One of the filthiest games released on a Nintendo console was originally going to be just another kiddified 3D platformer. Check out some never-before-seen footage of the game that would become Conker’s Bad Fur Day.
Long before Conker became an alcoholic shit-battler, Rare’s squirrel hero was something much more kid-friendly. After a debut as a racer in Diddy Kong’s Racing alongside Banjo from Banjo-Kazooie, Conker starred in his first game, Conker’s Pocket Tales for the Game Boy Color. Rated E for Everyone, the GBC game was an innocent adventure starring a squirrel with a slingshot getting into all sorts of child appropriate hijinx.
The Game Boy game already had a big brother in the works. Conker’s Quest, later renamed Twelve Tales: Conker 64, made its debut at E3 in 1997, alongside another Rare creation, Banjo-Kazooie. Cartoony platformers were all the rage in the late ‘90s, so a single company working on two at the same time didn’t raise too many eyebrows.
Twelve Tales featured the more innocent Conker and his decidedly un-sexy female companion, Berry, taking on a series of levels, each featuring a different hat for the game’s hero to wear, because gamers love virtual hats.
But as development continued on the squirrel-based platformer the crowded market called for something a little bit different. Something a bit more adult. Something with a giant talking shit monster with corn for teeth.
Something different achieved, Rare.
And so Twelve Tales became Conker’s Bad Fur Day, a game as beloved is it is gross and shocking to new players. It’s the sort of game that when played on its original console (N64) the player finds themselves constantly peeking over at the bottom of the TV to ensure it’s really a Nintendo console sitting there.
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