Conker's Bad Fur Day

An adorable squirrel, pastel colours, a childishly innocent-looking platformer — and then the game greets you with a hangover, crude jokes and a boss in the shape of a giant lump. Conker's Bad Fur Day by studio Rare is one of the cheekiest pranks a console ever received: a platformer that deliberately shatters every expectation of the genre.

Under that cute coat, you see, hides a game aimed decidedly at an adult audience. It is full of vulgar humour, alcohol, violence, blood and parodies of famous films — whole passages take the mickey out of war dramas, horror flicks and gangster movies. On a console most people associated with family titles, it was an utterly provocative exception whose cheek is still entertaining today.

Mechanically it's a solid 3D platformer for its time — you jump, solve puzzles, fight and pass through varied environments. A key element are the so-called context zones, where upon entering Conker gains a specific ability needed to solve the situation at hand, which nicely varies the individual challenges.

Rare here displayed its trademark craftsmanship — quality animation, witty voice acting and plenty of film references testify that the team had fun with every detail. The game is also famous for its sharply written script and the acting delivery of its characters, which give it the character of an adult animated film rather than a classic console game.

Thanks to its provocativeness and originality, Conker became a cult item and a rare collector's piece. It's a title that shows Rare wasn't afraid to take a risk and build a game entirely against the grain — if you like black humour and don't expect censorship, it's an unforgettable experience.

Why play it: A cheekily adult platformer full of black humour and film parodies — a cult rarity that shatters every cliché of the genre.