It is a crime that we never got another Diddy Kong Racing. The idea that you could choose your vehicle and every track could theoretically be completed with each of the 3 vehicles was dope. Plus boss battles in a racing game!
Man this game ruled.
Man this game ruled.
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...
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...
We all know that one song from this game. You know it, I know it, we all know it
the driving is solid and it certainly feels better to play than mario kart 64 but my personal version of hell is just the same as this world except every good video game's progression system was designed by rare meaning that you gotta find 20 golden schmeckles to unlock the scrmiblo door where you gotta fight a mighty jumbo wumbo to get a blumbo dabloon and you need four blumbo dabloons to debumbify the skronklo bonklo and
A fun kart racer with unique ideas and a pretty robust single player campaign that sadly shows its age in a lot of ways. Worth playing to see a pretty interesting spin on a kart racer from this era, just be warned you will encounter some frustrating elements when viewed through a modern lens.
It’s Mario Kart’s mentally challenged cousin. Has it’s moments, but has godawful controls.
i unlocked TT as a kid and i was so proud of myself that i told all the kids at recess at school the next day that i unlocked TT using the players guide as a vision aid and they all did their best to pretend to care and i really value this memory
I just came here to say that it is, in fact, better than Mario Kart 64 and in almost every way.
Also, please do not make the same mistake I initially did with the boosting. You have to let go of accelerate just as you're rolling over the boost pad, and then lay off of it until the green smoke tapers off unless you want to cut the boost short. This one piece of information makes the game a lot more forgiving and is 100 percent essential to beating the game. If you do not know this and practice it during the four main worlds, Wizpig is basically impossible to beat.
Also, please do not make the same mistake I initially did with the boosting. You have to let go of accelerate just as you're rolling over the boost pad, and then lay off of it until the green smoke tapers off unless you want to cut the boost short. This one piece of information makes the game a lot more forgiving and is 100 percent essential to beating the game. If you do not know this and practice it during the four main worlds, Wizpig is basically impossible to beat.
Played this game for the first time recently and got 100% including beating all developer times. It's very impressive how well this game holds up. Rare's familiarity with making racing games definitely outshines Nintendo just barely getting used to the genre at the time.
There's some small quirks that once you understand, make the game very satisfying, and also not nearly as difficult as its reputation would have you believe. Specifically, holding B while drifting gives you a really sharp turn. Otherwise the drifting kind of has a bit of "Turn right to go left" energy. But the sharp turn button in addition to this lets you lean left or right just enough to reposition yourself to grab collectibles/hit speed boosts, while giving you the level of control needed to handle anything the tracks throw at you. You have such fine control here that going to more modern games like Mario Kart 8 feels stiff to me now despite getting into that game first. And even more importantly, if you let go of the gas while boosting, you keep the speed MUCH longer than you would if you just held onto it the whole time. The boosts feel so weak if you don't do this, and I imagine this mechanic being somewhat obscure is why the game is so infamous for being insanely challenging. Not to say mastering the game is a cakewalk but if you don't know this one weird trick Rareware doesn't want you to know, the final boss is near unbeatable.
But yeah very enjoyable game, the minor collectathon elements are very cool and appreciated. I kind of wish there was more to find in the hub world, but it just being there at all is very novel to this day. The boss races are a lot of fun. Just so much stuff that hasn't really been replicated in the genre very often, if at all. Makes this game a must play for all time. Great to hear more David Wyse music too. It being a racing game it allowed him to branch out a bit in style from what he normally does, and there's a lot of good stuff in the ost here. And it's really impressive that they made cars, boats, and planes all work so well so long ago. Wouldn't be until Sonic all stars transformed where we see something like it.
Only major complaint I could really have is that level theming leaves a bit to be desired. There's the generic grassy fields, desert levels, and ice caves. A vaguely horror themed one. And the space tracks are super cool. But generally speaking not a whole lot stands out as far as theming goes. Making a lot of the game not quite as memorable as it feels like it should be. But this was likely more of a technical limitation given how ambitious the rest of the game was for an n64 racer. The track designs themselves are all varied and loads of fun anyway.
There's some small quirks that once you understand, make the game very satisfying, and also not nearly as difficult as its reputation would have you believe. Specifically, holding B while drifting gives you a really sharp turn. Otherwise the drifting kind of has a bit of "Turn right to go left" energy. But the sharp turn button in addition to this lets you lean left or right just enough to reposition yourself to grab collectibles/hit speed boosts, while giving you the level of control needed to handle anything the tracks throw at you. You have such fine control here that going to more modern games like Mario Kart 8 feels stiff to me now despite getting into that game first. And even more importantly, if you let go of the gas while boosting, you keep the speed MUCH longer than you would if you just held onto it the whole time. The boosts feel so weak if you don't do this, and I imagine this mechanic being somewhat obscure is why the game is so infamous for being insanely challenging. Not to say mastering the game is a cakewalk but if you don't know this one weird trick Rareware doesn't want you to know, the final boss is near unbeatable.
But yeah very enjoyable game, the minor collectathon elements are very cool and appreciated. I kind of wish there was more to find in the hub world, but it just being there at all is very novel to this day. The boss races are a lot of fun. Just so much stuff that hasn't really been replicated in the genre very often, if at all. Makes this game a must play for all time. Great to hear more David Wyse music too. It being a racing game it allowed him to branch out a bit in style from what he normally does, and there's a lot of good stuff in the ost here. And it's really impressive that they made cars, boats, and planes all work so well so long ago. Wouldn't be until Sonic all stars transformed where we see something like it.
Only major complaint I could really have is that level theming leaves a bit to be desired. There's the generic grassy fields, desert levels, and ice caves. A vaguely horror themed one. And the space tracks are super cool. But generally speaking not a whole lot stands out as far as theming goes. Making a lot of the game not quite as memorable as it feels like it should be. But this was likely more of a technical limitation given how ambitious the rest of the game was for an n64 racer. The track designs themselves are all varied and loads of fun anyway.
It is debated whether this or Mario Kart 64 is the definitive Kart racer for the N64. Diddy Kong Racing has the edge in single-player, the adventure mode is frustrating towards the end as you have to be basically perfect, but it is still a lot of fun for the most part. Having planes and hovercraft brings some variety to the courses, though I think on average the courses are a little less interesting than Mario Kart 64 -- too many of them feel kind of empty.
The music is fun and catchy, the character sounds are charming, and the controls are intuitive but a little slippery.
Multiplayer is fun as well, but I prefer MK64 for playing with friends; the items are more fun and the battle courses in Mario Kart are top-notch. Overall anyone who likes kart racers and doesn't mind aged graphics should give this a try
The music is fun and catchy, the character sounds are charming, and the controls are intuitive but a little slippery.
Multiplayer is fun as well, but I prefer MK64 for playing with friends; the items are more fun and the battle courses in Mario Kart are top-notch. Overall anyone who likes kart racers and doesn't mind aged graphics should give this a try
It's not that special of a racing game to me!
The weirder of the kart racing games on the N64. Doesn't feel quite as responsive as Mario Kart to play, although has a lot more variety between the story mode, minigames, and hovercraft + airplane races. Opponents also don't seem to rubberband as aggressively as in MK although this may simply be that I was never far enough ahead for it to happen.
What a weird game lol. Piggybacking off the success of Mario Kart, Rare’s vision of a kart racing game most hits the mark and differentiates itself from its inspiration with an open world setting. The cultural appropriation is probably a bit difficult to stomach these days, but the eastern influences did set it apart from other games in 1997.
Better than mario kart
Pros: The story mode is an incredible adventure game, like, the hub world itself rivals Super Mario 64's and Banjo-Kazooie's, and this is a "racing" game. But it's so much fun to explore and discover secrets in, as you're either driving around in a go-kart, zoomin' over the waves in the hovercraft, or flying the skies in the air plane! The races are pretty fantastic too! Colorful detailed worlds with some pretty zippy track design, crafted around different vehicles, some all at once! It's not only fun, it's also very impressive! There are boss fights, lots of neat weapons and items, hidden minigames, and tons of Golden Balloons to collect. This game in many ways, surpasses Mario Kart 64!
Cons: It's a bit... cutesy? Also, Diddy Kong himself feels shoehorned in here, nothing about this game or universe feels like it's Donkey Kong Country. It feels that way, because Diddy literally was added last minute to this game... Well, I like Diddy, so it's not all that bad, but it also kinda feels cheap, and these characters would feel out of place in the world of DKC, in my opinion. Additionally, some of the later challenges are a tad annoying, silver coin and T.T. races and such. And lastly, the multiplayer isn't nearly as fun as Mario Kart 64's, especially the battle mode. It's the one area where MK64 has it beat, imo.
What it means to me: This was the first game I ever found out about online!! Before this, it was always some video game magazine like Nintendo Power. But yeah, logged onto Nintendo.com one day, saw Diddy flying an air plane, and my form of consuming gaming media was forever changed! Got this game later that year for Christmas, and had a great time playing it for weeks on end with my brothers.
Cons: It's a bit... cutesy? Also, Diddy Kong himself feels shoehorned in here, nothing about this game or universe feels like it's Donkey Kong Country. It feels that way, because Diddy literally was added last minute to this game... Well, I like Diddy, so it's not all that bad, but it also kinda feels cheap, and these characters would feel out of place in the world of DKC, in my opinion. Additionally, some of the later challenges are a tad annoying, silver coin and T.T. races and such. And lastly, the multiplayer isn't nearly as fun as Mario Kart 64's, especially the battle mode. It's the one area where MK64 has it beat, imo.
What it means to me: This was the first game I ever found out about online!! Before this, it was always some video game magazine like Nintendo Power. But yeah, logged onto Nintendo.com one day, saw Diddy flying an air plane, and my form of consuming gaming media was forever changed! Got this game later that year for Christmas, and had a great time playing it for weeks on end with my brothers.
This is better than any Mario Kart game. There, I said it.
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.
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.
I will firmly die on the hill that this game is better than Mario Kart 64.
This review contains spoilers
dkr crept up on me. i revisited it with the intention to feel some nostalgia & see what the single player was really about. at first, i was all over the place.
so many things interupted my enjoyment. 1) turning feels like it shifts you along the x axis, often times setting up for awkward positioning that feels frustrating. 2) if you bump into something, you are sent god knows where, facing whichever direction. even further, maybe you get only somewhat close to an obstacle whilst flying. might as well reset because you're hitting that obstacle & falling straight down. 3) rockets feel pretty useless, as hitting enemies (most bosses included) with projectiles literally does nothing to slow them down. 4) trying to hit taj the genie to switch vehicles? well he's doing everything in his power to prevent you from doing so. he'll turn at the last second, stop moving when you anticipate him to move, and, when you've finally bumped him, you have to hope that the game registers it as a prompt to start dialogue, because it seldom will. 5) not making clear how trophies are expected to be earned within an adventure save if progress is to be saved. this could've just been a me thing, but it was frustrating to have completed all 4 trophies to progress the story only to learn that, because i was in the track mode, none of it mattered.
BUT. then i unlocked drumstick. i started getting a hang of combining drifting & breaking to get around best. I learned how to use zippers in the most efficient way possible. i discovered the last world. it all came together when i played star city for the first time. i understood why people loved this game. that feeling of darting around, perfectly maneuvering around a level, was incredible. on top of that, of course, the music, art direction, and track/world design are all as outstanding as they are distinct from others in their genre.
and its got tip tup. what else is there to want. wake me up when mario kart puts in jungle falls, frosty village, pirate lagoon, greenwood village, and anything from future fun land.
so many things interupted my enjoyment. 1) turning feels like it shifts you along the x axis, often times setting up for awkward positioning that feels frustrating. 2) if you bump into something, you are sent god knows where, facing whichever direction. even further, maybe you get only somewhat close to an obstacle whilst flying. might as well reset because you're hitting that obstacle & falling straight down. 3) rockets feel pretty useless, as hitting enemies (most bosses included) with projectiles literally does nothing to slow them down. 4) trying to hit taj the genie to switch vehicles? well he's doing everything in his power to prevent you from doing so. he'll turn at the last second, stop moving when you anticipate him to move, and, when you've finally bumped him, you have to hope that the game registers it as a prompt to start dialogue, because it seldom will. 5) not making clear how trophies are expected to be earned within an adventure save if progress is to be saved. this could've just been a me thing, but it was frustrating to have completed all 4 trophies to progress the story only to learn that, because i was in the track mode, none of it mattered.
BUT. then i unlocked drumstick. i started getting a hang of combining drifting & breaking to get around best. I learned how to use zippers in the most efficient way possible. i discovered the last world. it all came together when i played star city for the first time. i understood why people loved this game. that feeling of darting around, perfectly maneuvering around a level, was incredible. on top of that, of course, the music, art direction, and track/world design are all as outstanding as they are distinct from others in their genre.
and its got tip tup. what else is there to want. wake me up when mario kart puts in jungle falls, frosty village, pirate lagoon, greenwood village, and anything from future fun land.
Honestly more fun / better than Mario Kart 64 for me - me and my siblings + cousins played this so dang much as kids
Better single player than MK64, but worse multiplayer. Great game.
I'm not kidding when I say this is probably the game that made me into a gamer. When other kids were all into Mario Kart 64, this is what made me beg my parents for an N64.
I will fully admit my feelings for this game are entirely based on nostalgia. But some of this game's features, from the campaign overworld to the different vehicles that let you tackle the tracks in different ways to the boss fights seemed at the time genuinely interesting and pushing the envelope for the genre.
I will fully admit my feelings for this game are entirely based on nostalgia. But some of this game's features, from the campaign overworld to the different vehicles that let you tackle the tracks in different ways to the boss fights seemed at the time genuinely interesting and pushing the envelope for the genre.
Finally, a racing game for people with no friends!
You can play as Banjo 🪕💕
I really do not like the hovercraft, and the plane is only slightly better... but who in their right mind would call this game worse than Mario Kart 64?
Pretty much all racing games on the N64 so far have the same problem: there’s not a lot of progression for a single player, and you can do everything in a couple of hours. Some of them focused on being great in multiplayer (like Mario Kart 64) but there wasn’t a lot of choice for singleplayer.
Which is where Diddy Kong Racing comes in, as it has a very meaty singleplayer campaign with an adventure mode where you find tracks within its hub world.
It’s a neat area to explore, although a lot smaller than I remember it being. You’ll find four doors with balloon requirements (which you get from winning races or finding them in the world), with a fifth world hidden until you defeat five bosses. They start out simple at first: you have to win each race individually then defeat the boss in a race. Do that, and it gets much more challenging.
You’ll be tasked with finding 8 coins in each race. However, finding them isn’t enough as you still have to win, and then defeat a harder version of the boss. Diddy Kong Racing is a difficult and brutal game and you’ll need to learn its tricks (such as letting go of the accelerator just before boosting) to have a chance of winning. Once you defeat a boss a second time, you then complete in a tournament across the four tracks. There’s also a key hidden in one level of each world to unlock a battle mode challenge. Oh, and also time trail challenges.
Once you’ve done all that and defeated the evil Wizpig, it’s time for Adventure Two. This is a mirror mode version of the game, although the silver coins are now in more difficult places. Of course, this amount of content wouldn’t be anything if the game wasn’t fun to play.
And thankfully, it is fun. Levels use three vehicles: car, hovercraft and plane. The car and plane are very easy to use, while the hovercraft is more difficult. When you repeat tracks (or choose to play outside Adventure mode), some levels let you pick your vehicle – with some restrictions on a per-level basis – and it’s great having multiple types of vehicles racing alongside each other.
One let-down in DKR are the characters. None of them are bad in terms of a design perspective – and this is the first appearance of Banjo (without Kazooie, although some of his voice clips sound like her) and Conker, but they’re a bit too varied in terms of ability, so the game’s difficulty will very a lot based on who you pick, with Pipsy being the best for hitting boosts (plus the silver coins).
The weapon system sets itself apart from other kart racers. Instead of giving you random items, the balloons providing items are colour coded for specific items. Collecting one of the same type you already have will also upgrade the item.
Diddy Kong Racing is still a great game, and the only kart game that’s come close to it for single-player is Sonic Racing Transformed (which also had three vehicle types, but it was specific to the part of the track you were on). It set itself apart from Mario Kart 64 and I actually prefer this one.
Which is where Diddy Kong Racing comes in, as it has a very meaty singleplayer campaign with an adventure mode where you find tracks within its hub world.
It’s a neat area to explore, although a lot smaller than I remember it being. You’ll find four doors with balloon requirements (which you get from winning races or finding them in the world), with a fifth world hidden until you defeat five bosses. They start out simple at first: you have to win each race individually then defeat the boss in a race. Do that, and it gets much more challenging.
You’ll be tasked with finding 8 coins in each race. However, finding them isn’t enough as you still have to win, and then defeat a harder version of the boss. Diddy Kong Racing is a difficult and brutal game and you’ll need to learn its tricks (such as letting go of the accelerator just before boosting) to have a chance of winning. Once you defeat a boss a second time, you then complete in a tournament across the four tracks. There’s also a key hidden in one level of each world to unlock a battle mode challenge. Oh, and also time trail challenges.
Once you’ve done all that and defeated the evil Wizpig, it’s time for Adventure Two. This is a mirror mode version of the game, although the silver coins are now in more difficult places. Of course, this amount of content wouldn’t be anything if the game wasn’t fun to play.
And thankfully, it is fun. Levels use three vehicles: car, hovercraft and plane. The car and plane are very easy to use, while the hovercraft is more difficult. When you repeat tracks (or choose to play outside Adventure mode), some levels let you pick your vehicle – with some restrictions on a per-level basis – and it’s great having multiple types of vehicles racing alongside each other.
One let-down in DKR are the characters. None of them are bad in terms of a design perspective – and this is the first appearance of Banjo (without Kazooie, although some of his voice clips sound like her) and Conker, but they’re a bit too varied in terms of ability, so the game’s difficulty will very a lot based on who you pick, with Pipsy being the best for hitting boosts (plus the silver coins).
The weapon system sets itself apart from other kart racers. Instead of giving you random items, the balloons providing items are colour coded for specific items. Collecting one of the same type you already have will also upgrade the item.
Diddy Kong Racing is still a great game, and the only kart game that’s come close to it for single-player is Sonic Racing Transformed (which also had three vehicle types, but it was specific to the part of the track you were on). It set itself apart from Mario Kart 64 and I actually prefer this one.
Probably the best single-player design for a mascot racing game
Most racing games give you a list of tracks to play on and you do it till your bored. This game gives you courses, collectable progression, then replayability to each one with added challenges to keep it fresh. The challenges are a good teacher for alternate paths but since you can’t watch someone else grab the coins, you kinda have to learn some mechanics on your own and back in the day, you just had that 10 page paper manual if your mom didn’t throw it out.
Most racing games give you a list of tracks to play on and you do it till your bored. This game gives you courses, collectable progression, then replayability to each one with added challenges to keep it fresh. The challenges are a good teacher for alternate paths but since you can’t watch someone else grab the coins, you kinda have to learn some mechanics on your own and back in the day, you just had that 10 page paper manual if your mom didn’t throw it out.
Like with so many games of this era, I remember me and my siblings spending long play sessions not even racing all that much but just exploring the courses, playing mostly in certain sections, or checking out odd angles and the like. Some of those tunes catchy as all hell, too, David Wise you mad man.
lol I realize rating games like this one higher than OoT/MM is ridiculous, but I honestly played and re-played most games more than I ever did those two.
lol I realize rating games like this one higher than OoT/MM is ridiculous, but I honestly played and re-played most games more than I ever did those two.
Better than Mario Kart, still holds up incredibly well today. Lots of secrets and that Rareware magic.
i MIGHT be slightly biased because this game is very sentimental to me but nonetheless, i personally feel its one of the more unique racing games out there. i find it to be more entertaining and worth more my time than mario kart for sure, probably because its partially story driven, with charming npcs, (even if they dont have much screen time), several game modes, and 3 different vehicles to use around the tracks which already gives it a big boost above some other racing games. it might not be as impressive or as packed as some other games in its era, but its casual, fun, and friendly for everyone