This game is an old gem for N64, but there are much better games for the DS.
User Rating: 6.3 | Diddy Kong Racing DS DS
I remember playing DKR on the N64 back in '97. Great fun. Battle was very good. I got really happy to hear that it was returning on the DS. So, a few weeks ago, I picked up a copy. In DKR DS, you have an adventure mode, a single-race, and a Wi-Fi Multiplayer mode. In adventure mode, you race in a series of levels to beat WizPig, some pig/alien hybrid ruling an island because he raced everyone, and won the races. That really doesn't make sense, but ok. The inhabitants of the island send a letter to Diddy Kong, to help get Wizpig out of the island. Another "WTF?!?" moment. There ya go, the story is retarded. The level design is ok, but also, its practically exactly the same ones we raced in back in 1997. However, if you collect so many blue "rare logo" coins, you can buy upgrades for your vehicles(car, plane, hovercraft), as well as new tracks. But the adventure mode is sorta fun, Rare tries to add a bit of open-ended gameplay in there with minigames, challenges, unlocks, and such. Overall, the adventure mode is sorta fun. The single races are good, as well as the Ad-Hoc multiplayer/Single Card multiplayer, but the Wi-Fi is where the game stands out. The Online in this game is top-notch, and is very fun to play. You can have up to 6 players(8 in Ad-Hoc), and race eachother(obvious). The sound is also pretty good, the music is creative and new, but, there is some music from the original game, and some remixes of the original audio. The graphics are good, colorful, and well-detailed, which is good as well. Now, onto the bad. At the start of every single friggin race, there is a start-up boost challenge. For the car, you use your stylus to get the wheels warmed up and ready to race. For the plane, you warm-up the propeller with the stylus. With the hovercraft, you blow into the mic to warm-up the turbines. This makes the game waaaaayyyy less balanced, and is very annoying, because I found myself depending on this feature about 75% of the game. Also, once you finish a world(finish all the races + beat the boss once), you have to go to every track in the world, and pop the balloons in the area with the stylus. WTF is the point of this?!? So, the new controls DS updates are just gimmicks. Another disappointment are the characters. They took out Banjo and Conker and replaced them with Tiny and Dixie Kong, which no one really cares about. I know Microsoft owns the two characters now, but seriously, couldn't we get the original characters?!? Overall, Diddy Kong Racing DS is an ok game. When the game gets old in a few months, pick it up as a budget title in the bargain bin. Do not waste your $30.00 on this, go buy a much better game like Brain Age or Nintendogs.
