Just curious, got this game for myself recently and not sure what to think of it.
I may have sat with a tape recorder with the fame on pause way back when I was a kid…
Dodedodedo dodododedododooo dodedodedodeeedeedeedooo
I can hear this
DIDDY KONG RACING
PRESS START!
ahead of its time
offering land , water and sky races and having a story mode with a map that you drive around in and race "Bosses" and unlock new areas to explore was something NFS and Midnight Club eventually used as well
its a better game then Mario Kart 64 and is more challenging as well
the roster just does not have as many recognizable faces as Mario Kart but that doesn't effect the gameplay or quality of the game
Plus having in race objectives like finding keys, etc really added depth and replayability
Agreed. It’s better than Mario Kart in every conceivable metric. Hands. Down.
Imo Mario Kart is much more fun playing multiplayer than Diddy Kong Racing. DKR destroys MK64 every other way though.
Not to mention that Diddy Kong is very laggy in split screen, and Mario Kart is pretty smooth.
This was my biggest gripe about the game.
I'm always a little disappointed by the limited items in Diddy Kong. Other than that, I love it to death.
I think that's the general consensus just because Mario Kart was more friendly to beginners since it had more rubber banding. Items in DKR are not randomized, so newer players would get destroyed until they could "get good". In MK64, those who are behind always get the best items. I'd rather play DKR, but I understand why MK64 was more popular.
The funny thing is people always forget about Mikey's Speedway USA which is also by Rare, uses the DKR engine, and it is a bit of a mix a both DKR and Mario Kart 64. Random weapon boxes but more emphasis on racing then combat.
But it's a Disney Licensed game, released late into the N64's life. It's worth a try for anyone who hasn't played it before and likes Kart racers.
The Glenn Plant review is a pretty fair overview of the game. https://youtu.be/N1mYAEvVNu4?si=1_f9GvQr3czuRwWo
Then this one by TGX goes more in depth. https://youtu.be/JVpQRaFBU9Y?si=bzUbci-BDmiAlMz_
I know it’s not N64 but imo Crash Team Racing was a good mix of those strong points
CTR was the best kart racer of its time. DKR was right behind it. Mario kart just was more popular
I agree. I really prefer the drift mechanic in CTR. Mario Kart 64 has a lot of nostalgia for me tho
Are you kidding me? DKR multiplayer is leagues above MK. Music, level design, ability to use only of the 3 vehicles. All of it was better. Also spawned a great mature spinoff game with some awesome multiplayer modes. Conkorers bad fur day teddy bear committing genocide on harmless immigrants is a core memory.
Lmfao yeah Conker is awesome. Rare was so good back then. I still think playing MK64 with others is more fun, but that doesn't mean I dislike DKR multiplayer. It's great too.
Disagree. DKR has 2 player adventure mode, plus some fun battle maps. I think it has a lot more tracks than Mario kart too?
Best cheat code to date: jointventure lollll
Co op adventure mode was behind a cheat code?
Nah. Even though Mario Kart has fewer tracks it feels like more since the theming makes them feel too similar, the track design is better in Mario Kart, the actual feel of driving is better in Mario Kart and the performance is better in Mario Kart.
I like DKR a lot but it's very much a battle of quality vs quantity.
What!
I remember having both and playing diddy Kong racing way more
User deleted comment
23d
DKR was like an unpolished Mario Kart. It was very fun and very innovative though.
Yes because all karts in mk are 2d sprites. In DKR the models are 3d, only the wheels were 2d.
The fact they put a freakin plane in their and had cool levels, like the pterodactyl one, is amazing.
It’s an adventure game first and a racing game second imo
The items in DKR are pretty lame
Eh, I thought the kart handling was better in Mario Kart, plus the powerups were better and had more variety. Also, Mario Kart had the PVP battle modes.
I think Diddy King Racing was a better game to play solo, but Mario Kart the better game to play with friends.
Not performance.
Ninja u trippin it’s good! But not better than Mario kart!
Why did you say ninja
Don’t forget the magic codes for enabling all sorts of shenanigans!
JOINTVENTURE (2 player adventure) was essential in our house. FREEFORALL (all max powerups) was also a blast.
Oh man, I forgot about the codes!
I too, as you, as well
The only real knock I have on it is some of those boss races are ridiculously difficult. Like you have to cheese the game design in order to beat them not just "git gud".
The octopus boss literally cheats in the rematch race. It was hard as hell as a kid.
once you were good at the kind of boost where you take off the accelerator at the correct time + hard turns (Z+R) the bosses were much easier. though i never understood why the plane seemed it was always faster if you held R. seemed to be no reason not to hold it.
The very final boss was so hard. There was exactly one part of the track where you had the correct line of sight for a missile hit and you needed to land that shot perfectly in each of the three laps. At least that's what I remember
ahead of its time
You say ahead of its time, but did video games really evolve in its direction? I don't know any open world racing games with multiple vehicle types, bosses and collectibles.
A lot of the Rare games were insanely creative and well done. I wish Nintendo bought them, console gaming would be on another level now.
Crash team racing is so similar it could be diddy kong racing 2 if you swapped the characters.
very true and they had 1 Vs 1 Boss races as well
Something Mario Kart doesn't have still to this day
To this point I would argue that it has in some regards, such as GTA having an “open” world, with bosses and collectibles just not in the sense of fighting them with cars.
I mean I guess you could abstract the game to a level where it fits other games, but what I truly meant was that we don't have any modern game that truly feels inspired by dkr to justify saying it was ahead of its time. I couldn't say the same with games like pokemon, mario kart, elder scroll, dark souls, diablo, etc.
Need for Speed Underground 2 is a similar drivable world focused on exploration/themed races and ending zones with boss fights.
Midnight Club and other racing games, too. I don't play enough current racing games to know if it applies to games post 2020 though.
Crew 1 and 2?
That's a hot take if ever I heard one.
Everyone involved in Rare's golden age during the N64 left by the time Microsoft bought them. The writing was on the wall and Nintendo was wise to pass because their output since is a severe downgrade.
Perfect Dark Zero is when I stopped giving them chances.
I like PDZ, mostly because I LOVE Perfect Dark. What an amazing universe they created
Rare still makes games. I still play Sea of Thieves
NFS most wanted had a lot of the same elements, open world, 1v1 boss races, variety of vehicles
Way ahead of its time. Carts. Speed boat. Air. Had it all and wizpig
Totally agreed. The story mode was better than any MK game because of the explorable overworld map. Time Trials to unlock TT was also super creative and offered way more replayability than MK. The only thing I didn't love upon replaying is that the slightest misstep or mistake will absolutely lose you the race immediately. This was a similar issue with Mario Kart 64, but feels like the later MK games are balanced better so that even if you suck, you feel like youre still in the race and have a chance of winning.
One of my fav racing games of all time
yeah one mistake , even in the first 30 seconds would have you restarting the race
Was it similar to crash nitro kart? I remember the free roam would always keep you in your kart in that game
same thing , you would drive around in your Kart and interact with different areas and compete in races to unlock new areas and new characters
Ah man, now I need to try that game out!
I just booted this up and want to start a new save. How long does it take to beat?
a few hours to beat story mode , nothing too crazy
but getting 100% takes a while
And a storymode that was co-op!
I remember I couldn't wait to get home from school to play this I spent a few weeks to 100% it
item system was much cooler too.
POWER UP!
W take.
Agreed on every point, but also, the soundtrack was great.
Coming to switch?
the roster just does not have as many recognizable faces as Mario Kart but that doesn't effect the gameplay or quality of the game
I think if it had a Mario licence, it would have been hailed as an all-time classic.
Oh absolutely, I mean I also grew up playing this game so maybe a bit of nostalgia, but it absolutely is better than Mario kart at the time. I would love to see a new one for the switch, a new diddy kong racing that is
Boo doodoo boo doodoo
This
The music in the medival word was fucking lit
This sounds like a review I read in Nintendo power back in ‘96. And I didn’t agree with it then, and still don’t agree.
I asked for Mario Kart 64 for Christmas one year and my parents bought me this by mistake. My sister and I played the hell out of it and I'm pretty sure by the end of Christmas break I nearly had it beat. I eventually got Mario Kart, but I can confidently say my friends and I played Diddy Kong Racing more.
Like you said, it was ahead of its time and is a better game.
To your point about the characters. In no way is it as recognizable as MK64’s roster, but having Conker/Banjo in there actually made the roster more recognizable as time went on, given they had their own games.
I think if Dixie/Tiny were in the original release, as they were in the DS one, it would’ve been a solid roster.
It’s way better than Mario Kart 64, the only thing I could say is Kart has some better designed racing levels but other than that Diddy wipes the floor.
I never beat the final boss
Needs a remake. This was my kart racer of choice. The different modes were ahead of its time. The roster was top tier. The tracks were fun. It had one of the best challenges in gaming at the time in unlocking T.T., some amazing secrets (space world, anyone?) and it was fun. Not a dig at Mario Kart, which was awesome too. I just preferred DKR.
It had a remake on ds but it sucks.
This game is a masterpiece in racing games.
Even without the other vehicules, the car is so perfectly smooth and everything is going so fast that it is already enough to make it it the best racing game ever and that's barely scratching the surface.
Hard disagree.
DS remake was fine, but suffered just like SM64DS due to Nintendo not wanting to push past the "experimental" period of putting N64 games on a handheld. Only a handful of features were removed (those being Cheat Codes, plane maneuvers, and easy-access local multiplayer).
They added tracks with more dynamic layouts, added a new touch-screen coin challenge mode (and moved silver coin races to bonus features), made the 2nd boss challenged actually mildly interesting, and added an entire upgrade system to all vehicles and a paint customizer.
But ultimately, due to meager marketing and the diminished local multiplayer, people don't remember it as being all that great. If they had put it on the Wii instead, it would have been fantastic. Almost the exact same case for SM64DS.
The forced touch screen stuff was so obnoxious.
Like having to spin the tire on the touch screen or blow in the mic to get start boosts for different vehicle types is everything that's wrong with the DS as a system.
If not for that, and the lack of easy to access multiplayer DS would have been fine (even with a number of roster replacements due to licensing issues).
Though it is worth noting that while it is like 64 DS in that it'd have been better on console, 64 DS did leave a stronger impression by having more significant added content and being one of the most technically impressive games on the system (free roaming 3D was extremely rare on the DS.)
I heard it was going to be remade for switch
The GOAT of N64 racers and one of the best arcade racing games I've played. The salt against Wizpig is real.
Fat cheating sack of crap.
I felt this
i second this
Man T.T. was the bigger prick and the real final boss IMO. It took me months, but I did manage to unlock that fucker back in the glory days!
No game has ever made me saltier in my time on the console.
The bosses being able to cheat broke me as a kid lol
You had to learn the track design very, very well and cheese the game design in order to beat them by microseconds.
There’s a boost trick too that’s not explicitly stated in game that you let off the gas during your boost then hit it again when it’s gone
it is stated! Taj tells you in the hints after clearing major events if subtitles are turned on (though if they’re off he doesn’t say shit lol). He also tells you about the extra hard turns with Z+R for speed.
One of the greats
Yes. Very yes. I can still hear the bootup screen, and I still remember trying for hours (or maybe days) to beat that stupid octopus as a kid. He cheated, and I didn't know that heavier characters were basically optimal in hovercraft.
Damn that octopus
Top 5 N64 game
fucking slapper, mate
Banger
After banger…
After banger...
At very least, this should be on Nintendo Switch Online.
I wish Nintendo would make a Mario Kart like this. I LOVED the hub world of DDK. Could be really something if they added it to the next MK, and had it with multiplayer
Classic
Banger!! Still a banger, the Magic Carpet fool always cracked me up for some reason.
I have more memories tied to this game than any other game in my life. My grandfather, brother, and I spent countless afternoons beating the campaign and racing each other.
That is the definition of halcyon days for me.
Mario Kart 64 is the better multiplayer racer, DKR is the better singleplayer racer.
I absolutely love this game, one of my favorites out of the entire N64 lineup.
Still remember my dad taking me to Dixons to pick up an N64. He asked me what game I'd like to get - was a toss-up between Mario Kart and DKR. DKR won purely because of the funny chimp guy on the box. More years than i'd care to count later, and I'm still certain I made the right call.
Underrated, best n64 racing game. Maybe not the most popular, but the really nailed the mechanics for its system
Not as good as Snowboard Kids.
I'm glad it went out of its way to have an adventure mode! Easily the biggest highlight of the game.
People went apeshit over this game , and I never understood it. It was shiny but shallow imo. The group I games with in the 64 days had access to both and we played Mario kart way more than Diddy Kong. Hell we played star wars pod racer more than Diddy Kong.
Diddy Kong Racer seems like a single player game with a multiplayer component tacked on. As a primary single player gamer it was perfect for me, but I could see how if you were super into multiplayer you'd be disappointed.
yeah i agree. It’s not my favourite but i do play it a bit
The engagement for this post is off the charts for this sub what the hell lol
I never understand why everyone prefer Diddy Kong over Mario Kart, for my self, Mario Kart is superior.
Next level soundtrack, a proper challenge, beautiful environments, really fun physics, and my first ever game on N64.
In my top 5
My absolute go to back in the day
I love DKR. Best arcade racer on the N64.
Best soundtrack
Rare were masters of music back then. Almost every soundtrack was great.
I beat it using Tiptup the Turtle
Good game, great sound track, but has some faults.
The big one is the whole tapping the accelerator to get above the max acceleration instead of just holding it down is a flawed hidden game mechanic. Even 25+ years on not everyone knows about it when playing it. I know of many posts about how hard the game is, then one of us informs them of the tap A strategy to make the game's challenge level more tolerable.
I wish the Rom Hacking community put more work into the game to smooth out/give the game more options. We have 15 or so custom tracks and that's about it beside Link, Haunter, and Yoishi as racers.
Also fun fact that child laugh (the Wilhelm scream of laughs) when booting up the game was originally recorded in 1978 according to some sources.
The history on that sound clip in media.
Inferior to Mario party. I’m sorry if that makes anyone mad, but rainbow road was where I found my greatest rivals. And moo moo farms was where I made my greatest enemies.
Great racing game for single player, and that’s about it
Nah multi-player is fun too
I’m not a fan of the different vehicles in multiplayer, pair that with items not randomized and Mario Kart is better for multiplayer
Idk the fact items aren't random leave more place to skills and less to luck.
I used to be such a bomb that I had brothers teaming against me to make me lose and at least land me 2nd.
And even won against planes as car, even few times in stages like the windmill plains.
I played conker and leaved TT to someone else. Considering this character's unfair advantage is the only thing that can possibly ruin multiplayers. The rest is all fun and game (and a bit of war).
I actually very much enjoy the known items. It forces you to be more deliberate with your lines and introduces an element of strategy. Willing to trade off instant use for an advantage later? Can pay dividends in shortcuts or punishing other racers. Get sloppy and lose your purple boost to an oil spill? That’s on you. Could some items use balancing? Sure.
As a kid I was disappointed about it because I wanted another DKC title that featured Diddy Kong (Diddy was my favorite character in DKC 1 and 2). I was 8 at the time it was released too so racing games in general were not my coup of tea.
However, I went back and played it again a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised. I like how it has 3 different vehicle types that you can choose on (IIRC) any stage and it's cool how the single player campaign is set up in a hub world. I also thought it was cool that it had cameo appearances of Conker, Banjo, and Tiptup.
Not every race track granted all 3 vehicles. Example, the Volcano race was Plane and Hovercraft only.
This game was released before either Banjo or Conker had their own games, which is neat.
Did you notice that grabbing 2 or 3 item balloons of the same colour would power up your items?
Example:
1 Red Ballon = Rocket. A 2nd Red Ballon causes the Rocket becomes a heat-seeking Rocket (Mario kart Red Shell), and grabbing a 3rd Red Balloon changes it into 10 normal rockets.
One of my favorites from the n64. The planes, karts and hovercraft were awesome
My only gripe is having to mash the A button for top speed, but otherwise it is a favorite of mine. The first "real" mastery I earned on RetroAchievements!
10/10
It holds a special place in my heart, considering it was the first video game I ever played
I loved it. I didn’t realize until the final race with wizpig that if you let go of the accelerator over the speed warps that it increased how fast you went. I spent a good few weeks frustrated over why I couldn’t beat him until I figured that out and did it finally. Times were tough for hints when we didn’t have internet.
I didn't know english back in the day (2nd boss tells you when you defeat him 1st time.) and somehow one of my bro managed to beat him in without.
He used the pig hitboxes to give him boosts.
The coin challenges were hell with this handicap.
We also found out by ourselves that mashing A can make you go a little faster with some timing.
I personally did few of TT challenges this way before absolutely destroying his time when I found out by accident with the turquoise boost which I first used only cause it looked good.
It’s crazy that even after knowing that technique, the first wizpig race is still pretty difficult and unforgiving if you miss even one zipper
I’m 95% sure that I beat the game without knowing and just learning about it a few years later when I play it again on an emulator. But i’ve explained that a few times and somebody said it would be imposible so I have some doubts about maybe i discovered like you. Hardest challenge of my life.
I’m pretty sure you had to use it. Once I did everything near perfect before I knew and still lost. I just felt so defeated. Then I found out.
Wish it was on switch same for donkey Kong 64
An amazing game
It had a lot of great ideas. But, other than Diddy, it lacked any star power in its roster.
That is maybe the only reason it never was as popular as MK
It's single player mode was lightyears ahead of Mario Kart 64.
It had a story mode, open world, and multiple vehicles. Such an innovative game.
One of the best games for the 64. Tricky game, awesome story mode, great soundtrack. An all time great.
P Diddy
awesome game,i really like it, i will put it in 5th place on my N64 game rankings.
ranking here: 1st:Glover 64
2nd: kirby 64
3rd:lego racers
4th:mario 64
5th:diddy kong racing
6th:smash bros 64
I too am afraid to form my own opinions and look to strangers to shape my beliefs
NO NO NO, WRONG WAY!
One has to wonder why no one else thought of doing an open world racing game like this
Better then Mario Cart 64
Kart*
One of the best games ever. Better than MK64 but Nintendo buried it because they wanna pretend it was them who perfected kart racers with Mario Kart. I love this game with all my soul. Way ahead of its time.
It was significantly better than mario kart.
I can see how it had more depth as a single player game than other kart racers that some will appreciate. But I play kart racers for the multiplayer and when my childhood friends and I tried Diddy Kong Racing, we all agreed that Mario Kart 64 was the more fun multiplayer experience and went back to it. I gave it another chance years later as an adult with a different group of friends, but ended up with the same feeling that we have more fun playing Mario Kart 64 together.
Too hard
I like it a lot. The additions of planes is a fun challenge
That was my jam back in the day
Just the best game for N64 that’s all.
One of my favorite games and a nearly perfect couch multiplayer
Fav N64 game ever.
I recommend learning the various techniques that make beating this game easier like tapping A to accelerate instead of holding to go faster. Also don’t touch A when boosting.
Definitely in the top 5 N64 games
Incredible game! As many others have said great soundtrack and variation in terrain to race on. But screw those silver coin challenges they were so hard to get 1st place in!!!
Uniquely imaginative and charming especially for a racing game but hot damn it’s difficult. The overworld, bosses, weapon and range of vehicles all help make this game feel special.
Love it plain and simple
One of the first games I've played on the N64. Me and the family took turns after each race. Top 5 for me.
Better than that plumber one
I played a bit of it on 64 and mainly played it on DS. I loved this game. I need it on the switch
Top 5 games of all time
Rock Hard and lot of fun
It was my first game ever. I have a special care for it
I played this game like 20 years ago but can still hear the weird noises and shouts the characters did when you selected them at the start
mfw my sister always beat me at this game
What are the odds
https://suno.com/song/9d7f3dda-2730-46ae-a6ed-47cea5956dee
Life is trying to get me to play Diddy kong racing again.
best racer on 64
As a kid I loved it. As an adult I tried again and was like “wtf is this madness!”
Phenomenal game, the only retro game I play through once a year, no matter how massive my new game backlog is.
Had this game since I was 8. I'm 30 now, and still can't win the game! 🤣
This was my family's favorite game as a kid and I was recently thinking of purchasing it for my N64
Had a lot of fun with its battle mode. It was easy to have fun but tough to master the racing. It was definitely much more than a knockoff or little brother to Mario Kart. If you liked it more than Mario Kart I can definitely understand.
Underrated and better than Mario Kart 64
One of my favorite racing games. Tough as nails, too
Amazing, I have great memories playing multiplayer. I believe it’s called hot top volcano where the aim is to steal the other players eggs from their nests and return to yours. We played for hours!
I fucking love the Mario franchise, but this game is so good even my biased ass can't even argue Mario Kart 64 was a better game. And this conversation doesn't stop there. This is my favorite racing game to this day.
This was an awesome game. Very hard too. Felt more like an adventure game then just another racing game.
Some of my best hours spent playing this.
IMO this is the superior N64 kart racer. Fight me mario kart fans
Still unmatched in terms of a COOP adventure campaign, absolutely legendary fun doing all the bosses and tracks with my bois!
Best kart racer ever.
Best game ever!
Fun but bosses are too hard.
It's hand down the best, most replayable racing game. Way ahead of it's time.
Mario Kart added higher speeds, but diddy kong made obstacles, and then mirror mode, made each round of the same map feel like a different race altogether.
Love this game and still have it. Pipsy was the best! And unlocking TT was very time consuming and quite the challenge.
This how I start gaming with my home console. I played NES and SNES add friends. But my mother never gave me a console. So when I was aloud to work I was a paperboy. And I was buying a tv and N64 with diddy Kong racing. So for me this is nostalgia.
The campaign was definitly top two games in my 64 memory
One of the greatest racing games of all time! Use to play it all the time, but have now misplaced it. Think it’s somewhere in my parents house because half my cartridges are missing lol
Incredible soundtrack. It’s a game ahead of it's time. There's land, air and sea racing. Fun shortcuts to discover. Your progression in the game always felt rewarding.