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Aussie Ben's Diddy Kong Racing Review
Springing out of nowhere near the end of 1997, Diddy Kong Racing is certainly a visual feast. Whether it be a giant stone pig head carved into a wall (which you can fly past without any slowdown!), Diddy Kong's remarkably shiny hat, incredibly huge boss characters or the fully polygonal racers themselves(unlike Mario Kart 64, which used sprites for their racers), Diddy Kong Racing excels in the graphical field. Graphically impressive areas include the icy loop-the-loop of Walrus Cove, Whale Bay (with whales!) and the whole of Future Fun Land, a tough to find world, but well worth it. DKR is the first game to use Rare's RDA technology (I'm not quite sure what it does, but with an abbreviation like that, it must be impressive), providing smooth, fast racing action - essential in a title like this.
9.5
Diddy Kong Racing's soundtrack is permanently burnt into my brain. I love this soundtrack. It features some of the greatest game music I've heard, and all blends in perfectly to each area. The music is dynamic too, meaning that it changes depending on where you are (an excellent example of this is Boulder Canyon in Dragon Forest - the happy tune changes to a militant march when you enter the castle, and then back to the sunny cheery tune). Other notable tunes are the Boss Challenge tunes, which will have you abusing the television in frustration as you hum the tune again and again and again... all because you can't beat that cheating bastard Smokey. YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHEATING! YOU TAKE OFF BEFORE T.T. SAYS 'GO!' Yes. *cough*
The character voices are also performed wonderfully (anything that Tiptup says is an instant classic, and everyone loves Krunch), especially when you get to see Conker live in his pre-perverted state (Yee-ha-ha!), and the evil, vile mind of Pipsy the Mouse.
10.0
Executed brilliantly. MUCH more thought and detail has gone into DKR's controls than into Mario Kart 64's, and this can plainly be seen as soon as you play it. There are lots of sneaky tricks to get the maximum amount of boost from your vehicle, and rather than selecting a random item, Item Balloons have been assigned specific colours which give you specific items. These items also have the option of being upgraded. So, it's up to you - do you keep the homing missile for the leader of the pack? Or do you upgrade to a multi-pack of 10 missiles which could allow you to take out the entire bunch of racers if your aim is good? It's up to you.
Speaking of vehicles, there are three to choose from - car, hovercraft or plane. The characters fare differently in each, with the lightweights being thrown about in the hovercraft most noticably. Each vehicle has its own set of tricks to pull off, too - the car can power slide or sharp turn (which literally turns on a dime), the plane can barrel roll or loop-the-loop and all vehicles are able to pull off trick turbo boosts.
The only thing that I found unfair about Diddy Kong Racing was that the characters attributes didn't seem to be balanced out evenly. For example, Pipsy and Tiptup were excellent in two out of three vehicles, giving high speed and acceleration, wheras Banjo and Krunch had the potential for high acceleration, but were left biting the others' dust because of their heavy, heavy, heavy attributes which made them extremely slow to start off and gain top speed - not to mention that you can forget it if they go offroad. Which is a shame, because Banjo's yokel "hyucks" and Krunch's nasty "Huhh huhh!" were especially funny to hear.
9.0
To this day, I don't understand those who criticize DKR for its 'lack of originality'. Especially those who go as far to say that it's a 'Mario Kart 64 clone'. What doesn't impress me with Mario Kart is that once you've beaten the Grand Prix mode, that's it. Nothing more. Wheras in Diddy Kong Racing, there's secret characters and worlds to unlock, bosses to beat, multiple challenges including the Silver Coin Challenge, along with Trophy Races. And while getting one of the secret characters may not be so difficult, for the other, Rare really makes you work. And then, after all that, there's Adventure Two to master, with Platinum Balloons to collect, mirrored tracks and AI of Deep Blue intelligence. If you can truly finish all of that, then - oh, wait. There's still the developer's times to polish off. What do you get for beating those? Bragging rights.
Like I was saying, if you manage to beat all of that, then Mario Kart will prove to be nothing more than a novice's challenge, whereas Crash Team Racing (heaven forbid) won't even make you break a sweat. You'll get your money's worth out of Diddy Kong Racing, that's for sure.
10.0
Overall? I love this game. I love it. I love the music, I love the characters, I love the tracks, I love the gameplay, I love the tricks, I love Tiptup, I love the voices, I love the bosses, I love the most stereotypical genie you've ever seen and I love the disturbing animated stopwatch who could very well be the next Moon Face. There is not an aspect of this game that you could not love. If you do not yet own this game, shame on you. You should love the price.
Diddy Kong Racing deserves your love. Give it your love. Give it to the characters. Especially to Bumper and his huge red sterilized rubber gloves - perfect for enemas.
10.0
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