Diddy Kong Racing DS

All of this just works. ― Todd Howard

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Diddy Kong Racing DS is a Nintendo DS remake of the original Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64. It was released on February 5, 2007 in North America, April 19, 2007 in Australia, and April 20, 2007 in Europe.

Plot

An evil pig named Wizpig takes over a young tiger's parents' island, so Diddy and his friends compete in races to challenge and defeat him.

Bad Qualities

1. Unlike the original Nintendo 64 version, which had Banjo and Conker, the DS remake doesn't have either and they are instead replaced by Dixie Kong and Tiny Kong. This was due to the Microsoft buyout of Rare in 2002.
   • Speaking of Tiny, she has been badly redesigned from Donkey Kong 64 due to executive meddling. She went from a small and cute little girl who was fittingly Dixie's little sister, and was also tough-natured, into an older, sexualized teenager, who is still Dixie's younger sister. This decision was ironically made by Nintendo instead of Rare.
   • Despite Banjo and Conker's removal, Tiptup was featured in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, so why was he kept for the remake?
2. Bad voice acting. Diddy sounds more like a teenager than the high-pitched voice he normally has and Bubbler the Octopus' laughter whenever he passes you is very grating to listen to.
3. The DS Menu icon uses Wizpig instead of Diddy for some weird reason, likely casusing confusion amongst players who open the game.
4. The soundtrack in the DS remake, while not too terrible, is considered weaker than the Nintendo 64 version, almost like it was rushed out and as such contains some issues.
   • Instrument volumes are not lined up properly, including the synth bass which is very loud in a majority of soundtracks.
   • Everfrost Peak sounds atrocious, as the accordion is one octave higher and the whistle sounds ear-piercing.
   • Haunted Woods' theme even has a mistake involving some of the drums not playing due to the notes not being lined up correctly in the MIDI file.
   • The theme for Pirate Lagoon, which is perhaps the most popular soundtrack on the N64, was removed entirely, being the only original soundtrack with this distinction. It was replaced with a slower and calmer rendition, which is a big slap in the face to it's audience.
5. The controls are terrible. It's hard to use the Touch Screen.
6. Very slow gameplay, it can take as long as 7 minutes to finish a wish race.
7. Unlike the original, the DS version has a very long intro sequence.
8. The intro in the remake is also lazy. The original depicted the racers riding in their vehicles having fun, but the remake displays Diddy, Tiptup, and Bumper slowly riding on the top screen in their airplanes, which nothing else happening.

Good Qualities

1. The remake at least has an opening to explain the game's story.
2. There are new great soundtracks added to the game in addition to the ones returning, such as Jungle Falls, Treasure Caves, Windmill Plains, Spaceport Alpha, Strangled Shrine, and the Wish Race theme variations. On top of that, some of the soundtracks such as Ancient Lake, Hot Top Volcano, Darkmoon Caverns, and Star City still sound very decent in the DS remake.
3. The remake has a unique mini-game involving the player popping balloons.
4. The remake had WFC, allowing people to play online (which unfortunately got discontinued in 2014).
5. You can play as Taj and Wizpig in the remake, a feature originally intended for the former on the N64.