This video is part of TGC's coverage of Donkey Kong Country games and spinoffs! Don't miss the rest of them: ruclips.net/p/PLYoabN6QznuIx7X1DnZyPICinmO9podH9
I can explain the silver coins. If they were placed in the obvious, optimal path, there would be no point because they'd be where you were going to go anyway. Putting them in out of the way places means you have to really get good at the game because you have to still come in first while taking sub-optimal paths.
Yeah and then it becomes very fun to do the tracks fifteen times because it’s hard as shit to go out of your way to the most inconvenient places AND end up in first place
Great video! It really was ahead of it's time. No other kart racer has come close to it all these years later. I still love the Mario Kart series, but on a technical level, Diddy Kong Racing is on a whole other playing field.
@Cameron Douglas yeah. Five years after this comment, I prefer Crash Team Racing for its triple drift boost mechanic and track designs. But playing DKR recently and it's still a fun racing game with unique stage themeing.
I had both, MK64 and Diddy Kong Racing. I played both an even amount of time, and I mean obsessively! I really think DK Racing was just a bit better. It was an adventure/racing/strategy game. For some reason that I cannot fathom, I could not beat the final boss for an entire month straight. When I finally did I was the happiest kid ever.
man i just fucking miss the old rareware you can argue that some companies might make better games in terms of gameplay or story but when it comes to personality,charm and variety rareware is just unmatched
I'll defend those silver coins. I've enjoyed a lot of Mario Kart games, but I've never obsessively perfected their courses the way I did with Diddy Kong Racing. Me & my brother poured hours into this, because after a few attempts at collecting the coins you start to realise they're set up in such a way that they can only be collected if you follow a very obscure and convoluted path very precisely, almost to the pixel. And then it becomes a trial and error process to figure out what that path is. Usually I would probably find that irritating, but for some reason in this case it just got its hooks in. I'm pretty sure a lot of Mario Karts use the same trick, but with red coins or something, so I don't know why this was the game that convinced me to do that... but it was, and I loved it.
Its been nearly 20 years since I played this game but I do remember getting 100% on the game. Those coins aren't meant to he grabbed on a single lap, Like he's doing here. As you said, you need to plan it out and be precise. Such a great game
The most impressive thing about this game, CTR, and Beetle Adventure Racing were their creative use of shortcuts. Racing games just didn’t really do that prior to those games and haven’t really done so since for some reason. A racing game encouraging exploration and actually building a world instead of just a series of tracks was really unique and I wish that trend would make a comeback.
they were continuing the story with donkey kong racing which was scheduled to be released on the GameCube but it got cancelled because rare got bought by microsoft
Capitalism is going to implode as we have fewer companies. MS just bought GITHUB and Linux is unusable now for the things we do and hd to get an older version of Mint now things work again. MS HATES COMPETITION! MS is a theft company.
@@kylehill3643 I'm pretty sure "theft" explicitly requires that there was no consent. I don't know about you, but I think it's impossible for Microsoft to buy a company without the company approving it first.
That needs to stop Sign the petition to have Donkey Kong Racing released for the Nintendo GameCube through a different developer: Griptonite Games (currently owned by Glu Mobile)
Wreck-It Ralph is also in all 3 versions of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (including the XBOX version) David Wise literally composed the music in another game developed by Rare (located in London) to Milton Bradley (currently owned by Hasbro) for the Nintendo Entertainment System - California Games Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix (GameMill Entertainment) is a exact opposite of Mario Kart 64
While I prefer DK Racing over Mario Kart for pretty much every point made, I disagree with saying that the courses were better. I feel like the courses are all just varied versions of circles or 8 shapes. MK64 had more variation. The insane twists and turns of Wario's Stadium. The iconic Bowser Castle. The lengthy rainbow road. These tracks were memorable and, imo, much better than DKR. But like I said, I still prefer DKR for its other qualities. I've always felt that it was more skill based and the soundtrack is much better.
I would counter that DKR's vehicle variety makes up for it at the very least. Who could forget racing through a boiling volcano or plunging into a lagoon? These were places you simply couldn't visit in a cart.
This game was actually the game my parents got me with my N64 when it came out and I have such found memories of it, many of which came rushing back upon watching this. I remember STRIVING to unlock drumstick and then TT and I still remember the last level. What a game. Cool to see it covered, keep up the good work :D
To be honest the silver coins were my favourite bit. The bots generally lacked the skill to keep up when I was doing a standard race and the fetch for the coins helped it keep in balance.
I liked Diddy Kong Racing better than Mario Kart BECAUSE the AI didn't cheat! And when you unlocked T.T., nobody could touch you, including the bosses. He's as game-breaking as using 100% Chameleon in Oblivion or an energy weapons build in Fallout: New Vegas.
I never realised that Banjo and Conker weren't originally part of this game. I always thought it was the other way around. That's really neat! Putting Diddy Kong in as the leading star was a really smart idea too. It really helped this game's popularity. Shame about the DS remake, though.
@GenericSpeedruns fair enough. I would totally called it that, but that may just be nostalgia talking. I remember finally getting an N64 for xmas and this was the game we got. We played none stop through our xmas vacation. We even took turns sleeping so that we wouldn't stop playing. This is a real fun game, I really do love it
More characters, more tracks, more battles, brighter, more vibrant, better soundtrack, a hub world, boss fights, a story, more vehicles... I'm sorry, although I love both, Diddy Kong Racing is objectively a better game than Mario Kart 64. There IS no argument.
It's easy to beat diddy kong racing, beating TT on every track though, that's a real challenge. But then again my friends and I 100% Gran Turismo games, so we're just good at racing
@@EWOODJ I'm not offended, how could I be? Nothing he said was directed at me. He's just being an ass about it, prompting me to ask if the reason he is so hostile is because his feelings are hurt. I don't care about people having opinions, however wrong or vile they may be. I do care when people try to criticize other people's opinions through insults and without any actually intelligent speaking.
I remember both games fondly, but DKR was definitely the favorite of the two 😊! Pipsy was my favorite character 🐭! That silver coin challenge though can suck eggs lol 😂!
The Silver Coin challenge is great, not sure what the problem is. Also brings tactics to the way you race. You also didn't really focus on the the Arena Battles in Diddy Kong 64 which are great (especially in multiplayer). Man this was Rare in its prime, shame what happened to them
Diddy Kong Racing was the first game I got with the 64 for Christmas when I was 10. My brother and I played the crap out of it. Hearing and seeing this again is bringing back waves of memories. What an amazing game!
DK Racing was soooo much fun! I spent countless hours on that, as well as on Mario Kart, as well as on Mario Party. (not to mention Perfect Dark) To this day, the N64 is still my all-time favorite console. So many good games! And those cartridges don't get scratched or cracked; they hold up over time. The Big N knows how to make great games, and keep them great.
This game is most definitely superior to Mario Kart 64. It controls better, looks better, has a more interesting roster, and has more stuff to do. I'd rather play the later Mario Kart games over this, but I'm amazed at how well Diddy Kong Racing has held up in comparison to Mario Kart 64 and Crash Team Racing.
3 characters come from upcoming games, if you count [Prince] Tricky! And yes, *that* game was already in the works in 1997, with programming starting not long after DKR's release, even using the same engine at first. That's the reason for the racing sections.
Yes, Diddy Kong Racing was one of the greats. IMO Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed (way too long title if you ask me!) really didn't do the multiple vehicles bit as well as Diddy Kong Racing did. (and leveling in non-RPG games puts me off as well)
I never did 100% this game. I 100%ed the normal mode, but just couldn't be bothered with mirrored world version. But i have to say, I LOVED this game, and all the little extra stuff in it. Like having to collect things and then still win a race, or having boss fights in a racing game, or even a key randomly some where in that entire world, had you stopping and trying to explore off and on the tracks. The fusion of collectathon/ kart racer was just Rare 1 uping nintendo at their own game for a second console in a row.
As a guy who personally isn't a huge fan of Rare, racers, or collect-a-thons, in the little time I played this it became my favorite in all 3 of those categories. Then again, I have yet to play DKC2.
This game is awesome, though I did discover that if you're good with letting go of A before each boost, this game goes from incredibly hard to incredibly easy
yup Diddy was a much experience for me. This, Goldeneye and PDZ being Rare's best work in my opinion with special mention to Banjo for being still extemporary work
Diddy Kong Racing didn't end on a cliff hanger. After you get the 'To be continued' you go to the sign where the trophies you won show, then you get access to the fifth and final level. You race Wizpig on a rocket and in the end his rocket shorts out sending him into space never to return.
blueslystone I don't know. I'm surprised no one else pointed it out. It would mean he's missing four courses, didn't get the true ending, never unlocked T.T. as a racer, and never unlocked Adventure 2. He's missing so much!
I recently played an emulated version of this game and after all these years I still remember where all the hidden keys were and the strategy to beat Wizpig both times lmao
I watched a grand amount of your videos, and that's it!! I can say your favorite word to use is esoteric, hands down. That doesn't take from my enjoyment of your content, just simply noting.
Funny thing was, this was one of the three games I bought with my N64 in the spring the following year; me and my brother were debating it, alongside Mario64 and Goldeneye, and the question came down to, what was better, Mario Kart or Diddy Kong, and honestly? Half the reason we loved Nintendo so much was because of how awesome the Rare games library was. That, and when we both heard about the adventure mode...welp, got Diddy Kong Racing and never looked back. Honestly, Wizpig is a cheating ass, and beating him the second time was a minor miracle, took 14 perfect item uses to beat him, almost a year of regularly playing, and it came down to a half second lead....that was HARD. Also, better multiplayer than Mario Kart 64, so there's that. So, thanks for making the video for an old favorite of mine, too. Thanks, and later.
I preferred Mario Kart 64 for the multiplayer fun and memories, but absolutely adored Diddy Kong Racing's adventure mode. I liked the hub world and the genuine challenge in the bosses and silver coin runs.
I love the silver coins, its the only thing that adds any challenge. Plus I never found them difficult to get anyway, you get most of them on lap 1, and mop the rest on lap 2. Using the green boost makes it almost impossible to lose.
I've never played DK Racing, but to be fair I never got into Mario Kart until Double Dash. I'll need to pick this up if/when I come across it in the wild. :)
I remember Diddy Kong Racing, it was one of the first N64 games that my brother and I owned, together with Super Mario 64, Snowboard Kids and some racing simulator with a Lamborghini license. We absolutely *loved* Diddy Kong Racing and we played it a *lot* together. It only took a backseat when we got Donkey Kong 64, Pokémon Stadium, Super Smash Bros., Mario Party and Lylat Wars later down the line. But to be honest, we pretty much neglected the Singleplayer component of the game, partially because our uncle (who was the original owner of the N64 and the first few games) already unlocked most tracks for us, partially because he had the game set to english for whatever reason - which was just "gibberish" to us at the time - so we didn't get what the game was telling us when it denied us entrance to some courses in the hub world. But mostly because we had plenty of fun playing in multiplayer in the existing courses. Nowadays we don't get to play too much together anymore, other than the occasional round of Hearthstone over the internet or some Smash Bros. Project M and Mario Kart CTGP-R (Which has some DKR courses, funnily enough) when he's over at my place, but so is life.
Bright Spark I hear ya. The past year or so has really wreaked havoc on my IRL friend circle, with so many of us graduating college and moving away. I see the need for online multiplayer more than ever, but still, it's no substitute for the real thing.
Ahh snowboard kids. I like the second one the best Even though I prefer the first game's tracks or stuff. But The SBK 2006 one is more trash than the ds remake of DKR ever will be. Sonic and allstars racing (and transformed) is fun too btw. I enjoyed crash tag team racing too until my disk was scratched.
I think this is the first time I've ever heard someone say Lylat Wars. That was just the Pal title for Starfox 64, I know, it's just a bit jarring to hear that Lylat Wars was someone's childhood.
I was going to say I always loved Diddy racing on my own, but with friends we always played mario kart. I love both. Its hard to pick a favorite because Diddy was personally more fun, but kart was equally fun with friends.
Comparing DKR to Mario Kart 64 is a lot like comparing Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed to Mario Kart 8. Mario excels at that pick up & play quality. It's simple enough that you can get the hang of it in a race or two even if you've never played it before, and it still has PLENTY of mechanical depth and replay value in its track design. ...but not AS much as DKR or Transformed, which sacrifice that accessibility in exchange for greater depth and challenge. They're better single-player experiences, but worse party games, unless everyone at the party already happens to know how to play them.
I like the silver coin challenge even though it can be super difficult 😂 I think the coin challenges motivates you to really learn the tracks & gives you a reason to get good at the game besides simply just wanting to be good. I think some of them can be rage inducing but overall I think it was a good concept
Plane was definitely always dominant, but on some of the ones where you only had Car/Hovercraft it could get pretty interesting (mostly in the icy levels).
They don’t make games like this anymore still feels so ahead & awesome DKR needs a remake for the Nintendo Switch fuck Microsoft for putting these games & characters aside in a cabinet
In my opinion, though I consider myself more of a Nintendo gamer, I can honestly say that I think Crash Team Racing beats both Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64.
Me and my sister played this all the time growing up, and we always argued over which was better, this or mario kart. I thought mario kart was, and she thought this was.
okay so looking back on the recption it does seem like gamespot was the only one to give it a mixed review 6.6 diddy kong racing that is. every other reviwer seems to have given it an above 8 so i am not sure what the deal is with gamespot there :/
I can't believe that this was supposed to be a 3D-sequel to RC Pro Am. I always thought it became forgotten since the SNES/Playstation days. The original NES game is criminally underrated if you would ask me. Although I got this game as a kid because I got a good grade and had fun with it back then, I must admit that the silver coins weren't really necessary and those boss battles ... euargh! Don't get me started on it!
Workingplayer53 Yeah, I was 9 when DKR came out, and I'd never even heard of RC Pro-Am until I found out this game was going to be a sequel to it years later. And don't get me started on how confused I was when I got an NES at a yard sale and wondered why worse versions of Super Mario All-Stars were on individual carts. Oh, to be young and ignorant. xD
I have never played Diddy Kong Racing, but my friend always talked about it saying it's one of the best kart racers out there, and always linked me songs from the game. I always enjoyed it. I don't really like emulating games, so I never really got the chance to play. Also my cousin had the DS version, but I heard that one was no good. Maybe someday I'll get around to playing it, because this video really made me want to bust out my N64 and buy a copy off of eBay or Amazon.
yeah the ds port was crap banjo-bear (from banjo kazooie) and conker the squirrel aren't in the game plus no silver coins instead you go throught a ballon popping challenge and the worst part is touch screen controls
History will be very kind to this overlooked masterpiece, and this loving video will go a long, long way in encouraging that shift. Thank you for spreading the good word. :-)
I love both Mario kart 64 and Diddy Kong racing but I didn't like the way the carts handled in Diddy Kong racing. if Mario kart 64 included planes, it would have been perfect to me. I hated the hovercrafts, steering those things was frustrating
And if it wasn't for this game, we wouldn't have the superb CTR Crash Team Racing. Heck, even the devs built one of the levels in this game too see if PS1 could handle it, and handle it it did!
Alan Lopez Oh, yeah... if I remember right, you could actually rent it at Blockbuster a few weeks before the official release date. That's shamefully how I got so far so fast. Rented a copy with a more complete file, copied that save to my controller pak, and still had it when I got DKR for Christmas that year.
How can a hovercraft move across lava? Was I the only person who noticed that? I still have my N64 console with "DKR" and "MK64." I remember owning the "DKR" cartridge, then losing it, but I repurchased it somewhere else. It's also been a while since I played either game. "Mario Kart 64" felt like it let me down as far as being a sequel to "Super Mario Kart." I go back and play the SNES game and it feels too simplistic, or like the races are over as soon as you blink (plus the 3-5 variations of the same tracks). There's still a fun factor, though. "Super Mario Kart" was also playable online (while the XBand service lasted), so I ended up with stronger memories of the battle mode, or not even finding out about how you could drag a shell behind you until playing against other people online. In comparison, Nintendo 64 never really had an online service? In the N64 Mario Kart, I may play it occasionally, but I feel like it has low replay value once you've won every trophy. It's hard to explain. Did they expand the roster AT ALL from the 16-bit game? Weren't there FEWER tracks in the N64 game? I got frustrated on a bunch of the tracks (that Yoshi one with all the pencil thin places to fall down?). It's hard to remember which ones had cool new ideas. Some of the shortcuts were neat. I liked the wild west theme with a train (unless you couldn't go past/around it on that lap). Toad's Turnpike feels cooler in the newer games. There's also something about Kart 64's art style, fonts, colors ... that irritates my eyes. So, the video was about "DKR," right? Based on what I said about maybe my least favorite Mario Kart, how could it not be the better game? I don't think it's just because of the lower bar set by "MK64," though. I possibly like the "DKR" roster better, even if half of them look unfamiliar or they only seem to appear in this game. I forget how to unlock Drumstick or the stopwatch. There was supposed to be a way to have infinite acceleration or a higher top speed if you kept tapping the gas button. Maybe a turbo controller would verify that? The power-up system also made you choose between a lower strength item, or avoiding a different colored balloon (two of the same color gave you the better power-up). In that way, it felt strategic, instead of how Mario Kart seems to "reward" people who are losing the race. I remember the silver coin challenge being annoying and not something you could clear in one or two attempts. Why wouldn't the CPU players be held to the same standard of collecting eight poorly placed tokens to win the race? The bosses were frustrating, but beatable. It's probably a game I should revisit soon. Thanks for the video.
This video is part of TGC's coverage of Donkey Kong Country games and spinoffs! Don't miss the rest of them: ruclips.net/p/PLYoabN6QznuIx7X1DnZyPICinmO9podH9
Mario kart is better
I can explain the silver coins. If they were placed in the obvious, optimal path, there would be no point because they'd be where you were going to go anyway. Putting them in out of the way places means you have to really get good at the game because you have to still come in first while taking sub-optimal paths.
reversalmushroom yup. The silver couns actually was a way to train you on how to be a skilled player
Even more so with the second adventure with those disco ball balloons
Yeah and then it becomes very fun to do the tracks fifteen times because it’s hard as shit to go out of your way to the most inconvenient places AND end up in first place
Totally agreed. Silver coins were great.
As a kid that shit was hard af
It'd be nice if Mario Kart expanded upon the Mission Mode from MKDS in later installments. DKR was really ahead of its time
here we have the nintendo switch and still no story mode
Make a petition. Because I don't know how to.
Great video! It really was ahead of it's time. No other kart racer has come close to it all these years later. I still love the Mario Kart series, but on a technical level, Diddy Kong Racing is on a whole other playing field.
Oh jesus, that giggle from Diddy at the beginning threw me directly into a time portal.
Ah yes, my favorite racing game. Love the combination of adventure and racing with the hidden keys and such. Great times.
The Side Quest Gamer And squishing frogs to unlock roosters, somehow! xD
The Geek Critique lol. I forgot about that.
The Side Quest Gamer Review Show Crash Team Racing is better
MINK that one is always compared to MK64 but I think it’s more like DKR
@Cameron Douglas yeah. Five years after this comment, I prefer Crash Team Racing for its triple drift boost mechanic and track designs. But playing DKR recently and it's still a fun racing game with unique stage themeing.
I had both, MK64 and Diddy Kong Racing. I played both an even amount of time, and I mean obsessively!
I really think DK Racing was just a bit better. It was an adventure/racing/strategy game. For some reason that I cannot fathom, I could not beat the final boss for an entire month straight. When I finally did I was the happiest kid ever.
man i just fucking miss the old rareware you can argue that some companies might make better games in terms of gameplay or story but when it comes to personality,charm and variety rareware is just unmatched
Rare are the Beatles of video games. In every Genre they picked they had a smash hit
I like to rare back in the day when they had double Dragon in battle toads together
I'll defend those silver coins. I've enjoyed a lot of Mario Kart games, but I've never obsessively perfected their courses the way I did with Diddy Kong Racing. Me & my brother poured hours into this, because after a few attempts at collecting the coins you start to realise they're set up in such a way that they can only be collected if you follow a very obscure and convoluted path very precisely, almost to the pixel. And then it becomes a trial and error process to figure out what that path is. Usually I would probably find that irritating, but for some reason in this case it just got its hooks in. I'm pretty sure a lot of Mario Karts use the same trick, but with red coins or something, so I don't know why this was the game that convinced me to do that... but it was, and I loved it.
DemonTomatoDave red coins?
Its been nearly 20 years since I played this game but I do remember getting 100% on the game. Those coins aren't meant to he grabbed on a single lap, Like he's doing here. As you said, you need to plan it out and be precise. Such a great game
DemonTomatoDave thx bro. Silver coins weren’t bad
I totally agree. The silver coins are a fantastic and challenging addition. I always took two laps to get all the coins
Daaaave! Hope you and Brentalfloss arent fighting over games anymore ;D
The most impressive thing about this game, CTR, and Beetle Adventure Racing were their creative use of shortcuts. Racing games just didn’t really do that prior to those games and haven’t really done so since for some reason. A racing game encouraging exploration and actually building a world instead of just a series of tracks was really unique and I wish that trend would make a comeback.
they were continuing the story with donkey kong racing which was scheduled to be released on the GameCube but it got cancelled because rare got bought by microsoft
Brennan Ffrench makes me angry tho
Capitalism is going to implode as we have fewer companies. MS just bought GITHUB and Linux is unusable now for the things we do and hd to get an older version of Mint now things work again. MS HATES COMPETITION! MS is a theft company.
@@kylehill3643 I'm pretty sure "theft" explicitly requires that there was no consent. I don't know about you, but I think it's impossible for Microsoft to buy a company without the company approving it first.
Nerdy George Washington Nintendo even turned down buying the rest of their ownership of Rare when Microsoft made the offer :(
That needs to stop
Sign the petition to have Donkey Kong Racing released for the Nintendo GameCube through a different developer: Griptonite Games (currently owned by Glu Mobile)
Wreck-It Ralph is also in all 3 versions of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (including the XBOX version)
David Wise literally composed the music in another game developed by Rare (located in London) to Milton Bradley (currently owned by Hasbro) for the Nintendo Entertainment System - California Games
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix (GameMill Entertainment) is a exact opposite of Mario Kart 64
While I prefer DK Racing over Mario Kart for pretty much every point made, I disagree with saying that the courses were better. I feel like the courses are all just varied versions of circles or 8 shapes. MK64 had more variation. The insane twists and turns of Wario's Stadium. The iconic Bowser Castle. The lengthy rainbow road. These tracks were memorable and, imo, much better than DKR. But like I said, I still prefer DKR for its other qualities. I've always felt that it was more skill based and the soundtrack is much better.
pollo20x6 shut up diddy kong racing sucks
@@Ivan-uj8qf shut up dkr is better
rope 05 shut up dkr fucking sucks mario kart is WAY better
just shut up all of you!
I would counter that DKR's vehicle variety makes up for it at the very least. Who could forget racing through a boiling volcano or plunging into a lagoon? These were places you simply couldn't visit in a cart.
Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing even references Diddy Kong Racing as Banjo and Kazooie's first game.
This game was actually the game my parents got me with my N64 when it came out and I have such found memories of it, many of which came rushing back upon watching this.
I remember STRIVING to unlock drumstick and then TT and I still remember the last level.
What a game. Cool to see it covered, keep up the good work :D
To be honest the silver coins were my favourite bit. The bots generally lacked the skill to keep up when I was doing a standard race and the fetch for the coins helped it keep in balance.
I liked Diddy Kong Racing better than Mario Kart BECAUSE the AI didn't cheat! And when you unlocked T.T., nobody could touch you, including the bosses. He's as game-breaking as using 100% Chameleon in Oblivion or an energy weapons build in Fallout: New Vegas.
Diddy Kong racing is such a gem, it’s sad there was no real follow-up
I remember sitting in Winn-Dixie as a kid while my mom shopped writing down the cheats, codes, and guide for this game. The game was just great.
I still pray for the sequel that is never to come.
Saitohimea Well there's a Ds game
Trickestcoder The DS game was the remake not a sequel.
Also the DS remake was not very good.
@@Lolman1531 a proper sequel in a home console like the switch now
There was supposed to be a sequel for Gamecube that got cancelled because of Microsoft purchasing Rare. It still makes me sad.
I never realised that Banjo and Conker weren't originally part of this game. I always thought it was the other way around. That's really neat! Putting Diddy Kong in as the leading star was a really smart idea too. It really helped this game's popularity.
Shame about the DS remake, though.
I've been telling people this for over 20years, Diddy Kong Racing, one of the best games ever
@GenericSpeedruns fair enough. I would totally called it that, but that may just be nostalgia talking. I remember finally getting an N64 for xmas and this was the game we got. We played none stop through our xmas vacation. We even took turns sleeping so that we wouldn't stop playing. This is a real fun game, I really do love it
This game has bucket loads of charm, probably my favourite racing game still.
More characters, more tracks, more battles, brighter, more vibrant, better soundtrack, a hub world, boss fights, a story, more vehicles...
I'm sorry, although I love both, Diddy Kong Racing is objectively a better game than Mario Kart 64. There IS no argument.
Amen.
Esoteric is your favorite word isn't it
I poured so many hours into this game as a kid, hearing the songs again was like a nostalgic fist to my gut.
There should be a Ducktales Racer. That'd be the best thing of all the best things.
Or a California based extreme sports game (Roller Skating, Surfing, Snowboarding, Skateboarding, etc)
Vkmies you made me sad that it doesn't exist.
Well rare did make a Mickey Mouse racing game on N64 with all teh Ducktales kids as unloackables
You mean Mickey's Speedway USA.
Finally, my first game I ever owned. Really good job with this one Josh!
Diddy Kong Racing is the only game I have ever owned that I haven't beaten. Shit's hard, yo.
It's easy to beat diddy kong racing, beating TT on every track though, that's a real challenge. But then again my friends and I 100% Gran Turismo games, so we're just good at racing
Wizpig should return in Super Mario Galaxy 3.
DEFINITLY
The Galaxy games were Wii exclusive, why would they now make Galaxy 3 anyway, we have Odyssey!
Why not have him return in the next Mario Kart game?
Love this game as a kid. It really was better than Mario Kart, though I greatly enjoyed both.
gamingking5 it isnt fuck off
@@Ivan-uj8qf Jeez are you offended that somebody has an opinion?
@@EWOODJ I'm not offended, how could I be? Nothing he said was directed at me. He's just being an ass about it, prompting me to ask if the reason he is so hostile is because his feelings are hurt. I don't care about people having opinions, however wrong or vile they may be. I do care when people try to criticize other people's opinions through insults and without any actually intelligent speaking.
I remember both games fondly, but DKR was definitely the favorite of the two 😊! Pipsy was my favorite character 🐭! That silver coin challenge though can suck eggs lol 😂!
Ivan 7352 Nice job liking your own comment.
I liked the Silver Coin challenges.
You a dirrty liar
Me too, I love a challenge and I never wanted this game to end.
Just one of the greats. Boss fights. Challenges. A second adventure. Battle arenas/modes. A great cast of characters. GG Rare.
This was my very first videogame ever. It holds a special place in my heart.
This Geek Critique marathon is still awesome!
The Silver Coin challenge is great, not sure what the problem is. Also brings tactics to the way you race. You also didn't really focus on the the Arena Battles in Diddy Kong 64 which are great (especially in multiplayer). Man this was Rare in its prime, shame what happened to them
Diddy Kong Racing was the first game I got with the 64 for Christmas when I was 10. My brother and I played the crap out of it. Hearing and seeing this again is bringing back waves of memories. What an amazing game!
2020, 2021 in a weeks time, still no sign of Diddy Kong Racing Remake or Diddy Kong Racing 2.
DK Racing was soooo much fun! I spent countless hours on that, as well as on Mario Kart, as well as on Mario Party. (not to mention Perfect Dark) To this day, the N64 is still my all-time favorite console. So many good games! And those cartridges don't get scratched or cracked; they hold up over time. The Big N knows how to make great games, and keep them great.
This game is most definitely superior to Mario Kart 64. It controls better, looks better, has a more interesting roster, and has more stuff to do. I'd rather play the later Mario Kart games over this, but I'm amazed at how well Diddy Kong Racing has held up in comparison to Mario Kart 64 and Crash Team Racing.
3 characters come from upcoming games, if you count [Prince] Tricky! And yes, *that* game was already in the works in 1997, with programming starting not long after DKR's release, even using the same engine at first. That's the reason for the racing sections.
This game is how i found the dk series
Yes, Diddy Kong Racing was one of the greats.
IMO Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed (way too long title if you ask me!) really didn't do the multiple vehicles bit as well as Diddy Kong Racing did. (and leveling in non-RPG games puts me off as well)
Man, I didn't realize Miyamoto had a bunch of really weird good ideas back in the day when it came to Non-1st Party Games.
I never did 100% this game. I 100%ed the normal mode, but just couldn't be bothered with mirrored world version. But i have to say, I LOVED this game, and all the little extra stuff in it. Like having to collect things and then still win a race, or having boss fights in a racing game, or even a key randomly some where in that entire world, had you stopping and trying to explore off and on the tracks. The fusion of collectathon/ kart racer was just Rare 1 uping nintendo at their own game for a second console in a row.
I distinctly remember wanting to drive to Rare HQ and murder the monster who programmed the post-silver-coin octopus boss fight. Pure. Evil.
As a guy who personally isn't a huge fan of Rare, racers, or collect-a-thons, in the little time I played this it became my favorite in all 3 of those categories. Then again, I have yet to play DKC2.
3:04 - I don't mind a cheating conniving video game boss.
4:10 - The CPU did not cheat.
Boss fights are meant to be frustrating. Regular races are not.
This game is awesome, though I did discover that if you're good with letting go of A before each boost, this game goes from incredibly hard to incredibly easy
yup Diddy was a much experience for me. This, Goldeneye and PDZ being Rare's best work in my opinion with special mention to Banjo for being still extemporary work
Diddy Kong Racing didn't end on a cliff hanger.
After you get the 'To be continued' you go to the sign where the trophies you won show, then you get access to the fifth and final level. You race Wizpig on a rocket and in the end his rocket shorts out sending him into space never to return.
Thank you! How could anybody forget Future Fun Land?
blueslystone I don't know. I'm surprised no one else pointed it out. It would mean he's missing four courses, didn't get the true ending, never unlocked T.T. as a racer, and never unlocked Adventure 2. He's missing so much!
If kart racing is peanut butter, and I'm allergic to peanut butter...
Mind you the best way to get the silver coins was the have a second player collect then while you focused on winning the race.
that actually didn't work because each player had their own meter of silver coins to collect
I can't agree in terms of track variety. Mario Kart 64 had more varied tracks.
my favorite racing game ever !!! and one of the first videogames i ever played as a kid
I loved the coin challenge.
Could never beat Greenwood Village. ☹
@@emppme4066 It's difficult but not impossible. I completed it two weeks ago.
I recently played an emulated version of this game and after all these years I still remember where all the hidden keys were and the strategy to beat Wizpig both times lmao
I watched a grand amount of your videos, and that's it!! I can say your favorite word to use is esoteric, hands down. That doesn't take from my enjoyment of your content, just simply noting.
The word shows up in six of my scripts, but only two of my pre-Metroid scripts.
It's still good content :D plus the word doesn't bother me.
Funny thing was, this was one of the three games I bought with my N64 in the spring the following year; me and my brother were debating it, alongside Mario64 and Goldeneye, and the question came down to, what was better, Mario Kart or Diddy Kong, and honestly? Half the reason we loved Nintendo so much was because of how awesome the Rare games library was. That, and when we both heard about the adventure mode...welp, got Diddy Kong Racing and never looked back.
Honestly, Wizpig is a cheating ass, and beating him the second time was a minor miracle, took 14 perfect item uses to beat him, almost a year of regularly playing, and it came down to a half second lead....that was HARD.
Also, better multiplayer than Mario Kart 64, so there's that.
So, thanks for making the video for an old favorite of mine, too. Thanks, and later.
I preferred Mario Kart 64 for the multiplayer fun and memories, but absolutely adored Diddy Kong Racing's adventure mode. I liked the hub world and the genuine challenge in the bosses and silver coin runs.
Memories! I played this game for years straight. It definitely survived the times
I love the silver coins, its the only thing that adds any challenge. Plus I never found them difficult to get anyway, you get most of them on lap 1, and mop the rest on lap 2. Using the green boost makes it almost impossible to lose.
I've never played DK Racing, but to be fair I never got into Mario Kart until Double Dash. I'll need to pick this up if/when I come across it in the wild. :)
I remember Diddy Kong Racing, it was one of the first N64 games that my brother and I owned, together with Super Mario 64, Snowboard Kids and some racing simulator with a Lamborghini license.
We absolutely *loved* Diddy Kong Racing and we played it a *lot* together. It only took a backseat when we got Donkey Kong 64, Pokémon Stadium, Super Smash Bros., Mario Party and Lylat Wars later down the line.
But to be honest, we pretty much neglected the Singleplayer component of the game, partially because our uncle (who was the original owner of the N64 and the first few games) already unlocked most tracks for us, partially because he had the game set to english for whatever reason - which was just "gibberish" to us at the time - so we didn't get what the game was telling us when it denied us entrance to some courses in the hub world. But mostly because we had plenty of fun playing in multiplayer in the existing courses.
Nowadays we don't get to play too much together anymore, other than the occasional round of Hearthstone over the internet or some Smash Bros. Project M and Mario Kart CTGP-R (Which has some DKR courses, funnily enough) when he's over at my place, but so is life.
Bright Spark I hear ya. The past year or so has really wreaked havoc on my IRL friend circle, with so many of us graduating college and moving away. I see the need for online multiplayer more than ever, but still, it's no substitute for the real thing.
Ahh snowboard kids. I like the second one the best Even though I prefer the first game's tracks or stuff. But The SBK 2006 one is more trash than the ds remake of DKR ever will be. Sonic and allstars racing (and transformed) is fun too btw. I enjoyed crash tag team racing too until my disk was scratched.
I think this is the first time I've ever heard someone say Lylat Wars. That was just the Pal title for Starfox 64, I know, it's just a bit jarring to hear that Lylat Wars was someone's childhood.
"Shutup John Lovitz!"
😂
That game was so dang hard, man. I literally got up and screamed I victory when I beat Whizpig the second time
Top 3 games of my life
Childhood game right here!
Aaah the memories!
Not just the gameplay was better, the music and the graphics were way superior, just look at the Water effects. Brilliant
I was going to say I always loved Diddy racing on my own, but with friends we always played mario kart. I love both. Its hard to pick a favorite because Diddy was personally more fun, but kart was equally fun with friends.
Comparing DKR to Mario Kart 64 is a lot like comparing Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed to Mario Kart 8. Mario excels at that pick up & play quality. It's simple enough that you can get the hang of it in a race or two even if you've never played it before, and it still has PLENTY of mechanical depth and replay value in its track design.
...but not AS much as DKR or Transformed, which sacrifice that accessibility in exchange for greater depth and challenge. They're better single-player experiences, but worse party games, unless everyone at the party already happens to know how to play them.
What did you think of the nintendo ds remake of DKR?
shit thats what i think of the ds one
Yes....yes it is.
"I guess to make sure he doesn't commit genocide again."
I'm missing something here.
I like the silver coin challenge even though it can be super difficult 😂 I think the coin challenges motivates you to really learn the tracks & gives you a reason to get good at the game besides simply just wanting to be good. I think some of them can be rage inducing but overall I think it was a good concept
"And opened up all kinds of VS mode combinations"
What idiot would pick something other than plane whenever it was available???
Plane was definitely always dominant, but on some of the ones where you only had Car/Hovercraft it could get pretty interesting (mostly in the icy levels).
I loved this game! I got it first day released and it was a favorite for years. Loved the plane races...
I accidentally found the secret by the lighthouse when I was a kid, me and my buddy were on top of the world
They don’t make games like this anymore still feels so ahead & awesome DKR needs a remake for the Nintendo Switch fuck Microsoft for putting these games & characters aside in a cabinet
It’s nice to see somebody who is correct
no mention on time trial, the BEST part of this game...
In my opinion, though I consider myself more of a Nintendo gamer, I can honestly say that I think Crash Team Racing beats both Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64.
I never knew Diddy Kong Racing started out life and RC Pro Am 2
Me and my sister played this all the time growing up, and we always argued over which was better, this or mario kart. I thought mario kart was, and she thought this was.
okay so looking back on the recption it does seem like gamespot was the only one to give it a mixed review 6.6 diddy kong racing that is. every other reviwer seems to have given it an above 8 so i am not sure what the deal is with gamespot there :/
And remember the multiplayer mode egg hunt... that's an awesome multiplayer mode for a racing game... looking at you mario kart 64
I still think Crash Team Racing was the best of this era’s cart racers but this game was a lot of fun and unique.
I can't believe that this was supposed to be a 3D-sequel to RC Pro Am. I always thought it became forgotten since the SNES/Playstation days. The original NES game is criminally underrated if you would ask me.
Although I got this game as a kid because I got a good grade and had fun with it back then, I must admit that the silver coins weren't really necessary and those boss battles ... euargh! Don't get me started on it!
Workingplayer53 Yeah, I was 9 when DKR came out, and I'd never even heard of RC Pro-Am until I found out this game was going to be a sequel to it years later. And don't get me started on how confused I was when I got an NES at a yard sale and wondered why worse versions of Super Mario All-Stars were on individual carts. Oh, to be young and ignorant. xD
I have never played Diddy Kong Racing, but my friend always talked about it saying it's one of the best kart racers out there, and always linked me songs from the game. I always enjoyed it.
I don't really like emulating games, so I never really got the chance to play. Also my cousin had the DS version, but I heard that one was no good.
Maybe someday I'll get around to playing it, because this video really made me want to bust out my N64 and buy a copy off of eBay or Amazon.
yeah the ds port was crap banjo-bear (from banjo kazooie) and conker the squirrel aren't in the game plus no silver coins instead you go throught a ballon popping challenge and the worst part is touch screen controls
History will be very kind to this overlooked masterpiece, and this loving video will go a long, long way in encouraging that shift. Thank you for spreading the good word. :-)
I love both Mario kart 64 and Diddy Kong racing but I didn't like the way the carts handled in Diddy Kong racing. if Mario kart 64 included planes, it would have been perfect to me. I hated the hovercrafts, steering those things was frustrating
Back when Conker was a lovable cartoon squirrel and not the hung over foul mouthed squirrel he'd become.
Definitely my favourite kart racer of all time, although MKDS comes close.
And if it wasn't for this game, we wouldn't have the superb CTR Crash Team Racing. Heck, even the devs built one of the levels in this game too see if PS1 could handle it, and handle it it did!
lol i didn't realize Banjo came out after this game... so nice to see a Rareware equivalent to Mario Kart
I went up to a kiosk at Blockbuster and tried out a demo for this game before it came out.
NOTHING HAS EVER BEEN AS GOOD SINCE.
Alan Lopez Oh, yeah... if I remember right, you could actually rent it at Blockbuster a few weeks before the official release date. That's shamefully how I got so far so fast. Rented a copy with a more complete file, copied that save to my controller pak, and still had it when I got DKR for Christmas that year.
4:00 what's that song?
The song for the "Pirate Lagoon" track.
oh thanks
How can a hovercraft move across lava? Was I the only person who noticed that?
I still have my N64 console with "DKR" and "MK64." I remember owning the "DKR" cartridge, then losing it, but I repurchased it somewhere else. It's also been a while since I played either game. "Mario Kart 64" felt like it let me down as far as being a sequel to "Super Mario Kart." I go back and play the SNES game and it feels too simplistic, or like the races are over as soon as you blink (plus the 3-5 variations of the same tracks). There's still a fun factor, though. "Super Mario Kart" was also playable online (while the XBand service lasted), so I ended up with stronger memories of the battle mode, or not even finding out about how you could drag a shell behind you until playing against other people online. In comparison, Nintendo 64 never really had an online service?
In the N64 Mario Kart, I may play it occasionally, but I feel like it has low replay value once you've won every trophy. It's hard to explain. Did they expand the roster AT ALL from the 16-bit game? Weren't there FEWER tracks in the N64 game? I got frustrated on a bunch of the tracks (that Yoshi one with all the pencil thin places to fall down?). It's hard to remember which ones had cool new ideas. Some of the shortcuts were neat. I liked the wild west theme with a train (unless you couldn't go past/around it on that lap). Toad's Turnpike feels cooler in the newer games. There's also something about Kart 64's art style, fonts, colors ... that irritates my eyes.
So, the video was about "DKR," right? Based on what I said about maybe my least favorite Mario Kart, how could it not be the better game? I don't think it's just because of the lower bar set by "MK64," though. I possibly like the "DKR" roster better, even if half of them look unfamiliar or they only seem to appear in this game. I forget how to unlock Drumstick or the stopwatch. There was supposed to be a way to have infinite acceleration or a higher top speed if you kept tapping the gas button. Maybe a turbo controller would verify that? The power-up system also made you choose between a lower strength item, or avoiding a different colored balloon (two of the same color gave you the better power-up). In that way, it felt strategic, instead of how Mario Kart seems to "reward" people who are losing the race. I remember the silver coin challenge being annoying and not something you could clear in one or two attempts. Why wouldn't the CPU players be held to the same standard of collecting eight poorly placed tokens to win the race? The bosses were frustrating, but beatable.
It's probably a game I should revisit soon. Thanks for the video.
this is the reason I loved playing my little brother´s N64
It stresses me the steam coming out of the hovercraft being uneven, one side's steam is not continuous lol
I loved the Silver Coin challenges!!