A crazy racing game with a wonky story, 
that is how I would describe Diddy Kong Racing. You can choose for example 
between Diddy Kong himself, or Banjo 
the bear, who is making his N64 
debut, or any of the other 8 
characters.

All with their own backstory. The game is 
not only about speed, but also discovery. 
Find your hidden shortcuts and the secret items that are scattered throughout 
the expansive island hub.

Diddy Kong gets invited to the races by his good friend and fellow racer Timber. When you have chosen your champion, you get to meet the archvillain of this game. He is 
an evil intergalactic pig wizard named 
Wizpig. He wants to conquer Timber’s 
Island, just because he is bored.



Luckily, we have Taj, the resident mystical flying elephant genie. He helps explain 
the game and gives you hints and tips. 

Sometimes he appears, offering explanations related to the game world, or he helps drive the story forward.

Sometimes he appears, offering explanations
related to the game world, or he helps
drive the story forward. 

Luckily we have Taj, the resident Mystical
flying elephant genie. He helps you with
explaining the game, and gives you hints
and tips. 

All your friends are happy to help you out. 
And even an enemy is willing to help. Just because they want to keep an eye on everybody. You also make some new friends, you just don’t know if it is a rooster or a frog. 



But with a name like Drumstick, you would rather think it is lunch. Another new friend is a stopwatch, bit of a weird one to be animate. But like I said, the whole game is quirky.




With Diddy Kong Racing you can choose 3 different types of vehicles, instead of 
the classic one type of vehicle in a game
 like this. You can pick a hovercraft, 
an airplane, or your plain old everyday kart.

Each has their own specialities, so choose wisely. Because on some tracks you can use 
all three of the vehicles, and that gives you 
a whole different challenge.

Get ready to race across twenty different
tracks, using three different vehicles, and ten
characters that are all very silly. The island
is divided into five themed realms, with each
realm featuring its own boss. All under
the control of Wizpig. 

Do not think of Diddy Kong Racing as another typical racing game. It is a mix of adventure, exploration, strategy, and of course racing.
Explore the limited world, collect some
balloons, complete your missions, and most importantly, beat the mini bosses and Wizpig.

You start with eight friendly racers to choose from. Later in the game you get to unlock two more. You can unlock Drumstick if you save 
him from being a frog, or get T.T. by beating 
him in time trials. 

All of them have their own quirky nature 
and weird trivia. One has 20 kids, another 
is on parole, and a third has a music career 
in Hip-Hop. And that is just the tip of 
the iceberg.

The different characters are not just a visual thing. Diddy Kong Racing assigns different stats to different racers. Some are faster, others handle turns better, or just accelerate quicker. If you want to win, know who to pick for your races.

Power-ups are an important part of the game. Each balloon color gives you a different power. If you collect more of the same color balloons, they get an upgrade. So don’t use them willy-nilly, and pick your time. It is a shame that the boosts are not as vibrant and full of personality as they could have been, with a powerful franchise like Donkey Kong behind it.

There are also bananas on the tracks that don’t respawn. The more bananas you can collect,
the higher your max speed will be. But be
warned, when you get hit, you lose two
bananas. So get as many bananas as
possible to go faster and prevent your
opponents from doing the same.

When the announcer says “Get Ready,” the text starts to fade from the screen. That is when you want to press the A button. You get a turbo boost, which will give you a strong advantage right from the start. You will need that boost, especially when you are up against the mini-bosses.

Here is a tip for using the so-called zippers, the red and yellow boost pads. Release the acceleratoraccelerate button right before you hit a zipper or use a boost power-up. Doing this will make the boost significantly more powerful.

DKR-P6-When I was a kid I really had fun playing this game for hours on end. And now that I get to review it, I am still having way too much fun. For me this is a game for all ages. You get
a quirky cast, some open-world adventure
all wrapped up in a colorful package.

While some things could have been more creative, like the power-ups, the game’s innovation and charm still make it a standout kart racer. If you want something different
than your normal kart racer, this might be
for you.

In Banjo-Tooie, Tiptup the Turtle mentions that he has nineteen daughters and only one son. That is one busy family reunion. Maybe Timber can play music at that party, because, last we heard, he grew a beard and started a career in rhyming instead of racing.

He is now all into hip-hop. The weirdest bit of lore might just be something we got from one of the developers at Rare Limited. Bumper the Badger spent some time in jail but is now out on parole. WOW, that is not something
I would have ever thought about.

You can take that in two directions for this game. One would be that they rushed Diddy Kong Racing, because they wanted to finish it before the holiday season. They still managed to pull off a very innovative game. Think about what they could have done if they did not have to rush it. The second part would be that there is still a very large speedrunning community.

They are racing to get a high score on a game that is 28 years old. If you wish to have a go at speedrunning this game, then your best pick would be T.T. the Stopwatch. He is probably the strongest across the board.

Playtime: 

8 hours

Maikiejj and Omar 

Hiding on Timber’s Island we give you
a solid commentary on Diddy Kong
Racing for the N64.

We give this game:
4 out of 5 bananas

What else does a monkey give you?

Bland use of power-ups
Not enough unlockable content
Boss races are hard for young 
and casual racers
No part two. Just a remake
Too much repetition

• Multiple choices for a vehicle
• Great soundtrack
• Original characters#
• Fun Multi player content. 
Not only
  straight up racing
• Unique format that influenced other
  racing games
• Speedrunners still compete to this day