Opposable Thumbs / Gaming & Entertainment

Game Review: Diddy Kong Racing (DS)

We have Mario Kart on the DS, so is Diddy Kong Racing really necessary?

How many kart-based games have I played in my life? We already have a Mario Kart for the DS; the niche has been filled. Do we need a port of Diddy Kong Racing for Nintendo's portable? It's a hard call, but honestly if you don't have Mario Kart DS yet, go and get that first. There is no reason to settle for second best. If you've played the hell out of Mario Kart and are looking for something new, read on. There is a lot to like here.

 I want to talk about what the game does right, because it nails enough right off the bat to be impressive. Download play so you can get multiplayer going with only one cart? Nice. Online play that's spot-on and has been lagless for me so far? Yes, please. Solid mechanics that deviate enough from Mario Kart to feel at least somewhat different? Sure. If I had to sell you this game, I probably could, just based on these right moves. Rare and Nintendo need to be given a pat on the back; this is how you bring your game to the DS.

This isn't just a series of races, as there is an attempt to put a story into the game. It doesn't really matter though: once the flying elephant started to talk to me about my training with the plane I just tuned it out. It's a placeholder and does nothing but gives the game an excuse to add a hub-level to the experience and boss characters. The hub is fun—there are puzzles scattered around for you to find, and it makes some nice use of the touchscreen. While sometimes I wish I could warp to the next race, the attempt at non-linearity is a good one in a game like this. It also gives you some options about what order you'd like to tackle the races. I enjoyed the weapons: if you grab one of the colored balloons, you get the first level of that weapon. Hold it until you pick up more balloons to make that weapon more powerful. This mechanic adds a little bit of strategy to the battling elements of the game, although the focus here is firmly on the racing. In Mario Kart a well placed shell can turn the tide of an entire race; you'll see that less in Diddy Kong. Whether or not that's a good change is more taste than anything else. 

It isn't all rainbows though. The characters are bland, as only random talking animals can be. Other than Diddy Kong, I just really don't care about any of these characters, and since the story is so silly you won't be convinced to start. The other thing is that there is a lot of item collection, and that means you'll go across these areas multiple times. First, a straight race. Then a boss battle. Then you go through the track and pop balloons with the stylus—save your WTFs until the end, please—and then another boss battle. Oh, but you're not done yet. Then you have to race each track again in rapid-fire succession. Still there? Okay, now you race the boss again using the touchscreen. If you want to unlock everything in the game, you'll have quite the workout ahead of you, and it gets tedious fast. It's a little odd to complain about too much content in the game, but this just feels like they had to inflate the game time it takes to unlock things for some reason, and this is all they could come up with. 

I like having karts, planes, and hovercrafts to race with—and they're all fun—but I found myself enjoying the straight-up kart races more than anything else. I will admit that the 3D aspect of the plane races are an enjoyable twist though—having to worry about flying up and down to dodge obstacles and collect balloons is a fun change of pace. If you have to unlock everything, you're going to be very annoyed at this game. But if you want something that has a ton of stuff to do, that you can pick up and play whenever you need a racing fix, this is a good fit. Overall a great experience with some minor quibbles. 

Verdict: Buy
Price: $34.99
System: Nintendo DS
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Everyone

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