| A 1997 racing/adventure game for the Nintendo 64 from the masterful development team at Rareware. Diddy Kong Racing finds Diddy Kong and his friends (some of whom are other famous Rareware characters such as Banjo, Conker, and Tiptup) are on a quest to defeat the evil Wizpig who has enslaved Timber the Tiger's island home. The way to beat Wizpig? Beat him in a race, of course! So Diddy and friends set off to race around the island to gather amulets to open the boss doors, who then give up pieces of the Wizpig Amulet. Assemble that amulet and you can race Wizpig.
This is not just another go-kart racing game. Sometimes you have to race with hovercraft and airplanes, too. And simply coming in 1st place in a race isn't enough to win. After running the course once (and winning) you have to race the course again, but this time collecting the eight silver coins scattered about the level. Collect all 8 and win to advance.
This game contains the classic racing items: zippers, oil slicks, boosters, and missiles. Collect balloons to pick up the goodies. Blue balloons contain boost, red balloons hold missiles, and green balloons give you the oil slick. Collect several of the same color balloon consecutively to power-up the power-up (example: missile becomes homing missile, etc.).
There are five major worlds on the island: Dino Domain, Snowflake Mountain, Sherbet Island, Dragon Forest, and Future Fun Land (hidden world). Each world contains four tracks plus a battle track (all of which that can be raced as a time trial or a competitive race). There's multiplayer options, too. Players can race against each other, battle each other on the battle tracks, or work together as a team in one-player mode (with the use of the secret code DOUBLEVISION).
Overall this isn't a game to be missed. It can be frustrating at times, but it's so full of secrets and those special little details that it's difficult to put down. It's still new enough to find on sale with the other N64 games, so it should be easy to find. | 
