder to the left where you’ll find a lever. When you pull that lever, the bookshelf will open. By that measure, you can grab the key, go through the opened bookshelf, and appear at the front door of the castle.
DANCE WITH BERRI
In the Rock Solid sequence of the game, Conker goes to find his girlfriend Berri working at a strip club. Being Conker, he has some issues with the patrons, some issues with the bouncers, but it’s all in a day’s work for everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed squirrel. While Berri may be known for dancing in this sequence, Conker gets to bust out a few dance moves as well.
When you locate Berri, don’t just have Conker stand there like a slack-jawed goober. If you make him jump and then stand still, Conker will do the “worm dance” and then dance with Berri after about 5 seconds.
THE POST CREDIT SCENE
If you stick around after the conclusion of the game, past the end credits, you get treated to an Avengers-style “post credit” scene involving Conker going on yet another bender, before stumbling out into the dawn, about to begin his “other bad fur day”, which actually was set to be the title of the sequel following Conker’s Bad Fur Day.
Unfortunately for fans of the series, when Microsoft bought Rare from Nintendo, they scrapped that idea and simply repackaged CBFD for Xbox, releasing it as Conker’s: Live and Reloaded, and fans would never know what happened to Conker that day and how he intended to rule his new domain.