Diddy Kong Racing
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 A Wild Racing Adventure!
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Diddy Kong Racing is a racing video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released on November 14, 1997 in Japan, November 21, 1997 in Europe and November 24, 1997 in North America. A Nintendo DS remake entitled Diddy Kong Racing DS was released on February 5, 2007 in North America, April 19, 2007 in Australia, and April 20, 2007 in Europe.
Plot
The game is set in "Timber's Island" and revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends' attempt to defeat the intergalactic pig-wizard antagonist, Wizpig, through winning a series of races.
Why It Rocks
- You can choose between three vehicles, a car, a hovercraft, and a plane. Each vehicle has their own differences, making them unique.
- The game has a plot, a hub world, and bosses, which are some things that other racing games at the time didn't have.
- Taj will give you Vehicle Challenges each time you clear or make progress in a different zone.
- Pressing the acceleration button rapidly (A button) can make the car or plane go faster if done correctly.
- Very enjoyable gameplay like Crash Team Racing.
- Sometimes when the AI has a rocket or a homing missile, they wait until you shoot or play your horn only if you are in a higher position.
- An amazing soundtrack at high quality considering the limitations of the N64, and the DS soundtrack is average depending on your view.
- The game has voice acting, giving the characters some sort of personality. It's better on the N64.
- The Time Trials against T.T. ghost provide a decent challenge to unlock the fastest character.
- One specific map in each zone have a hidden key that opens a fifth map required to open the T.T. Door that leads to the final race and those can be very fun to beat.
- There's a specific frog in the hub that can unlock a secret character!
- The game introduces Banjo and Conker, who would go on to be Rare's most iconic characters. It would also introduce Tiptup, who would appear in the Banjo-Kazooie games.
- Very colorful and charming graphics.
- After you defeat Wizpig (Not to be confused with the one from Angry Birds Epic) in Future Fun Land, you'll unlock a new mode known as Adventure 2, which is a harder version of Adventure Mode with flipped tracks.
- When the credits roll, the game gives you cheat codes for a brief moment.
- Enjoyable multiplayer, specially the battle arenas.
- Some of the cheat codes are funny to read.
Bad Qualities
- The DS version of the game is an inferior in comparison to the original version.
- None of the boss characters have any sort of personality.
- The Trophy Race mode doesn't offer much of a challenge.
- The bosses say almost the same things in the cutscenes with little to no variations.
- Future Fun Land doesn't have a hidden key, therefore it has no Battle or Wish map.
- The Silver Coin Challenges can be a little annoying.
- You can't skip the cutscenes while playing Adventure Two.
- Despite being a quality title, the game was unfortunately rushed out by Nintendo due to Rare's Banjo-Kazooie not being ready at the time and had this game as a replacement. This resulted in some of the mechanics in the game to not be properly well implemented.
Reception
Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64 was critically acclaimed for it's graphic, audio, and controls, selling 4.8 million copiies, making it the eighth bestselling Nintendo 64 game. However, the DS remake received mixed reviews, with criticism directed towards the horrible touch screen gimmicks.