Diddy Kong Racing DS

"An enhanced version of an N64 game? Is this game up to par?"

Diddy Kong Racing started on the Nintendo 64, it was the only kart racing game that could rival Mario Kart and it still does today but does its DS version live up to its old version?

Well, it certainly does things better than Mario Kart, which I will explain in the later chapters.
(Warning! THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS)

GRAPHICS (8/10):
The graphics are DS standard but much more detailed than the N64 one, though most things are still 2-D but oh well, probably to save polygons or something.

CHARACTERS (8/10):
Another 8/10?! Are you mad, Conchris?! Of course not, the characters themselves are pretty much detailed nicely even though they axed Banjo and Conker (can't blame them), the two were replaced by Dixie and Tiny Kong, who has the same stats as Diddy Kong.

The voices of the characters have changed and to be honest, I don't really like them a bit, I mean, they're bearable but it can be annoying at the time. Taj doesn't sound like someone from India anymore and now sounds more gravily voiced. Don't believe me? Try adventure mode or play as him.

Did I say PLAY AS HIM?! Yes, I did, there are 2 new characters to play as: Wizpig and Taj. They both have the same stats and are your rewards for beating Adventure (Taj) and Adventure 2 (Wizpig).

You still have your two other unlockables called Drumstick and T.T., which are easy and hard to unlock respectively.

The bosses are also detailed even though they nearly lack a voice (I preferred their N64 introductions). So yeah, that's all there is.

COURSES (7/10):
A 7. Why? Because I said so. The courses have changed dramatically, including Ancient Lake, the first track you'll be able to drive in. There are also FOUR new courses to unlock (by buying them with coins from Taj) and play on. Nothing much.

Except some boss areas are now nearly empty, for example, Tricky's boss stage has no boulders and pillars and Wizpig's boss stages have a lack of darkness (Wizpig 1) and obstacles (Wizpig 2), respectively.

Most are also made easier, probably to fit with the new generation.

VEHICLES (6/10):
Scraped an above-average. Why? Because of what I'm about to say in a moment. Anyway, you've got three vehicles: A car, a hovercraft and a plane.

You can drive in one of them, most courses allow you to use any and some limit the vehicles, like Boulder Canyon limiting the vehicles to just a hovercraft.

The car just handles and drives like a normal kart, it can drift and all that, it's also one of the least slipperiest of the vehicles.

The plane is the only flying vehicle in the game, which is cool. It's a little bit harder to handle but that's okay. But it's terrible at acceleration, especially after being hit.

The hovercraft has just got to be the most annoying vehicle in the game. It slips and slides like it's drifting all the time and is HARD TO CONTROL. Its handling sucks and is too slippery. For example, to turn, you need to turn hard or turn before the turn itself, but turning too much will make you either slow down or turn around, which sucks when there are other oppenents behind you.

Thanks to the Hovercraft (I've cleared all of its stages INCLUDING THE TIME TRIAL ONES!), the score dropped to 6.

DIFFICULTY (6/10):
DIFFICULTY IS 6/10?! It's easier/harder than that, Conchris! Really?

Anyway, I've cleared Adventure AND Adventure 2 in under a day, games like Pokemon Ranger take longer to finish. The adventure mode is shorter because the stupid Coin Challenge (I hated that thing, grab all the coins and win, yeah, I had to be lucky to win) is now optional and replaced by the Balloon Touch, which by most people sucks. I don't find it sucky or hard to control but I'll leave it to the minigames section.

Anyway, Wizpig is now a joke and the bosses are even more of a joke, T.T. is the only challenging opponent (in Time Trials, Wish races? Not so much).

But since the Hovercraft sucks, it boosted the rating from 3 to 6, mainly because the hovercraft is slippery and too turn insensitive.

MINIGAMES (8/10):
Back to 8s, now are we? Yes, anyway, for minigames, you've got touch challenges. The main story one is the Balloon Touch Challenge.

The Balloon Touch Challenge forces you to ride a magic carpet around a course ONCE whilst popping balloons and going over Bronze's requirement. You really only need to get Bronze to pass, Gold is only really needed to get the coin challenges for the new courses.

The camera in the Balloon Touch challenge is controlled by dragging the stylus on the screen, you may need to do it quickly, which may make your hand ache, but not as much as other hand aching games (Pokemon Ranger comes to mind). You pop balloons by tapping them and you get coins by dragging them to the pouch, all in all, this is probably easy.

The touch challenges for the bosses are hard to learn but quick to master afterwards, even if you use someone that is not T.T., you'll still be able to own the bosses once you've mastered it. It's not really necessary but you can do it for an easy 800 coins (including both adventures).

The wish races are jokes, you unlock them with a key and then you beat T.T on a predetermined (The forest Wish Race being not predetermined) track after drawing. T.T usually falls off the course, making him an absolute joke to race with. Not good.

And finally the Taj Challenges, the challenges set by Taj are your plain races but there are some new ones. One of them requires the use of your mic. Another needs you to race against Taj for tokens. All in all, its a tiny bit gimmicky but it serves well. But it is mandatory for you to complete them, which becomes annoying after finishing Future Fun Land (without beating Wizpig 2).

MISCELLANEOUS (7/10):
Anyway, let's move on to the other ones. This is mostly what Diddy Kong Racing DS bests Mario Kart DS. One, in Single Card play, you can choose a character that the host has unlocked themselves. In Mario Kart DS, you're forced to race as a ShyGuy.

You can have EIGHT players in a single Wi-Fi race, whilst Mario Kart DS allows FOUR. Although I did hear that the Wi-Fi Lobby for Diddy Kong Racing DS is virtually empty.

Despite that, it's good.

Anyway, the next one is the Wish Race, which allows you to create your own track in a bland cloud setting, it's good for a while but it's not really interesting.

Next is the awful Coin Challenges, they're optional but they now have NO REWARDS whatsoever, that's even worse than getting a single Gold Balloon! The coins are smaller and are either hard or easy to get, depending on track.

OVERALL:
8+8+7+6+6+8+7 = 50/80 = 0.625 is rounded down to: 60% = 6/10 + 2 for being a tiny bit better than the N64 original.

Overall, this game isn't so bad. It has its flaws and all but whatever. There really isn't much left to say.

RENT OR BUY?
If you liked the original and thought that this one is better, then rent it first, then buy it if you like it.

If you're just new to the DS, rent first then buy.

Then again, I'm not one to control your every whim, it's YOUR CHOICE. Not mine. If you want to read more reviews before renting/buying, go ahead.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/04/07