"A Donkey Kong related game that doesn't even have Donkey Kong himself. Bizarre."

Well ladies and gentlemen, let's face it, Donkey Kong has done it all. You've seen Donkey Kong kidnap pretty ladies, embark on many grand adventures through the island of DK Island just to rescue those who are dearest to him from the evil Kremling army, hell, he's even achieved his own "state of the art" computer generated cartoon show that aired for two seasons in the mid to late 90's. He's made Nintendo more money than god himself and kept us all happy with his fun games and merchandise that we all just begged our parents for constantly. Donkey Kong just can't be stopped. What could he possibly still have yet to accomplish?

Two words: Racing game.

It makes sense really because if Mario, Nintendo's main mascot was allowed to star in TWO racing games named 'oh so creatively' Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64, then surly Donkey Kong, after so many hit games deserves his own racing game as well, set with as much Donkey Kong related themes and backgrounds that we have come to love, all the characters, friend or foe, that we could possibly handle. Right?

Ya, that's what you might have expected at first back in the mid 90's, but nope, Rare decided to shove Donkey Kong ‘s popular ass aside and instead went for his lesser known, yet way cooler in every imaginable way sidekick Diddy to star in his very own original racing game. Forget DK Island or the Kremlings or even the rest of the Donkey Kong cast you've grown up with. Instead, the mockingly named Diddy Kong Racing takes place on some unnamed island, populated with brand new characters which, in 1997, I have never heard of before. I remember getting the game for Christmas and just asking who some of the characters were and why they were in a Donkey Kong related game. It wasn't until later until I actually found out later that most of these characters were to appear in other Rare games and that in a way, Diddy Kong Racing was sort of like a pre-expositor game for these characters so we wouldn't question why or how they got their games in the first place.

Anyway, that being said, Diddy Kong racing is pretty what you would expect it is if you played Mario Kart 64, pretty much down to the ever complex power up system, or the detailed, adventurous level designs, complete with pretty colors and appropriate music that you would happen to find in said level. The only real difference in this game from Mario Kart 64 is that the single player game is an adventure mode where you travel from four themed lands to finally race the big, bad boss in the end. Nothing new, but then again, who the hell would ever to think of putting a story in a racing game?

It's hard to decide whether or not I liked this system anyways. Sure, it's nice that the game lets you play these levels in any which order you want, as well as a hidden one player multiplayer style of level , while at the same time enjoying the detailed and rather clique scenery. On the other hand though, this kind of reduces the challenge to a degree, seeing as how if you manage to place under 1st, all can just try it over and over again until you win, which is something that will come in handy when later in the game, after you defeat a sub-boss of course, you have to compete in silver coin challenges, which by the way, are ruthlessly aggressive and unforgiving. Not only do you have to place 1st, but you also have to collect eight silver coins (duh!), and some of these spots that these coins are in are just absolutely ridiculous and deranged. God, I can remember being nine years old, playing the game every single day after school trying to beat every single one of these damn races, only to break down in anger and tears when I kept loosing. Ah, such horrible childhood memories they really are, and I'll be dammed if I have to live them again.

Still, at least the controls are nice and responsive and hardly ever really screw with you...in most cases that is. For example, out of all three different vehicle types that you can control, the car is, bar none, the stillest and unresponsive thing I've have encountered in any racing game, ever, and that's no joke. Don't ever bother learning how to power slide in this game because it's damn near impossible, especially with specific characters that have ulcer causing, controlling smashing handling. Compare that with Mario Kart 64, which I think worked better because for one thing, the corners are far more gradual, and second, the power sliding actually works to your advantage in most cases. This, on the other hand, is just a complete waste of programming talent.

Then again, as with most game made by Rare for the Nintendo 64, the multiplayer is crucial, and luckily, this game delivers. Maybe not on the same aspect as Mario Kart 64, but it's still pretty damn enjoyable. Like MK64, you have the ability to race up against three other players in either death match or collection type of games, or race against each other and brag how you're so good at the game, while the rest of them just grumble and swear at you...or at least that's what I did when I kept getting 4th all the time.

The game does have some sense of re-playability, mostly because how a lot of these levels are rather interesting and creatively deigned much like Beetle Adventure racing, but far more kid friendly. Hell, I even own two copies of this game (why, I don't remember), and I don't plan on selling them anytime soon.

Good game, but man, I still think they really screwed Donkey Kong with this one.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/17/11, Updated 03/05/12

Game Release: Diddy Kong Racing (US, 11/14/97)