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 orbounce 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.
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
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.
18 Comments
@DeltaWDunn No, only the first one, which is not nearly as good as Transformed.
Out of all the kart racers during the boom in this era, this (alongside Chocobo Racing and CTR) is among the top of the list to dabble in when I get into that mindset. I have next to no experience with this one, and I like a lot of what I've seen over the years. A shame the only thing done with this idea is uh... that Banjo-Pilot game on the GBA and the DS remake/remix thing...
Always thought we needed a new one of these, really fun game.
Really nice review, especially the banjo part. The part about your grandpa stuck with me, reminds me of my grandpa and me playing fucking Frogger 2 Swampy’s Revenge. A monkey piloting a plane would be cool as hell though (if he was good at it), can’t agree with that part.
@BlazingWaters I still haven't played Chocobo Racing, and I really ought to. I think we can all agree though that kart racing as a genre really came into its own with Super Bombad Racing.
@appreciations It's a shame the rights are so tangled up that it just isn't realistic. A spiritual successor would be good but I'm not sure anyone out there feels passionately enough. I say you and I get ripshit on Four Loko and do it ourselves.
@hilda Next you'll be saying they should give kremlings driver's liceses! At least we can bond over being mean to Banjo.
@curse My parents had an extreme disinterest in my hobbies, but my grandpa really liked video games and played them a lot in his spare time. I have a lot of very fond memories of playing games together with him, and a few in particular I now hold in very high regard because of it (Diddy Kong Racing being one, but especially Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario Bros., Star Fox 64 and Mega Man 4.) He passed a few years ago from lung cancer, over two decades after I convinced him to quit, but before he did he sent me all the games and systems we played together. So it was nice going back to this and being able to play the same cart on the same console with the same controller. I've mentioned all this stuff in other reviews but it's been a whlie, and I'm trying not to get overly sentimental in a review for the funny monkey racing game cause that's just a little bit too silly, but yeah. Love this one, warts and all.
@appreciations It's a shame the rights are so tangled up that it just isn't realistic. A spiritual successor would be good but I'm not sure anyone out there feels passionately enough. I say you and I get ripshit on Four Loko and do it ourselves.
@hilda Next you'll be saying they should give kremlings driver's liceses! At least we can bond over being mean to Banjo.
@curse My parents had an extreme disinterest in my hobbies, but my grandpa really liked video games and played them a lot in his spare time. I have a lot of very fond memories of playing games together with him, and a few in particular I now hold in very high regard because of it (Diddy Kong Racing being one, but especially Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario Bros., Star Fox 64 and Mega Man 4.) He passed a few years ago from lung cancer, over two decades after I convinced him to quit, but before he did he sent me all the games and systems we played together. So it was nice going back to this and being able to play the same cart on the same console with the same controller. I've mentioned all this stuff in other reviews but it's been a whlie, and I'm trying not to get overly sentimental in a review for the funny monkey racing game cause that's just a little bit too silly, but yeah. Love this one, warts and all.
quit smoking*.
@Weatherby I’ll be around to bully that fake ass bear any day, and if kremlings can control mine carts, then cars are okay in my book. I’m sorry about your grandpa, mine also passed recently, and I didn’t get much of his besides a boxed intellivision that probably doesn’t work anymore but I’m happy with it on my shelf forever
@Weatherby I wanna test it real bad but my parents threw my CRT away so it'll be a few more years at best...
@curse Frogger 2 is my Frogger, not uncanny busting Frogger
@curse Frogger 2 is my Frogger, not uncanny busting Frogger
Frogger should not be busting under any circumstance
@Snigglegros @MPK92 whatever you 2 thought of can't be as bad the reality of our situation here
@Weatherby Ah, ok. I heard he was in some Sonic racing game.
@Snigglegros framing this comment
Frogger did in fact say this, and he did in fact bust canonically.
I FORGOT HE SAID THAT
Frogger Fucks
DeltaWDunn
11 months ago