Diddy Kong Racing

Rare - 1997 - N64/DS

I unfortunately recently lost a family member who was very important to me. I don't think this person quite had the intense passion for gaming that I do, but he was always down to play whatever I was into at the time, and that was awesome. I was trying to think of just one game to pick that we shared together growing up, but there were so many. I can clearly remember Christmas of 1997 when I first got my N64 with Diddy Kong Racing. I don't think I've ever been so excited in my life. I was pretty much this kid. I remember all of the sleepovers we had in the following weeks where we played battle mode and co-op and took turns trying to beat the various bosses in this game. Good times. Good memories. I'm sure you've got much better things to do now than read video game blogs, but in any case, Jay Wolf: This one's for you.

So usually when I write these reviews, I'm either reviewing a game that I've played so many times that I've committed it to memory, or it's a game that I've just finished and it's fresh in my mind. Neither one is really true of Diddy Kong Racing for me, but I played it a ton when it came out and I replayed it about 5 years ago in college. I'll be drawing on old memories for this one, so if I exclude a few details here and there, forgive me. Okay one quick thing before I begin: Is it just childhood nostalgia or did some of the best games ever come out during the N64/PS1 era? Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Bros, Tomb Raider, GoldenEye, Final Fantasy 7-9 etc. It's not just me, right? These are HUGELY influential games. I'm not saying Diddy Kong Racing quite belongs with these titles, but I feel like even the "B" games from this era are better than today's "B" games, no?

Diddy Kong Racing was released for the Nintendo 64 in November of 1997. It was actually developed by Rare under the title Pro Am 64 and had absolutely nothing to do with any Nintendo characters until Shigeru Miyamoto saw the game and, at the last second, suggested adding Diddy Kong as the game's mascot to try to boost sales. It worked, and Diddy Kong Racing became one of the best selling N64 titles and was later remade for the Nintendo DS. This was actually also the debut appearances for the Rare characters Banjo the Bear and Conker the Squirrel who went on to star in Banjo Kazooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day, respectively. Both of those games were also pretty awesome. It tickles me quite a bit that Conker, the mischievous, foul-mouthed alcoholic squirrel got his start in Diddy Kong Racing, a game marketed for kids with an "Everyone" ESRB rating.

I don't normally care for racing games. Especially the ones that try to be hyper-realistic. I went over my feelings on realism in sports games in my Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball review. I like racing games like Mario Kart or Diddy Kong Racing that add excitement to racing games by adding weapons and ridiculous hazards and absurd level design. I'm sure racing purists will disagree, but these games are my jam. The main way Diddy Kong Racing sets itself apart from Mario Kart 64 is with multiple vehicle types. Not only are there cars, but planes and hovercrafts are selectable on most levels as well. Hovercrafts are a little harder to control than cars, but there may be shortcuts in some levels accessible only by hovercraft. Or you can choose to take to the air, but doing so may require some finesse and skilled piloting in close quarters, plus planes have slow acceleration, if I recall correctly. In addition to the variety of vehicles and weapons, there are some cool secrets with the game that reward skillful technical play. Pro tip: Take your finger off of the accelerator when going over a boost. You'll go faster. Or if you're really good, power-slide into a boost while driving a car AND take your finger off of the accelerator. You'll go crazy fast. You can also optionally try to collect stray bananas while racing to increase your top speed. The neat little tricks like this add polish and depth to the game.

In addition to just racing with friends, DKR has a pretty cool battle mode. I'm not sure I like it as much as Mario Kart 64, but it certainly feels more customizable and fleshed out. In addition to a deathmatch mode, there's a sort of capture the flag mode where you compete over possession of certain items and try to bring them back to your base. DKR also has a pretty excellent single player adventure mode which is definitely better than Mario Kart 64's single player. Instead of just racing track after track, DKR's single player combats repetitiveness by offering different challenges for you to complete like collecting hidden coins while racing or defeating super-fast bosses in races through special tracks. Exploring the race tracks and the "hub world" that connects them is highly encouraged and the game world is pretty interesting and well designed for a racing game. There are some cool unlockables and secrets that can only be found through careful exploration. And the soundtrack. Oh, the soundtrack. Even after not playing this game for many years, I can still whistle along to all of the catchy tracks. David Wise, the Donkey Kong Country composer, returned to work his magic on the DKR soundtrack. Pirate Lagoon, Frosty Village and Ancient Lake are some of my favorites.

Summary:
If you like the Mario Kart games and are looking for something similar, check out Diddy Kong Racing. The single player is a little more fleshed out than Mario Kart's and I believe you can actually play some of the single player missions cooperatively with two people, if memory serves. I've never played the DS version, so I can't vouch for that. But if you can dig up an N64 and a working copy of this game, you're in for a good time. It's an extremely solid and polished racing game.