Diddy Kong Racing is based on Mario Kart 64, only with better graphics, and a little more of a plot. One to four people can play this game, but there can also be six racers at a time.
For One Player:
Diddy Kong has just found out that Timbers Island is being attacked by the monster pig WIZPIG, and must defend it. On the screen the player is first brought to a lineup of nine characters; Crunch, Diddy, Drumstick, Bumper, Banjo, Conker, TipTup, Pipsy, and Timber. After choosing a character the player is taken to a nice scenic place, where they are greeted by a genie. The genie is there to help the player throughout the game, he is retrieved by pressing the Z button on the controller. Next, the player drives into a cave filled with five courses, and is greeted by a clock. The clock has your status report, and can also all a player to practice each round before actually starting. On the status report there is 4 statues (which you get by winning the Trophy Races that the game has), the number of balloons you have (balloons are necessary in order to fight one of the bad guys at the end of the level), a coin with a face (These are the bosses, the player must beat a boss to receive a coin), and a row of 4 keys (Keys are necessary to open certain doors).
After reading the status report the player is now ready to enter a course. Each course has a number on it, inside the shape of a balloon. This number is how many balloons a player must have in order to enter this course.
Once the player has enough coins to enter each level, every character in the game is lined up at the starting line. A player must find all the balloons in this course, and the key; they should not worry so much on whether or not they are winning the race. After each course in its “World” has been defeated, the player will now have to face the Boss of that “World.” If they conquer the boss, then they receive a coin, and may move onto the next “World.”
Two or More Players:
Starting out, the players will, again, be brought to the character line up. In order to choose how many players there are, each player must hit the “A” button, and that player’s card number will show up. After each player has chosen what character they desire the game goes to a screen that previews each course, in every World. By hitting left, right, up, or down a player can view each and every course. Once the course is chosen each player has the option of what vehicle they would like their character to have, and you can choose from an airplane, a car, or a water hover. After this all the players are lined up at the starting line, and when the bell dings, each character takes off by pressing “A.”
When first playing this game, one may become confused because of the graphics the routes that a player must follow is very difficult to keep track of, but once the player gets the hang of it, they will find it quite easy. However, expecting to have as much fun playing this game, as if you were playing Mario Kart 64, will be much disappointing. The weapon’s and special powers you receive from hitting balloons are no way near as awesome as the ones in Mario Kart, and the characters in Diddy Kong are poorly done, and rather boring. All in all I give this game 6 stars. It’s a good game to play if you’re playing it in short spouts of time, but one will get bored of it after about ten minutes.
My score: 6/10
