Diddy Kong Racing

"The Christmas surprise of 1997"

Without a doubt, Christmas time is by far the most lucrative time of the year for video game publishers, which explains the high number of AAA quality titles we´re being treated with every year for our joy over the Christmas holidays. Especially Nintendo was well known in the 90s for exploiting the consumer´s willingness to spend quite some money on video games either for themselves or for their kids by presenting the annual Christmas blockbuster, as I like to call it. In 1994, for example, we had the pleasure of receiving "Donkey Kong Country" as the Christmas-time-release game to tower of almost every other title on any console. The next two years were being followed by the continuations of "Donkey Kong Country" as Nintendo´s moneymakers, but as for 1997, things looked kinda grim. Software support for the new Nintendo 64 was not exactly looking bright to say the least, and the potential top games had been delayed earlier in that year already: "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" to a release near the end of 1998, Rare´s "Banjo-Kazooie" to a release in summer 1998...and Nintendo themselves were not able to come up with a proper replacement, so it initially appeared to be a sad Christmas for Nintendo 64 owners...at least until the video game wizards of Rare surprised us all with their very own Mario Kart clone named "Diddy Kong Racing", a game that had been revealed only a few months before its 1997 Christmas release. And it turned out to be exactly the kind of Christmas surprise gift we all would love to receive.

I already mentioned that this game is a rival to Mario Kart, so it´s needless to say that we´re talking about a kart-/fun-racer, but more on that later. First of all, it´s worth mentioning that there is indeed a storyline in this game, unlike in Mario´s countless Kart adventures, even though it turns out to be more of an excuse for driving through this game rather than a proper tale, but considering the cast, this is not really a surprise: while Mario Kart features our beloved character from the Mario universe, Rare took a similar approach with "Diddy Kong Racing" as well, which means that you will encounter some familiar faces in the character selection menu. Examples include good old Diddy Kong from the Donkey Kong Country series as well as the first appearance of Banjo in a video game (some sort of a teaser for the then-upcoming "Banjo-Kazooie") and an early version of the cute little squirrel Conker, protagonist of another Rare game in development back then (looking at the final product called "Conker´s Bad Fur Day" that came 4 years later, it´s a pretty nice example of how radical developers can be when changing their mind about their own games...). Just looking at the box art of the game underlines this incredible cutesy factor (to an extent that some hardcore games might be getting sick from seeing all those bright colors and happy anthropomorphized animals...) of the game, but let´s come to the meat of the game already: the gameplay, of course...and much to everyone´s surprise, "Diddy Kong Racing" did not turn out to be a mere Mario Kart clone in this regard. While it´s true that you´re still driving on several race tracks in order to snatch one of the first three ranks, it´s the way the game is being outlined that makes it so different from Mario Kart. It´s not just race after race after race here. Instead, there´s a real overworld you can drive over with your kart, much like Peach´s castle in "Super Mario 64" or Grumpy´s hideout in "Banjo-Kazooie". Just like in these two Jump and Run games, you can access the different race tracks via this worldmap, each of them being part of one bigger racing stage, so to speak, with a boss enemy awaiting you at the end of each stage. In order to beat them, you simply have to race against them and win...but mind you, this is not exactly a piece of cake. On the contrary, it might be a little too much for younger gamers (the audience this game definitely was being aimed at in view of the character designs), and especially the last boss fight requires a lot of patience and skill. The normal race sequences are rock solid, though, featuring tons of creative designs, small but wonderful details as well as perfect layouts of the race tracks as far as the placement of obstacles and bonus items goes, and I have to admit that the track designs easily surpass those of "Mario Kart 64" in terms of sheer creativity and beauty. Like every good fun racer, "Diddy Kong Racing" also features some intriguing multiplayer modes that are a joy to play, including some "deathmatch" like duel modes similar to those in Mario Kart. To conclude the gameplay section, I can safely say that Rare beat the almighty Nintendo original in terms of gameplay, and as of today, it still stands as the most ejoyable fun racer on the N64.

For a Nintendo 64 game of 1997, the graphics definitely are among the best on the entire system, featuring a constant framerate, a colorful setting, cute character models and even a good view at the horizon at each point in the game (which is not a given fact on the system, unfortunately). All that remains to be said is that Rare did a great job with the visuals in this game, just like with their other Nintendo 64 outings.

As for the music, on the other hand, your enjoyment of this aspect will depend on your own preferences. In order to fit the cute setting of the game, Rare also composed some overly sweet tunes that might be too much for some once again, but there´s no doubt about their high audio quality nonetheless, and most importantly, they do a great job underlining the atmosphere of the game. There are a few voice samples spread throughout the game, too, and I am sorry to say that I found them pretty annoying in the end, even though you can´t deny that there´s a certain charm to Banjo´s dumb way of introducing himself...anyway, the sound still remains a strong point of the game nonetheless.

"Diddy Kong Racing" is indeed the game that saved Christmas for Nintendo in 1997, and considering that the announcement of the game was such a huge surprise as well as the fact that it was released only about two or three months after its initial announcement, the quality that is being portrayed here is simply stunning and a testament to Rare as the most creative developer on the Nintendo 64 next to Nintendo themselves. If you´ve never played it before and have even the slightest interest in fun racers, then go for it! You can´t go wrong with Rare in their glorious Nintendo 64 days.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/06/07