I will not compare Diddy Kong Racing DS to Mario Kart. I will not compare Diddy Kong Racing DS to Mario Kart. I will not compare Diddy Kong Racing DS to Mario Kart.
Let’s take our minds off it, shall we? Did you know that the Donkey Kong of the Nintendo and Rare games from Donkey Kong Country onwards is not the same Donkey Kong from the classic Nintendo game Donkey Kong? No, he is the original monkey’s grandson.
So… That’s interesting.
I will not compare Diddy Kong Racing DS to Mario Kart. I will not compare Diddy Kong Racing DS to Mario Kart.
OK, we’ve got to address this issue. We cannot compare Diddy Kong Racing DS to its older, more prolific cousin because they are, shockingly, two very different types of games. While Mario Kart is a traditional racing game, Diddy Kong’s outing is a racing adventure. It has a plot, and a hovercraft, and everything.
You will not find here an endless series of Grand Prix races. Rather, your monkey or random animal of choice finds themselves on a large world map, which is separated into several sections: - Dino Domain, Snowflake Mountain, Sherbet Island, Dragon Forest, Future Fun Land and DK Island. Each land contains a handful of themed race tracks (the Dino Domain courses have dinosaurs roaming them, Future Fun Land is all technologically-minded and so on) and so on). The player unlocks each course one at a time, with success coming from scoring 1st place in a one-off race.
Once all the races in the area are complete, you can pit yourself against the boss character. Beat him, and you unlock the Balloon Challenge, which has you running the courses again, yet this time in an on-the-rails, first-person style. Your job here is to pop balloons and collect coins, rather than race. Score bronze medals in these courses and you will tackle the boss again. Done that? Then you can try for the area’s trophy, which you earn by beating all of the race tracks sequentially. Once you’ve pocketed that, you can face the boss again… this time, from a bird’s eye view, with you mapping out your vehicle’s path from above.
So, there’s plenty to do then.
And plenty to do it with, too. Each of the 12 characters has three vehicles (a car, a plane and a hovercraft) which are all individually customisable and, of course, all allow for different styles of racing. Perform well enough and you’ll quickly uncover the track editor mode (which is limited, but allows you to construct up to 30 tracks of your own wicked design), time trial modes and loads more options, tweaky bits and hidden rubbish.
So, while it’s (surprisingly) very different from Mario Kart, don’t turn to the monkey if you’re looking for a straight-up, what-you-see-is-what-you-get racing game because you won’t get one. There’s a lot of stuff to do here and not all of it is about winning a race. This is good for Diddy because, to be brutally honest, his game engine won’t stand up as a racer without all the extras and faff that come along with it. The tracks are highlighted with some nice touches, and the different elements to them (water, air and land) give them a massive sense of depth. Unfortunately, they lack the style and excitement of Mario Kart. The handling and ‘feel’ of the race, while nothing phenomenal, won’t offend as much as some other racers do. Sometimes it actually feels pretty good.
Sadly, there’s just a little too much going on here, and I refuse to see how someone can enjoy all of it. It was a fine game when it rolled around on the N64, but the DS-specific ‘fun’ that has been shoe-horned in goes quite some way to poison the broth. It would be nice if Nintendo (and all other game developers, while we’re at it) realised that just because something can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done.
Any more negative comments, Mr. Critic? Well, the fact that Rare’s takeover by Microsoft means that two of the better characters from the original game (Conker and Banjo) have been replaced by two stupid DK-style monkeys, Tiny and Dixie. That leaves one decent, recognisable character in the line-up.
However, all is not lost. This is a fun game, especially as you can get some mates involved for single-card play with little fuss (up to six monkey-fanciers can race, and four people can enter the battle mode). While some of the tasks will make you yawn, the customisable aspects of the game and the enjoyment you can muster from the better modes goes far to remedy this. Diddy Kong Racing DS has put a lot of effort into differentiating itself from the other kart games on the market (not naming any names), but this was very nearly its downfall. Luckily, a few nifty bits and fancy options save it from being one lame day at the races.
