| Conker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Platform |
| Developers | Rare (1999–2005) Team Dakota (2015) Asobo Studio (2016) |
| Publishers | Rare (1999–2001) THQ (2001) Xbox Game Studios (2005–present) |
| Creator | Rare |
| Platforms | Game Boy Color,Nintendo 64,Xbox,Xbox One,Xbox Series X,Microsoft Windows,Microsoft HoloLens |
| First release | Conker's Pocket Tales 8 June 1999 |
| Latest release | Young Conker 29 January 2016 |
Conker is a series ofplatformvideo games created and produced byRare. It chronicles the events of Conker the Squirrel, ananthropomorphicred squirrel that made his debut as a playable character inDiddy Kong Racing.
While debuting as a family-friendly series, starting withConker's Pocket Tales, it has shifted focus to mature audiences with the development and release ofConker's Bad Fur Day; during development, the game was modified to incorporate graphic violence, strong language, offensive humor, and other mature content. These changes resulted in the title receiving a Mature rating from theESRB, accompanied by a content advisory displayed on the packaging and the title screen when immediately powered on to caution unsuspecting viewers who might otherwise mistake it for a platformer intended for a younger audience. A graphically improved remake ofConker's Bad Fur Day, along with new multiplayer modes, was released asConker: Live & Reloaded on June 21, 2005 in North America for the originalXbox. The uncensoredConker's Bad Fur Day was released onRare Replay andLive & Reloaded has been made backward compatible with theXbox One and theXbox Series X.
| 1999 | Conker's Pocket Tales |
|---|---|
| 2000 | |
| 2001 | Conker's Bad Fur Day |
| 2002–2004 | |
| 2005 | Conker: Live & Reloaded |
| 2006–2014 | |
| 2015 | Conker's Big Reunion |
| 2016 | Young Conker |
Conker was introduced at theElectronic Entertainment Expo in 1997.[1] The gameConker's Quest was presented byRare as a 3D platformer aimed at a young audience for theNintendo 64.[2] Later the same year, Conker's inclusion inDiddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64 was confirmed.[3] In early 1998,Conker's Quest was renamedTwelve Tales: Conker 64.[4] In 1999, Conker made his first solo debut inConker's Pocket Tales for theGame Boy Color.
During development of theConker series, Rareware had struggled to releaseTwelve Tales: Conker 64, formerly namedConker's Quest, citing issues with project management[5] in addition to oversaturation ofMario 64-style games in the gaming market at the time,[6] Realizing thatConker 64 lacked any uniqueness as a platform game, they cancelledConker 64 and restarted the project. Multiple delays and a lack of updates led the press to believe thatTwelve Tales was quietly cancelled.[7]
In 2000,Twelve Tales: Conker 64 was retooled intoConker's Bad Fur Day with a large amount ofscatological humour.[8][9] Conker the Squirrel, who previously appeared as a family-friendly character, was retooled to be a foul-mouthed, fourth-wall breaking alcoholic armed with guns, throwing knives, and a frying pan.[10] After E3, Chris Seavor came on board as designer.[6] The first level, the beehive, added machine guns shooting wasps which Rare found funny and kept going with this idea to be raunchy and different.[11] After two more years of development, the game emerged asConker's Bad Fur Day, which targets adults rather than children with its mature content.[12] According to Rare co-founderChris 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".[13] The game suffered from relatively poor sales,[14] but received acult following.
After the release ofConker's Bad Fur Day, Rare began development of a newConker game referred to asConker's Other Bad Day.[15][16] Designer Chris Seavor said that it was to be a direct sequel dealing with "Conker's somewhat unsuccessful tenure as King. He spends all the treasury money on beer, parties and hookers. Thrown into prison, Conker is faced with the prospect of execution and the game starts with his escape, ball and chain attached, from the Castle's highest tower". It was never confirmed which consoleConker's Other Bad Day was for, but it was likely the NintendoGameCube as withDonkey Kong Racing.[15] In 2002, Microsoft purchased Rare from Nintendo, so instead of finishing and releasing the game, RareremadeConker's Bad Fur Day for theXbox in 2005, renaming itConker: Live & Reloaded. It features improved graphics and minor alterations to gameplay, and was also censored. It has a new multiplayer adaptation forXbox Live.[17] AfterLive & Reloaded, Rare started development onConker: Gettin' Medieval, anonlinemultiplayerthird-person shooter game, but it was ultimately cancelled.[18]
AtE3 2014, Conker was announced as a character inProject Spark.[19] In 2015, Conker returned in a new episodic campaign forProject Spark. The campaign, titledConker's Big Reunion, is set ten years after the events ofBad Fur Day and Seavor reprised his voice role.[20] The first episode was released on 23 April the same year forProject Spark; however, before any more additional episodes could be made,Project Spark's online services were shut down and the game was abandoned. In 2015,Conker's Bad Fur Day was included in theRare Replay video game compilation forXbox One.[21]
In 2016, Microsoft announcedYoung Conker as the next installment into the series, released for theMicrosoft HoloLens. The trailer was released in February and was almost universally panned by the public, with many complaining that it lacked the humour and overall style of its predecessors. The trailer received more than 30,000 dislikes against just over 1,000 likes. A petition was created to cancel the game's release but failed. Some video game critics and general YouTube commentators have boycotted the game.[22]
Reception for theConker series has been largely focused on the protagonist of the series, Conker the Squirrel, and the critical success of the gamesConker's Bad Fur Day andLive and Reloaded.[23] The contrast between Conker's innocent appearance and his coarse behavior has been well-received by the public.[24] Critics have noted that the storylines and variety of characters forConker's Bad Fur Day andLive and Reloaded in combination with the crude humour and seemingly innocent graphics are noteworthy appeal to mature audiences.[25][26]Rare listed Conker as the fifth Rare's video game character who most improved with age.[27]
Jordan Devore ofDestructoid stated about Conker's appearance inProject Spark (Conker's Big Reunion DLC) that there "was no getting around the disappointment of seeing a long abandoned (but never forgotten!) character return not in his own adventure, but in aDLC pack for a videogame about making games."[28] Conker's appearance on theMicrosoft HoloLens trailer forYoung Conker received mostly negative reviews.[29] Chris Plante ofThe Verge criticized it and said that "Young Conker doesn't feature the original Conker."[30] Sam Loveridge ofDigital Spy claimed that the scene of Conker and the bees is "weird."[26]
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