"Better than Mario Kart? Yes, indeed."

Introduction- Diddy Kong Racing is Rare's answer to Mario Kart 64 starring Nintendo's Diddy Kong and a host of Rare characters such as Banjo from Banjo-Kazooie, Conker from Conker's Bad Fur Day in a nicer mood, Tiptup the Turtle, and a few original creations by Rare. This kart racer also featured the ability to move freely in a 3D environment for the game's Adventure mode. Also, it featured multiplayer races with different vehicles such as cars, hovercrafts, and planes, several battle stages with different sets of rules or just pure racing acion with your friends.

Story- Diddy Kong receives an invitation to a racing competition on Timber's Island, home to his good friend, Timber the Tiger. After saying good-bye to Donkey Kong and friends, he departures to the island. Krunch, one of the Kremlings, follows Diddy Kong for some dastardly plot by King K. Rool. As they reach the island, they start finding trouble around the area. Taj the Genie has been evicted from his home, as well as other characters such as T.T. and Pipsy the Mouse. The reason? An intergalactic bully known as Wizpig. Now, Diddy and friends test each other against each other and the Island Guardians in order to stop Wizpig once and for all.

Gameplay- In Adventure Mode, you control your character's kart freely within a island environment. There are 4 zones to access from the island, but they can only be accessed by finding and earning Golden Balloons. Once you enter a world, you can play the area's racetracks if you have enough balloons to access it. Winning races earns you more balloons for greater access. Completing every race in an area will give you a chance to face the area's Guardian in a race. This will have to be done on all 4 zones of the island. Not every race will a kart race either, as depending on the environment, you may use a hovercraft for water courses, or an airplane for aerial-type courses. Also available from an area is a Trophy Race, where you play all of the area's tracks grand-prix style in order to earn trophies. Another feature is the area's Battle Course where you have to complete a certain objective before your opponents do. However, you need to find a key for every challenge in one of the area's courses in order to access them. Defeating an Area Guardian forces you to complete all of the tracks again but with the addition of a Silver Coin Challenge. You have to collect 8 coins in each stage and win in order to face the Guardian again for a special prize. You can also do Time Trials for each course during Adventure Mode or the Selection Screen. You can use these to improve your racing on certain courses.

Graphics/Sound- The graphics are stunning as usual by most Rare games on the N64. Race courses look fantastic and perform smoothly without slowdown for the most part. Characters look great and the added voice samples renders them completely hilarious. Subtle effects such as tire tracks add to the realism of the game, if there is any. The music is a bit forgettable, but you won't be missing much if you ignore it.

Recommendation- This is a must buy for the N64. This is one of the best racing games you'll find on the N64 even surpassing Mario Kart 64. Don't miss this game, buy it now at your local store!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/06