Diddy Kong Racing Puns

I do wonder why we haven't seen sight or sound of that game for so long, but it's got easily one of the most festive vibes when you get to Frosty Village and Walrus Cove.

The tracks are on my annual christmas playlist too, and feel like Nintendo missed a trick here as an easy push for Decembers N64 title. I am not complaining that Paper Mario is coming, but just feel this could have been a nice addition to really bump up that festive feel.

I guess I should ask what games give you that festive boost? Can be anything, even (dare I say it) games that aren't on Nintendo consoles :O

Let's stack them up to compare:

Diddy Kong Racing Strengths:

• Engaging and interesting single player with explorable world lobby, clever collection / completion mechanics and increasingly difficult tiered stages (normal, win+collect 10 coins, trophy race and then adventure II once you finish the whole game - mirrored)
• Bosses - which are both challenging and a different style of game format
• Unlockable characters to give the player something very real to work toward
• Access to 3 unique and interesting vehicles, and different track setups per vehicle
• Superior item upgrade system that forces the player to strategize through the whole race (should I use this now to pick up another balloon or save it for a power up?)
• Interesting / diverse multiplayer matches with different win conditions
• Fairly secretive and not super easy to unlock secret World (future fun land)

Mario Kart Strengths: ... It's got Mario characters in it

Please don't reply / comment if you've never played Diddy Kong Racing :)

A game in which you race, that's hard, and in which you progressively unlock tracks, with "power ups", similarly to DKR. I'm not looking into a game in which you do championships like Mario Kart.

My hope is that we get another kart racer from Microsoft either one that is wholly Banjo themed like they were going to do with Banjo Pilot or something similar to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing with all Microsoft properties but alongside a Crash dedicated racer. I know people might think this isn't possible but considering how big the company is now and how they have two different Forza series, I would hope that this is a possibility.

We all know that Mario Kart has an amazing and memorable multiplayer while Diddy Kong Racing has an epic and difficult single player but lets say you could only have one of the two in your collection. Which would you choose?

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Granted I spent more time on DKR as a kid but I can't help but think It's Just a better game In every way

Actual 3D models where as MK64 has 2D sprites made to look 3D

Items aren't luck based, you need to drive Into a balloon 3 times and choose when to use them, whether to save them and upgrade vs Mario Kart's random dice Items "What will It be? oh a ghost, oh a green shell.."

In DKR you have giant dinosaurs walking around the track, flying around and It's overall more varied and feels bigger

Not only are the characters 3D there are even more of them plus two unlockables and.. also.. someone from gamefaqs told me that um you can unlock Taj by winning every race while driving backwards with pipsy

Where as to my knowledge the only unlockable In mario kart Is a new title screen which Is a badge of honor but not something I feel Is worth It

A hub world will always beat a menu, which Is why I prefer sonic adventure over 2 or 3D mario vs 2D mario

Bosses that talk and are vastly different from eachother

Actually difficult meaning you feel more accomplished when you finally beat It and unlike mario kart outside the gp trophy's you can restart a race when you lose

The hub changes when you win a piece of the amulet and has some secrets

Is It Just me or does the hub world still feel huge, we have a snow area, grass and water but It feels both small and big at the same time

cheat codes!

The game being made by rare Is actually optimized for European players while I heard a rumor MK64 had to be recalled In europe because multiplayer was broken, still unsure If that's true

More vehicles and ways to play

Better music, atleast In my opinion

While MK64 had a fun battle mode I feel like Diddy Kong Racing rips It apart In every way possible oh and It only came out a year later

With a Darkmoon Caverns shortcut 3lap in 1'36''51, Kvess has taken the last missing world record and became the most dominant hover player in history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKW6A97YuMg

Kvess on the DKR website: https://www.dkr64.com/players/Kvess

This is easily one of the greatest achievements in the history of this game, a game that has become increasingly more optimized in the last couple of years. Kvess joined the DKR website back in 2019 and has climbed the rankings all the way to the very top since then, becoming the number one for a short time this year before losing the title to Nordicboa again. And the craziest thing is that a similar achievement to the hover 52/52 could very well happen with car next, with MrPonytale getting record after record!

Now some clarifications about the hover 52/52, for those less familiar with the game:

• This is only about time trial, not the balloon races like you remember them from the Adventure Mode. We call times in balloon races ILs and they are way less competitive than time trial.
• Kvess does technically not have the fastest Ancient Lake shortcut 3lap time, but that doesn't matter for the purpose of 52/52, because his nonSC time is faster than the fastest known shortcut time.

I would like to leverage my power as the supreme moderator of a virtually nonexistent fan subreddit to DEMAND that Heather, Nick, and Matt play Diddy Kong Racing for the podcast.

Especially in light of Nick's "new catchphrase" (we'll see if it sticks), we need more Wiz Pig lore!

Also, DKR is a personal childhood favorite, and hearing their thoughts on it in 2022 would be amazing.

I've considered getting diddy Kong Racing for a while now, but I'm haven't felt super incentivised to buy it. I grew up with the n64, love mario kart 64 and all the newer mario kart games, but something about diddy Kong Racing has always stopped me from going "I WANT IT!". Idk if it's the shorter seemingly less nuanced courses, the more cartoon presence or the single player campaign, ive always doubted that it would be worth my time. I love rare' s n64 output: but I have mickeys speedway usa which I've heard plays the same as diddy Kong Racing and it's... fine. Not telling me "I want more of this engine" but also wouldn't mind more too. Sorry about the unfocused rant: tldr, on the fence about getting dkr, is it worth my time?

So what's ur opinion, is diddy Kong Racing a game worth spending $AU50 on today? Or has it not aged well and other games do what it did better.

Here is my tier list for this Diddy Kong Racing race tracks. I'd like to know what you guys think and see yours!

Monkey

Before you comment, make sure you are looking at my most recent post as it is the only one that will be updated.

Check back often as I will be adding to the list as I go. Prices are negotiable (especially for bundles) and do not include shipping (unless noted otherwise)

Consoles come with at least one controller and all hookups unless noted otherwise.

I try my best to remove items as they sell.

* means firm (don't really have to sell, but could use the funds to pay off some debt)

PS1:

Crash Team Racing (Disc Only) - $3

Rayman Rush (CIB) - $7

Worms World Party (Loose) - $1

PS2:

Fat PS2 with HDD and Free McBoot - $110

Bass Strike (Loose) - $1

Call of Duty 2 The Big Red One (CIB) - $1

Dark Summit (CIB) - $4

Ghost Recon (Loose) - $1

Gran Turismo 3 (CIB, Greatest Hits) - $2

MLB 09 The Show (CIB) - $3

NCAA Basketball 09 (CIB) - $7

Silent Scope (CIB) - $5

Silent Scope 2 (CIB) - $5

Silent Scope 3 (CIB) - $6

PS3:

Playstation Move Charging Station (CIB) - $15

Playstation Move Sports Champion Bundle (CIB) - $45

Destiny (Loose) - $1

Escape Dead Island (CIB) - $5

The Eye of Judgement (Loose) - $1

Far Cry 3 (CIB) - $2

Fifa 16 (CIB) - $1

Madden 12 (CIB) - $1

Ninja Gaiden Sigma (CIB) - $6

Warhawk (CIB) - $2

PS4:

20th Anniversary Controller - $60

Dark Souls III Day One Edition with Soundtrack (CIB) - $12

Megaman Zero/ZX Legacy Collection (SEALED) - $20

Need for Speed Heat (No Manual) - $15

UFC (No Manual) - $3

PSP:

Silver PSP 2001 Modded with SD Card - $100 shipped

Cabela's Dangerous Hunts Ultimate Challenge (Loose) - $2

PSP Movies:

Kill Bill Volume 1 (CIB) - $5

Resident Evil Apocalypse (CIB) - $5

Spider-Man 2 (Loose) - $3

NES:

Roadblasters (CIB, comes with box protector) - $30

Rollerball (CIB, Manual looks like poster and is taped, comes with box protector) - $20

Sesame Street ABC (Cart and Box, comes with box protector) - $12

SNES:

*Chrono Trigger (Loose) - $225

*Contra III The Alien Wars (Loose) - $45

Donkey Kong Country 2 (Loose, Label Faded) - $22

*Earthbound (Loose) - $480

*EVO Search for Ede

Also just to add, I redone some tracks and got 9 balloons, I reset the game just to make sure it saves and the profiles all still show 0 balloons, but when I go into them, all of them have my 9 balloons, I'm super confused

It has planes and boats, the battle levels are way more fun. Almost every track is better than any track in mario kart. It has open world exploration. I didn't even say mario kart 64 because it's not just better than that one it's better than every mario kart that exists.