Conker live and reloaded (Xbox, R16)

A scene from Conker:live and reloaded.

(Herald rating: * * * )

Conker the squirrel has switched to the Xbox platform but he's still a foul-mouthed drunken little critter.

Nintendo is best known for the much-loved video game character Mario. But I've always preferred another character from the Nintendo world, a foul-mouthed, drunken squirrel called Conker.

His appearance in Conker's Bad Fur Day on the Nintendo 64 back in 2001 was a revelation in gaming.

Finally an original game that has a filthy sense of humour, an animated world where furry animals vomit, kill each other and roll around in poo.

Why it was ever given the go-ahead to be made is beyond me, but it had the feel of a bunch of creative people being given free rein to do as they pleased.

Now Conker is back, better but not much different on the Xbox platform. And therein lie the good and bad things about Conker: Live and Reloaded.

While the game looks fantastic, taking advantage of the Xbox's superior graphics power to create a lush, colourful landscape, Conker is still on the same old mission.

He still goes out on a bender with the lads, wakes up in a field and has to find his way home to his gym bunny girlfriend Berri.

Along the way he meets the same bizarre cast of characters - the scarecrow Birdy, the Great Mightypoo and the Leopard King, who breaks his table and spills his milk.

Conker just happens to be the right height to hold up the table and is in danger of spending the rest of his life doing so. Not before a big lump of chocolate falls out of the sky.

Harry Potter, eat your heart out.

The game generally involves you jumping from ledge to ledge, swimming rivers and beating up barrel monsters with a nail-studded baseball bat.

By standing on big manhole covers with the letter B painted on them you are given various objects and told what to do next. The action itself looks pretty but is all fairly standard - we were doing this four years ago.

The cut scenes are numerous, but you won't want to skip through them.

Not only will you be completely lost as to what to do, but the cut scenes contain the most hilarious moments of the game. They are the game.

I had forgotten how childishly amusing Bad Fur Day is.

It has a British sensibility about it, the writers are obviously huge fans of Monty Python and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

"You're a little short to be the Grim Reaper!" Conker rather foolishly tells Death at one stage.

The game is certainly one of the better re-releases of late, but true gaming fans will be more interested in the entirely new multiplayer game, which is playable on Xbox Live.

Up to 16 players do battle across a variety of maps.

Play as a member of the squirrel squad or the evil Tediz. A host of weapons are available with which to blast your opponents.

Conker has the look of Ratchet and Clank and a dozen other role-playing children's games. But it doesn't take long to figure out why there is a Restricted 16 sticker slapped on the cover.

Keep the kids well clear of this despicable squirrel.

* Xbox, R16, $100