Diddy Kong Racing

The Good
Diddy Kong Racing, released for the Nintendo 64, is an amazing title, especially for its time. It is a kart racer ala Mario Kart 64, but it has one big distinction: an adventure mode. The adventure mode is constructed similarly to another Mario title, Super Mario 64: you must challenge opponents in several beautiful, well-made stages. With each victory you will earn a golden balloon, which are used to unlock more stages. After all stages in each of the 4 worlds have been cleared, you will be challenged to a race by a boss character. When he is defeated, he will give you the task of racing through the stages once more, this time to collect several silver coins cleverly placed around each of the stages. This is only a handful of the things you are given the chance to do in this fun racer. As well as having wonderful graphics, Diddy Kong Racing features an incredibly catchy, memorable soundtrack. It ranks as one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time. Each theme fits the game's several locations very well, from the Christmas-esque tunes in Snowflake Mountain, to the eerie music of Haunted Woods. The soundtrack makes one feel as if they are actually on an adventure.

The Bad
The gameplay, while a blast, can get repetitive at times. You are basically doing the same thing in each of the game's multiple worlds, and some stages feel very similar to each other. Like Mario Kart 64, it features a multiplayer mode, however, it is lacking in the appeal of that game. Diddy Kong Racing is bit geared more towards those who enjoy a great single-player experience.

The Bottom Line
Despite the problems the game has, it is a wonderful game, another classic from the folks at Rare. I highly recommend you add this to your game collection.