Collection essentials #403: Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

With Mario Kart being such a huge success, it became common for other developers to copy it. Sometimes these clones are not especially worth playing unless you’re a big fan of whatever intellectual property that is being utilized. However, Rare decided to take a shot at the formula, and they could seemingly do no wrong during the Nintendo 64 era, so we got a notable exception. 

Rare had previously developed the three Donkey Kong Country games on the Super Nintendo with permission from Nintendo, and it basically established Donkey Kong as a character and series as we know it, so Nintendo continued to let them have control of the series. The big ape himself is not present in this game, but the star instead is his nephew Diddy Kong who debuted in the first Donkey Kong Country game. Rare introduced some of their own original characters to this game’s cast, including a couple that would go on to star in their own games such as Banjo the bear and Conker the squirrel. 

This game borrows most gameplay fundamentals from Mario Kart. Like that game, up to eight characters can race at once (though when playing with humans it’s only up to four), and there are various items that can be picked up to try and give racers ways to get a boost or mess with opponents. The item system does work a little differently, as you can tell exactly what item you’ll be getting based on the color of the balloon you pop to get it. And you can hold on to your item and try to hit more balloons of the same color to power up your item. A battle mode similar to Mario Kart’s is here too, and also a “capture the eggs” contest (which is like “capture the flag”).

A significant way that Diddy Kong racing distinguishes itself is by having two other vehicles that racers can use other than karts. These two are hovercrafts which can travel on water, and planes which (obviously) fly through the air. There are pros and cons to each, they must be selected before the start of a race, and which ones are available depends on which track you’re racing on. 

But what is perhaps even more noteworthy is the single-player “Adventure” mode, something Mario Kart 64 completely lacks. In this mode, you can free drive around a hub world and slowly gain access to various areas as you complete challenges. There are even boss races! And if the main adventure isn’t tough enough, you can unlock a second campaign which is much more difficult.

As a kid, I sometimes got a chance to play Diddy Kong racing when visiting someone who had it. I can’t remember precisely when I got my own copy. My mom found the copy in the photo (box and all) at a yard sale sometime in the early 2000s, I want to say 2003 or so. I like Diddy Kong Racing, but I’m more of a Mario Kart guy. The biggest thing for me, I guess, is that I don’t really find the tracks in Diddy Kong Racing to be as great or memorable as those in Mario Kart 64. But some people do legitimately prefer this game over Mario Kart 64, in no small part due to the unique stuff which Mario Kart lacks. Although I’m not in that crowd, Diddy Kong Racing is certainly a quality game that does a good job of not just being a ripoff, and it definitely belongs on the essentials list.