Rare was once one of the most iconic developers in the video game industry. In the 90s, the company was known for its colorful platformers, and most notably, introducing Donkey Kong’s modern incarnation with Donkey Kong Country. By the time the Nintendo 64 hit the shelves, Rare was one of the biggest contributors to the platform’s library, with games like Banjo-Kazooie, Goldeneye 007, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Conker in particular stood out among the wave of kid-friendly platformers that 90s gaming culture was so fond of. Taking an inspiration from South Park, Bad Fur Day used the juxtaposition of vulgar, inappropriate content and cute, colorful aesthetics for humorous purposes.
Despite the abysmal marketing and sales, Bad Fur Day’s approach to platformers was unique enough to warrant it a cult classic status. It even got a remake on the Xbox after Rare was bought by Microsoft, which was polarizing due to its decision to censor curse words despite ironically being on a system that usually targets teenagers and adults. After that, Conker was left alone, but his dormant series still has a devoted fanbase. To this day, there is still Conker-themed merchandise being made. With that in mind, in addition to the countless remakes and modern sequels gamers have gotten, a new Conker game would not be shocking.
Conker Could Continue The Comeback of Platformers
The 90s were a bastion of platformers, with most of them attempting to copy the success of Sonic the Hedgehog, which in itself was only created as a way to end Super Mario’s own quasi-monopoly on the genre. By the end of the decade, most of these games fell into obscurity, and by the 2000s, the entire genre fell into obscurity as well. Out of the pre-existing franchises, only Mario and Sonic managed to stay relevant despite the latter’s notorious dark age. Even Donkey Kong, whose eponymous star is one of the oldest and most famous video game characters in the world, was reduced to having representation in Mario spinoffs until the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns over a decade after Donkey Kong 64 came out. Other beloved series, such as Banjo-Kazooie, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon, became a shadow of their former selves, much to their fans’ dismay.
The late 2010s saw a resurgence in interest in platformers, both 2D and 3D. Both Mario and Sonic had their most acclaimed mainline entries in years in the form of Super Mario Odyssey and Sonic Mania. The original Crash and Spyro trilogies were remade from the ground up, with Crash also being blessed with a Crash Team Racing remake and a brand-new original entry in Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. While Banjo has yet to get a new game, the titular duo got a modern redesign by becoming part of the roster in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, implying a newfound interest in the property on Microsoft’s part. To top it all off, plenty of indie games, from Shovel Knight to A Hat in Time, were made as a tribute to the genre’s classic entries.
Now that Microsoft will buy Activision-owned properties, including Crash and Spyro, a new space for platformers has been created within the company’s lineup. If Microsoft plays its cards right, a remake of Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie or a new Banjo game seems inevitable. While not as iconic as his peers, Conker is popular enough that Microsoft should take advantage of its ownership of the classic platformer series, capitalizing on the nostalgia for the Nintendo 64 era through a new Conker title.
While Bad Fur Day’s “mature” content may seem juvenile to some, its edge is still enough to distinguish the Conker universe from the rest. Considering that the audience for these family-friendly games clearly partially consists of adults that grew up with these very titles, an irreverent and vulgar game could create an interesting market. Another Bad Fur Day remake that fixes the problems of both the original and Xbox versions, or a new Conker game in general, has serious potential.
Crash and Spyro are not the only games being remade, as other, more niche titles like Kao the Kangaroo and even Klonoa are also making a comeback. The interest in platformers, especially nostalgic ones, is huge. A new Conker game that modernizes the raunchy, cartoony antics of Bad Fur Day and addresses the criticisms of said game has the potential to be unique, even in a world where works that contrast violent vulgarity with kid-friendly visuals are not nearly as subversive as they once were. If Conker were to ever come back, now is the time.
