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This is the 2nd of my feature on old times that involves me taking down my old games and getting another go of them. Here goes.
DKR is an excellent game, mixing racing and adventure into one. First of all you choose a character from 8 cute animals (2 more come available later) which are explained in more depth on the tips page. Once this is done you are placed in the centre of Diddy's Island. The first thing that you see is a big blue elephant walking about on the grass. This is Taj a Genie who is only to glad to help out. He changes your vehicle from a car to either a hovercraft which takes a lot of getting used to because it is very sensitive or a plane. Later on in the game he will also challenge you to a race.
After wondering around for a while you will soon realise that a lot of work has been put in to the game. The graphics are what you would expect from the Rare Art Designers and the music is also wonderful. After about five minutes of getting used to the different vehicles and gawping at the lush scenery you will probably go for your first race. I made the mistake of thinking that DKR will be a lot like Mario Kart and just a little bit harder. Boy o' boy was I wrong. Sure enough the first levels were easy, but then I realised how much depth there was in this game. It is not just your run of the mill racing game where you win on one track and that's the last you will see of that. After finishing the four tracks in the first section, you then have to go on to defeat the big baddy which could be anything from an octopus to a sea lion. Once this is done you then have to go though all the races again collecting 8 silver coins each time and winning. This get progressively harder as the coins are placed in out of the way places. Once these are all collected for each course, the Baddy then a waits yet again, but this time with improved skills. After defeating the Bad guy for the second time you then have to race the other players in championship mode like on Mario Kart, getting points for coming first, second etc. Is that it? No, once the champion mode has been won, you then have to search though the courses looking for a key to yet another level. This level is normally a Battle Course, but I will not say too much about them so you can see what they are like for yourself. After you beat the computer at this that section is now complete, YAHOO!! But there are still another five sections to do.
The tracks themselves are very well designed and at first you never know what to expect. The further you get into the game the more surprised you will be by the tracks and never know if the next corner holds a loop or a tight corner. This makes the game a lot more fun. The weapons in the game aren't actually all that good. There are five different coloured balloons which all hold different things. The red balloon is a missile, the blue balloon is a turbo boost, the green balloon is an obstacle, the yellow balloon is a shield and the multi-coloured balloon is a magnet which pulls you towards another player. If you decided to save your power up, you can upgrade it by going over the same balloon again. These weapons aren't as great as the ones in Mario Kart and I think that this is the reason why DKR is not as good in Battle Mode. With Mario Kart you never knew what to expect and neither did your friend, so you could be playing someone who has a red shell, while you yourself have nothing and decide to risk everything by running over a power-up, hoping to get three green shells and before knowing what you have, drop down just behind them and hope to kill them. But with DKR you know what you have and what you are going to get, this I think explains the reason why there is a lack of fun in battle mode. This is the only fault the game has and does not spoil it too much. But if you do buy it, when you finish it (if you finish it) don't expect for it to have that much replay value.
Thanks 4 reading, Afro.
DKR is an excellent game, mixing racing and adventure into one. First of all you choose a character from 8 cute animals (2 more come available later) which are explained in more depth on the tips page. Once this is done you are placed in the centre of Diddy's Island. The first thing that you see is a big blue elephant walking about on the grass. This is Taj a Genie who is only to glad to help out. He changes your vehicle from a car to either a hovercraft which takes a lot of getting used to because it is very sensitive or a plane. Later on in the game he will also challenge you to a race.
After wondering around for a while you will soon realise that a lot of work has been put in to the game. The graphics are what you would expect from the Rare Art Designers and the music is also wonderful. After about five minutes of getting used to the different vehicles and gawping at the lush scenery you will probably go for your first race. I made the mistake of thinking that DKR will be a lot like Mario Kart and just a little bit harder. Boy o' boy was I wrong. Sure enough the first levels were easy, but then I realised how much depth there was in this game. It is not just your run of the mill racing game where you win on one track and that's the last you will see of that. After finishing the four tracks in the first section, you then have to go on to defeat the big baddy which could be anything from an octopus to a sea lion. Once this is done you then have to go though all the races again collecting 8 silver coins each time and winning. This get progressively harder as the coins are placed in out of the way places. Once these are all collected for each course, the Baddy then a waits yet again, but this time with improved skills. After defeating the Bad guy for the second time you then have to race the other players in championship mode like on Mario Kart, getting points for coming first, second etc. Is that it? No, once the champion mode has been won, you then have to search though the courses looking for a key to yet another level. This level is normally a Battle Course, but I will not say too much about them so you can see what they are like for yourself. After you beat the computer at this that section is now complete, YAHOO!! But there are still another five sections to do.
The tracks themselves are very well designed and at first you never know what to expect. The further you get into the game the more surprised you will be by the tracks and never know if the next corner holds a loop or a tight corner. This makes the game a lot more fun. The weapons in the game aren't actually all that good. There are five different coloured balloons which all hold different things. The red balloon is a missile, the blue balloon is a turbo boost, the green balloon is an obstacle, the yellow balloon is a shield and the multi-coloured balloon is a magnet which pulls you towards another player. If you decided to save your power up, you can upgrade it by going over the same balloon again. These weapons aren't as great as the ones in Mario Kart and I think that this is the reason why DKR is not as good in Battle Mode. With Mario Kart you never knew what to expect and neither did your friend, so you could be playing someone who has a red shell, while you yourself have nothing and decide to risk everything by running over a power-up, hoping to get three green shells and before knowing what you have, drop down just behind them and hope to kill them. But with DKR you know what you have and what you are going to get, this I think explains the reason why there is a lack of fun in battle mode. This is the only fault the game has and does not spoil it too much. But if you do buy it, when you finish it (if you finish it) don't expect for it to have that much replay value.
Thanks 4 reading, Afro.
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lol, i could never think of breaking mine. Seeing as i bought it for £50...
I only payed £5 for it, it annoyed me so much I ended up throwing it out my bedroom window.
you broke the cartridge?! I've snapped a few CDs in my time, and used a few as fresbies but i've never broke a cart!
I got stuck on the Dragon and ended up breaking the cartridge. i think the Diddy Kong racing level on Jet Force Gemini was probably more fun than the actual game, I liked the Hover Crafts but I hated the planes and the Karts where too slow.
PIPSY *stamps on annoying mouse with bowtie in here hair*
PIPSY *stamps on annoying mouse with bowtie in here hair*
Starlight wrote:
I never did
> complete it, Wizipig (or whatever) was too hard the second time around.
Go back and do it! Or you will spend the rest of your life wonderg what could have been!
Nah honestly, it took me a few times but in the end i finally clocked it. Wizpig may seem all big and bad, but he isnt that hard once you master the track.
I never did
> complete it, Wizipig (or whatever) was too hard the second time around.
Go back and do it! Or you will spend the rest of your life wonderg what could have been!
Nah honestly, it took me a few times but in the end i finally clocked it. Wizpig may seem all big and bad, but he isnt that hard once you master the track.
Believe it or not but Diidy kong racing took me the longest time to complete than all of my N64 games! I must have spent about 6 months completing this game!
I did Adventure 1&2. Man did i feel good after i completed it. SO much hard work went into completing it.
I did Adventure 1&2. Man did i feel good after i completed it. SO much hard work went into completing it.
Starlight wrote:
> Tiltawhirl wrote:
Same here, but I can't
> remember any snow worlds in
> Diddy Kong?
There was about 3 or 4 I think, can't you remember going down the
> hill at the start of one track and seeing all the snow topped houses on the
> left?
Oh yeah, had all fairy lights and annoying snowballs.
> Tiltawhirl wrote:
Same here, but I can't
> remember any snow worlds in
> Diddy Kong?
There was about 3 or 4 I think, can't you remember going down the
> hill at the start of one track and seeing all the snow topped houses on the
> left?
Oh yeah, had all fairy lights and annoying snowballs.
Tiltawhirl wrote:
Same here, but I can't
> remember any snow worlds in Diddy Kong?
There was about 3 or 4 I think, can't you remember going down the hill at the start of one track and seeing all the snow topped houses on the left?
Best Snow world by a mile, Freezeazy
> Park, love that level.
That's the one on BK1 right? If so then yep that's the best level better than Mario's easily, (even if marios did include penguins ;-))
BT snow level was also top but it was halved between a lava land which wasn't as good, gah!
Same here, but I can't
> remember any snow worlds in Diddy Kong?
There was about 3 or 4 I think, can't you remember going down the hill at the start of one track and seeing all the snow topped houses on the left?
Best Snow world by a mile, Freezeazy
> Park, love that level.
That's the one on BK1 right? If so then yep that's the best level better than Mario's easily, (even if marios did include penguins ;-))
BT snow level was also top but it was halved between a lava land which wasn't as good, gah!
I wish they had released snowboard kids 2 over here. The first one was great. Has anyone seen the screen shot (only one) of Mario Kart on Gcube......WOW!
Starlight wrote:
Still
> nice lovely snowy worlds which is always a good thing in my books, Snowy worlds
> are the best!
Same here, but I can't remember any snow worlds in Diddy Kong?
Best Snow world by a mile, Freezeazy Park, love that level.
Still
> nice lovely snowy worlds which is always a good thing in my books, Snowy worlds
> are the best!
Same here, but I can't remember any snow worlds in Diddy Kong?
Best Snow world by a mile, Freezeazy Park, love that level.
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