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It's a terrible mess!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: May 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Please, stay away from this game! Don't buy stuff like this, it's an insult and it doesn't deserve to be played, I went to the store where I bought it and returned it right away. I wanted my money back! Well instead I exchanged it for a better DS game, but well, I'm here to tell you my experience with DKR DS, so listen carefully. Graphics are terrible! I know the DS hasn't the best graphics, but this game really makes it look worst! The voice acting is awful and annoying and the music, well, there's no problem with the music at all. It gets boring from the first time you grab it, I know it's a game based on Nintendo characters, developed by Rare, but as soon as I started to play, it seemed to me like a very bad Mario Kart DS rip-off! MK looks and plays perfectly, but DKR is an insult! There are three types of vehicles in this game to choose from, a kart, a plane and a boat. The kart and the plane are OK, but the boat is uncontrollable, imagine a monkey on drugs driving on a road covered with ice. And of course you can tell this game was made by some mediocre programmers because it's full of glitches. No fun for one player, just a headache and a "been there, done that" feeling. Multiplayer may be good but i'm not gonna spread the word about this awful game. Sorry Diddy, your dad is still the star, not you, at least he chose to stay in the best kart game series ever, MK. Shame on you, Diddy.

Overly complicated, frustrating gameplay

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this when I bought the DS Lite brand new just so I would have something to play on it while I waited for other games to come in the mail. This is one of the most frustrating video games I have ever played. I'm not saying that because it is difficult; I have played much harder games and not been as frustrated. So much of this just seems thrown together, with no overall cohesive or comprehendible architechture. The challenges are arbitrary, annoying, and often downright unfair. The weapons, unlike the creative ones in Mario Kart, are limited and pitiful. Of course the ones aimed at you are very powerful, however. The same weapon you use on someone else slows them down for a second, when they use it on you you get slowed fown for 5 seconds. How is that fair? I ended up beating the game just out of spite, and because I started it so I wanted to finish it. I don't wish this experience on anyone. I wish I could explain it better, but I can't. I just found it really annoying is the bottom line. I cursed a lot and banged the sofa cushions because of this game.

Not much fun

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game was a lot less fun for me than Mario Kart. The vehicles in this game handle horribly, and races are very hard to win. When I first started the game, it was all right. But as I progressed, it got less fun. This game is worth buying only if it on sale, or a good used price.

Taylor's first review

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game is just OK, not as good as all the hype. I wish I had not spent the mopney on it.

Somewhat disappointing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 24 / 28
Date: February 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

For starters, when Diddy Kong Racing was originally released way back when for the Nintendo 64, I wouldn't exactly would have called it a classic. Like a few other N64 games to come to the DS (Super Mario 64, Snowboard Kids), Diddy Kong Racing gets a bit of a makeover on Nintendo's smash hit dual screened portable system. Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and almost everyone else are here (except for Conker and Banjo), as you cart race around different tracks picking up collectables along the way. There's some touch screen controls thrown in for good measure, but for the most part they're not utilized very well. Not to mention that there are a few graphical glitches and bugs to boot, just like in the original. Negatives aside, there's a staggering amount of activities to do in the game that really turn up the replay value; and each track and character has their own unique charm. The Wi-Fi multiplayer capability is pretty well utilized as well, although there's no multiplayer chat. There's a boat load of unlockable content too, so regardless of how you feel about Diddy Kong Racing DS as a whole, you're guaranteed to be busy with it. That being said, if you go into this expecting another dose of Mario Kart only with monkeys, be warned, Diddy Kong Racing DS isn't bad, but it's nowhere near as great as Mario Kart.

Nothing Compared to the Original

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: February 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I admit, I've been pretty pumped for this game ever since I heard about it. I'm a HUGE fan of the original Diddy Kong Racing for N64 and I couldn't wait to get this one in my hands. With the list of all its new features, such as track building, unlockables, and even new characters, I was so hyped! Sadly, all of these come at a price.

The new charcters are simply replacing old ones, not in addition to. We no longer can race as Conker or Banjo. The unlockables cost a certain amount of coins, which have replaced the banannas that used to frequent the tracks to give you a speed boost.

Even though the graphics have improved greatly, the gameplay is down a lot. Now, timing your acceleration to gain a speed boost at the beginning of a race has been replaced with spinning a wheel or propeller before the announcer says "go", which greatly reduces your start time, whether you choose to attempt the initial speed boost or simply wait to race.

The boss challenges are now what appears to be a rail shooter type, to collect balloons and coins. As fun as the initial idea of this sounds, it is not fun AT ALL. Instead of the camera being set to a certain point, you have to adjust it with your stylus to see the whole screen, while popping balloons and dragging coins to a purse, all with the stylus! Normally, this would be impossible in a game such as Diddy Kong Racing, known for its challenging gameply, but that has been tweaked as well.

The game is FAR too easy. Some bosses that used to pose a threat are now the equivalent to playing against your friends with mental disabilities. (Was that too crude?)

Steering the airplane without a joystick is next to impossible. You always find yourself ramming into walls or flying against the ground.

I really have nothing good to say about this game, except the fact that it is Diddy Kong Racing and will provide for at least a few hours of entertainment. Simply rent this one and save your bucks for Mario Kart DS. If you really one to experience a phenomenal racing game, buy Diddy Kong Racing for N64.

Bland when compared to Mario Kart DS

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 12
Date: February 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing this game for a few weeks and find it to be a boring. I've played with friends using the wireless functionality, but even still it's not as engaging as Mario Kart DS.

As the title states, the levels are bland. Nothing exciting here. No matter what vehicle you use you never feel like you're going fast.

You don't get the same thrill and rush that Mario Kart DS provides.

I would have thought the folks over at Nintendo would have put some more time and effort into this title as it could have been fun, but I was disappointed.

It doesn't have much re-play value as its Mario Kart DS counter part.

Yeah, yeah I know it sounds like I'm a Mario Kart DS fan boy, but that couldn't be farther from the truth.

As far as "Kart" games go, I would go for Mario Kart DS and skip this title.

No Mario Kart

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game features a lot of unlockables that can be used when playing against other people which is cool but the controls aren't the most responsive and the touch screen process of getting a boost in the beginning is kind of lame and feels tacked on. I'm also not all that crazy about the story mode either.

All in all, not a bad game but if you've mastered Mario Kart and are looking for something else like it, you are likely to be very unimpressed.

This One Sits on the Fence

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

There were plenty of great Nintendo 64 classics out there. Perfect Dark. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Donkey Kong 64. Starfox 64. Super Smash Bros. But of all the classics Nintendo decided to port to the DS they chose... Diddy Kong Racing? A game that really isn't much of a classic beyond its age to begin with. Of all the classic N64 games out there, one probably will wonder after playing this, why Nintendo decided to port this one over to the DS above other clearly superior games that deserve a second life.

There's actually a storyline in Diddy Kong Racing, and after you know just what it is you'll understand why most racing games don't have a storyline. A racing game doesn't need a story to be good, and when there actually IS a story, it usually hinders the game. In Diddy Kong Racing it's certainly true as the story makes no sense whatsoever. Wizpig has come and taken over an island, and the inhabitants don't like it one bit. So they call in Diddy Kong to save the day. And he's going to do it by racing. At least the game doesn't dwell on the storyline too much. Who would've thought a storyline in a video game could feel tacked on?

Diddy Kong Racing feels like a hybrid of Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart. You explore the island and can go into one of the hubs where you'll go through a race. In each hub there are doors with balloons on them, and if you don't have the required amount of balloons, you can't go in and race. Thankfully, if you're ever stuck, there are some balloons hidden across the island. Likewise, you'll also get balloons by winning the race. And when I say win I'm not kidding, you have to be first place. Otherwise you get nothing.

Racing in and of itself isn't so bad, though. Like Mario Kart you get an assortment of ways to deal with your competition. You can chuck items at them to slow them down or knock them out for a moment. In truth, racing is actually quite fun. Mostly in part because it feels like Mario Kart in several areas.

What really stings the gameplay, however, is the repetitive nature of it. First, you'll go through the hubs four races. After that you'll race a boss. After defeating the boss... you go through all the races again. You win all the races again and then face off against the boss a second time. And after you face off a second time? You get to go through all the courses AGAIN, only this time you see the race from a bird's-eye view. Racing can be fun, but the amount of time spent racing through the same courses in order to progress forward is tedious. By the third time you'll probably be sick and tired of it all.

The touch screen controls are no better. You'll race in an assortment of different vehicles. You'll race in either a kart, airplane or hovercraft. To get a boost from these requires you to use the stylus. For example with the plane you'll have to use the stylus to trace out a ring as if you were spinning a propeller. These controls are just annoying, especially because once you actually get going you probably won't need them.

Even worse, the third race from the bird's eye-view will make you use the stylus. You'll have to use it to boost yourself as well as draw out a course for your driver to take. You'll find yourself having to boost more as they'll slow down a lot, and even worse, they may not even follow your course properly. This makes some of the races a real drag.

There are things to do outside the racing. There are plenty of mini-games and you can upgrade your kart any time you feel like it. It's really expensive to upgrade your kart, though, and that'll require more racing from you. In fact, unlocking a lot of the stuff requires you to race a lot. It's a racing game so, of course, you'd have to race to get all the goodies. The problem is again, like the main story, you have to race in the same courses over and over and over again. It's bad enough to go through all the courses three times in a row during the main storyline. Now I have to go through all the courses as much as four times in a row just to unlock stuff? Getting all the extras in this game is a tedious task, and all that hard work just doesn't always pay off.

At least the game's multiplayer is fun. Especially because even those who don't own the game will be able to have full access to everything the host does. Even better you can go online with six people. Nintendo still has some issues to work out with taking their games online, however. Even though here you don't actually need a friend code, there's still the problem of not being able to communicate with anyone online when you set up races and the like. When will Nintendo learn that if you're going to send a game online, there needs to be some form of communication as well?

To it's credit, the game looks good, though. Great graphics. They're really colorful and it's nice to see that there are games out there willing to use the DS's 3D capabilities. The music itself isn't bad, but some of the voices are pretty annoying. You don't hear the voices much, though.

Diddy Kong Racing is hard to judge. On the surface, it's actually a pretty fun game, but once you start digging deep, it's very tedious. Having to go through all the courses three times in order to progress just begins to drag after a while. Even worse, unlocking the extras feels more like a chore than anything. Finally, the touch screen controls are just awful. It's a pretty looking game and it can be fun... but not all that glitters is gold.

If you honestly want a good kart racing game on your DS, then Diddy Kong Racing won't deliver the goods. It can be fun, but it's so repetitive and tedious in its execution that you'll grow tired of it fast. If you really want a good kart racing experience, invest in Mario Kart DS and leave this one.

Pros:

+Great looking game
+For the most part, racing is fun
+Multiplayer is a good experience

Cons:

-The story is just stupid
-Repetitive gameplay
-Unlocking most of the games content is more of a chore than anything
-Bad touch screen controls

A Little Bit of a Let Down...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I had heard all these good reviews about Diddy Kong Racing from the gaming magazines and when I got it home I was a little disappointed. The races are fairly easy to win, the story's kind of boring, and you have to do research on who in the world all these characters are (unless you're a big Donkey Kong fan). I wouldn't recommend spending the full MSRP for this game because it's just too easy to win (and it's not fun when you're lapping the person in 2nd place...).

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