Today I’m taking a look back at Diddy Kong Racing, which was one of the best racing games on N64. But it’s not just a typical kart racer, it has a number of adventure game elements. Not only are there are boss battles and many unlockables, but there is a large hub world that connects all of the courses, and it’s fun to just go around exploring.
You weren’t limited to just using a car; you could also control a hovercraft or a plane. To change vehicles, you would honk your horn at the genie.
You could choose from a number of characters, including Diddy Kong (naturally) and Banjo from Banjo-Kazooie. Conker the squirrel was also included, although this was before Conker had his bad-guy makeover in Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Some of the characters have some hilarious voices; Krunch sounds just like Krusty The Clown from The Simpsons. I had a lot of fun just playing around with the voices at the character selection scene. Here’s a short video to show what I mean.
As with most of Rare’s N64 games, Diddy Kong Racing also has some great music. Not only was the adventure mode outstanding, but the multiplayer games are also a lot of fun. My favorite was Fire Mountain, where each player has to steal eggs and take them to their own nest. Hatch three eggs first to win. Players can steal other players’ eggs, and of course you can still use power-up weapons to attack each other as well.
The race courses are well-designed and fun to play. Diddy Kong Racing wasn’t just a Mario Kart clone; it took the genre to a new level and I think it even outshined Nintendo’s own Mario Kart 64.