Diddy Kong Racing DS Review

The only kart racing franchise to sucessfully compete with nintendo's own Mario Kart series was Diddy Kong Racing developed by RARE. Rare has since been bought by Microsoft but still produces games for Nintendos handhelds. They have agreed with Nintendo to port over Diddy Kong Racing to fans delight. Does it hold up? Yes. 

What differentiates Diddy Kong Racing from Mario Kart are two things: weapons and vehicles. In DKRDS you can upgrade your different weapons, also you can fly a plane, drive a kart or use a hovercraft. The game uses this all in a great Adventure mode that will find you competing in several different locales.
 
If you've played the original you should expect about the same game, the graphics have gotten a small overhaul and look slightly better than the original, also the great soundtrack is back. Sadly, Banjo and Conker are not playable this time and are now replaced with Dixie and Tiny Kong. New unlockable characters are: Wizpig and Taj.

There are several different game-modes. You've got the deepest online racing action on the DS, Time Trial modes with TT (sadly its not me :P), and the Adventure. The time trials will take time to beat but if you do complete it you unlock a  powerful     racer in TT. Also the online is superb.You'll find many different modes that you can play online. From battle type modes to normal races.      

The DS specific features are hit or miss. The hits are: Online Play and custom levels. The misses are: The boost you can get by drawing circles on your touch screen at the beginning of the race and the new boss battles that make you use the DS' touch screen. Whoever in RARE thought you should drive with the touch-screen should be shot. Anyways the game is fun and has a lot of replayability in its Adventure and Online modes.

Final Score:

Gameplay - 8
The core game is solid but some of the added stuff is a pain.

Graphics- 8
Very nice graphics for the Nintendo DS

Sound- 8
Some great tunes that will have you humming.

Replay Value- 9
Online, two adventure modes and a ton of other modes will keep you playing.

Overall- 33/40

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