Top 7 Banjo Tooie Rear Admiral

Review

We’ve been waiting for this game ever since we first saw it at a Nintendo conference in Seattle. A game published by Nintendo where players avoid globs of feces and urinate on flaming demons is something that simply has to make you laugh. The tongue-firmly-in-cheek humor combined with the classic Rare platform action makes Conker’s Bad Fur Day a blast to play, but one fraught with frustration, annoyance, and frequent indignation. As much as we love playing this game, we simply have to admit that the game is far from perfect. The game begins with Conker, a big-eyed, bushy-tailed squirrel sitting serenely on a throne sipping a glass of milk. His ascension to this throne is the foundation of the story, and the game centers on getting Conker out of one mess after another. While this overreaching storyline gives the game consistency, there’s still no real purpose behind most of Conker’s actions. There’s plenty of cutscenes that detail events and situations outside of Conker’s immediate control, but it’s not until well into the game that Conker actually gets involved with what players see from the start (namely, a broken table next to a feline king and the attempts of his gadget guru to fix it, which is to shove a red squirrel underneath the broken leg).

Regardless, once the initial opening cinematic ends, players control a heavily-hungover Conker around a corn field until he speaks to an equally drunk scarecrow and learns the first of many lessons — how to use context sensitive pads. This is pretty much sums up much of the game — players wander around until something happens, and then learn how to perform some new feat, which then opens up a path to a new area.

That’s not to say the repetitive gameplay isn’t fun — quite frankly, it’s a total blast. Conker’s helicopter tail gets him over huge gaps, and the fact that he can pull just about anything under the sun out of his pants pocket to defeat a chosen enemy makes the game incredibly flexible and filled with unending surprises. But the lack of direction makes players feel, at least initially, that there’s no purpose to wandering around making rats explode and tossing toilet paper into the mouth of a singing pile of crap.

Once you get past the aimless feeling, though, there’s some very challenging gameplay to be had. Almost too challenging. We’ll freely admit that several times while playing the game we nearly tossed our controller against the wall in frustration as Conker was yet again cut down mercilessly. In some cases, it’s because it’s a nastily vicious part of the game, but in other cases it’s due to some horrible game design, especially when it comes to certain tasks that require depth perception. The biggest offender is Conker’s shadow — it acts like a real shadow cast from a light shining from the side. That means that when Conker jumps, his shadow “jumps” with him, springing off to the side. However, in many cases, Conker must land precisely in order to move on, and in most games of this type, players can use the character’s shadow to determine where the character will land. No so with Conker — players must eyeball it, and because of the layout of many of the platform jumping areas, it’s nearly impossible to tell exactly where Conker is in relation to where he’s trying to land — which usually ends up with Conker flattened and players having to start a task over.

Those are, however, the biggest problems with the game, and the rest of this review will concentrate only on the positive aspects, because there’s a lot you can say in favor of the game. The humor, which is decidedly mature, really isn’t as bad as we initially thought it would be. Oh, sure, there are scenes of immense gore and violence, not to mention a ton of fart and poo jokes, but for the most part, the events that earn a Mature rating are really no worse than an episode of South Park. Most of the worst of the foul language is bleeped out, and there’s not nearly as much blood as we thought there would be (although there’s plenty). What’s really great about the whole situation is the humor of the game — and some of the funniest bits are quite subtle. Players definitely get a sense of Rare’s underlying irreverent humor, as the game makes fun of itself as much as anything else.

The graphic splendor of the game is unsurpassed, except perhaps by Banjo-Tooie. Textures are rich and colorful, and the level design of most of the areas usually fits perfectly. The sound is phenomenal, especially if you hook it up to a surround sound system — the Dolby Surround places things perfectly, and the sound effects put in the game by Rare are fantastic, with even little touches adding to the game, like Conker’s squelching footsteps in mud or the host of bees adding their buzzing melody to the background music when Conker goes near a bee-hive.

The game is also a treasure-horde for multiplayer fans. Four players can compete in a vast variety of games, from a capture-the-flag type of ordeal to racing to deathmatch to a sort of tag. Each of the mini-games has an intro beforehand, and solo players can compete against computer-controlled opponents. Just like in Perfect Dark, it looks as if Rare went the extra mile to make sure the multiplayer aspect of the game lived up to expectations, and it certainly does.

We’re mystified and disappointed by the game’s lacks, which are substantial enough to warrant the game getting a Hit rather than Direct Hit. But even with its problems, it’s an amazingly fun game for those who can see past the toilet humor and appreciate the irreverent attitude and challenging platform action the game offers.

The Bottom Line: It’s not for everyone, and it’ll certainly frustrate you at times, but it’s still worth picking up. — DailyRadar Review