If a monkey flew a plane for real, that would be the most fucked up thing ever.

Kart racers have come a long way, but the landscape in 1997 was largely colored by two Mario Karts and at least a dozen derivatives. Skunny Kart and BC Racers weren't lighting the world on fire, and even Mario Kart 64's main distinction was that it was in 3D now. And then Rare came along and was like "what if we put planes in a kart racer" and everyone cheered, and then they asked "what if there was boats, too?" and everyone screamed "No! NO! That's TOO FAR!!" but they did it anyway.

Diddy Kong Racing's unique features may not turn heads today, but this game was kind of wild in 97. Every established convention of the genre was played around with and pushed forward in some way. Why have a stock list of tracks to run through when you could have a whole hub world where exploration is key to progression? Why not have a story, additional battle modes, and boss fights? Why limit yourself to a kart when you can take to the skies or bounce off everything haphazardly in a hovercraft that makes you want to hold Diddy under water until the life leaves his eyes? boat

Similar to Goldeneye 64, Diddy Kong Racing benefitted from having a small team that was willing to design whatever they thought was fun rather than sticking to a rigid design doc. After all, this started as a real-time strategy game before undergoing a long metamorphosis into what it is today. I love diving into the development history of Rare games, especially during the Nintendo 64 era, because regardless of how their games turned out (god knows I have a lot of mixed feelings on them), the path they took from concept to release is always fascinating. In the case of Diddy Kong Racing, I think their unique approach to designing games paid off in some big ways, but it's not a perfect experience by any means. The balance is way off, and a few missions (especially boss fights) are unnecessarily brutal. Even as an adult who is more seasoned with kart racers, I found myself really bashing my head against a few parts of this game.

However, this is one of several games I played with my grandpa, and that means it's left an indelible mark on me. Its faults may be apparent, but my score should make it just as clear that I have a lot of affection for this one regardless. Is it nostalgic bias? Sure. And hey, when it really comes down to which kart racer I'm willing to aggressively go to bat for, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed takes a lot from Diddy Kong Racing's book and really runs with it. Far better game. It has Danica Patrick. Who does Diddy Kong Racing have? Banjo. I wanna punt that bozo into a volcano.

A good racing game, but not my favorite one. There is a lot going for it though. For starters, its the first kart racer to give you the option between car, plane, or hovercraft which other games would eventually follow in later years. It has a really solid story mode with a cool world to explore. Crash Team Racing had one too, but Diddy Kong Racing has the better story mode. My main gripe with this game is the physics aren't as good as Crash Team Racing and it is generally slower than both Mario Kart & CTR. Besides the physics which knock the game down a couple of points, this is a game that was ahead of its time in a few ways and does far more good than bad.

Since they're both N64 kart racers with Nintendo characters, this game gets compared to Mario Kart 64 a lot. But the things that each game does better than the other make for experiences that scratch different itches.

While MK64 has better Battle Mode and the multiplayer racing is pretty equally good between them, the Adventure Mode in Diddy Kong Racing is phenomenal. Alone or with a friend, you navigate the overworld, complete races and challenges, and even fight bosses. Mario Kart was always the standard for multiplayer. But Diddy Kong Racing?

Diddy Kong is for adventure.

Mario Kart 64 junto al Smash 64 son los dos juegos a los cual más cariño y buenos recuerdos tengo de la 64 ya que fueron los juegos que más jugué con compas y vecinos en esa época, pero si tengo que elegir a mi juego favorito entonces ese sería Diddy Kong Racing. nunca probé su multi (ni siquiera sé si tenía), pero el modo historia era excelente y en lo jugable me gustaba mucho más que el MK64.

no es un secreto que la gen que menos me atrae es la de la 64 y PSX y por eso mismo luego de los 2000 nunca volví ni me intereso tocar algún juego de esas consolas, pero luego recuerdo a Diddy Kong Racing y me hace pensar en que debo de darle una oportunidad al catálogo de esta generación ya que si rebusco es probable que encuentre algo que me interese, pero solo es un pensamiento... dudo que en algún momento juegue o haga una review de algún juego de esta generación...

Unpopular opinion but I never found the greatness that many other gamers have found in this game. With that being said, this game is fun and offers a ton of content and variety starting with the obvious addition of other types of vehicles with boats and planes. Being a kart racing game at its core, I found the kart levels more fun, followed by airplane levels, and last boat levels which were a bit on the clunky side in terms of controlling and overall level design.

Graphics were great for the time, and the story-driven single-player mode added more weight to the game. There were a bunch of forgettable things in this game such as the "rest" of the characters (with the obvious exception of Banjo and Conker). Non-playable characters like TT and Taj also felt like run of the mill additions.

Overall, DKR is a fun kart racing game with a very ambitious setup but it does fall short in certain areas such as characters and some track designs.

VAI TOMAR NO CU WIZPIG

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not sure why this wasn't just called "Pro-AM 64 featuring Diddy Kong from the Donkey Kong Country series" since nothing about DKR feels very "donkey kong" in vibe, but i guess name branding sells. i'm still going to main timber the tiger since it was his game first and i feel the poor guy got robbed.

oh yeah, the game itself. fun kart racer and leagues better than mario kart 64. don't let the kiddy coat of paint fool you, completing adventure mode is what seperates the strong from the weak. those damn silver coin challenges...