Diddy Kong Racing - The Superior N64 Racing Game

I have been thinking about creating blog posts giving my thoughts playing video games that I used to play religiously in my childhood. There is no video game console that defined my childhood more and that I remember more fondly than the Nintendo 64. I have already written posts about Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Super Smash Bros. However, I want to use this post to talk about Diddy Kong Racing, which is the superior racing game on the N64, and certainly better than Mario Kart 64.

When I owned my Nintendo 64 as a child, I had three racing games. One of those games was Wipeout 64, which is not going to be the focus of this post, but it was a great game regardless. The other two racing games I owned were Mario Kart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing. They were the first two N64 games I have owned, and so they were linked in my head, and the source of my comparison. I always considered Mario Kart 64 to be an average racing game and a lacklustre entry in the Mario Kart series. On the flip side, after getting a hit of nostalgia and playing Diddy Kong Racing for a little bit, I almost forgot how fun this game could be, either alone or with some friends.

I still enjoy the whole presentation of Diddy Kong Racing as this whimsical, fun racer with scenic tracks that feel so different from one another. The music feels happy and pleasing to the ear, which adds to the overall experience. The characters are quite memorable and some of these characters even go on to have their own N64 games, such as Banjo-Kazooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day.

I think the most impressive aspect of Diddy Kong Racing was that you had your own single-player adventure mode with its very own hub world that you can explore. I do not remember a previous racing game that did something like an adventure. In the adventure mode, you can race the tracks normally, and once you finish first in all the tracks in each area, you can complete the “Silver Coin Challenge’ for each track, where you must collect eight silver coins in each area and finish first. You can also race against bosses (with comically bad voice acting, but voice acting was still being refined in the video game industry at that time). There are even secrets that you can find in the adventure mode that can open a new battle mode (like the Mario Kart series games had). Also, like the Grand Prix in Mario Kart, you have the trophy races that operate in a similar fashion.

There are aspects of Diddy Kong Racing that have not aged well, such as the voice acting of Taj the Genie, but I think these are just minor issues. Overall, Diddy Kong Racing is still a fun time for a play-through of the adventure mode, or for a fun time of split-screen multiplayer with friends. The overall presentation of Diddy Kong Racing with vibrant colours and fun music is so much better than Mario Kart 64, and this is why I will always consider Diddy Kong Racing at the superior N64 racing game.