The Final Word game review

Diddy Kong Racing -- Rare

R.I.P.
This game is huge... good grief. Think of it this way. Take Rare's normal skill at developing huge worlds that span about a billion levels/stages and take forever to solve. Then make it a racing game instead of a platform title. That's what you've got here. Wow... there are so many courses in this game it's just silly. If I remember right, the total is around 20, but each of those courses offers different challenges based on the vehicle type you use to race on it. I really dig the multiple vehicle types and course types though. Especially the ability to mix vehicle types in the multi-player racing mode.

The races consist of either hovercraft, go-cart or airplane, and in the single player story mode, you race against seven other CPU controlled challengers. Some of the course are pretty demanding, and many of the challenges as you progress through the game start to boarder on the impossible. So prepare to re-race courses frequently just to meet the completion goal.

While I really enjoyed the game and frequently go back to play it in multi-player mode. I don't think I would ever attempt to play through it again if I ever lost my save file. Some of the levels where just that frustrating, and you have to play each stage in order to get it opened up for multi-player mode.

As for the general presentation of the game, both graphics and sound are on par with what you would expect from a Rare game on the N64. No real surprises here.

If you dig cart racing, this one game is high on the list. Mario Kart 64 still takes the #1 spot for the N64, but Diddy Kong Racing runs a close second.

(10/2002)