Review: Diddy Kong Racing DS (DS)

Graphics- 8/10
Sound- 9.5/10
Gameplay- 9/10
Replay Value- 8/10
Overall- 8.5/10

I was in need of a new DS game, so I went hunting. I remembered Diddy Kong Racing DS, so I purchased it. This is another game you can chalk up as a great N64 remake.

I guess I should start out by saying that I am very much in the minority when it comes to this games. It seems like everyone who touches this game hates it. It could be that I was way too excited to the Rare logo on a Nintendo game for the first time in way too long or it could be that I want to like this game, because I liked the original for the N64. Anyways, whatever the reason is, I like the game. People have complained about the graphics and more specifically, the textures. I have noticed this - but I only see this when I am looking for a problem, and that is not how I should review a game. In other words, when you aren't looking for any problems, odds are you won't see any. Enough about the graphics, lets get right down to the gameplay - and boy is there a lot of it. The racing aspect of this game has remained great, and nothing really has to be said, because almost nothing has changed (read what I said here.) The only change is to the start of the race, more specifically the way you boost at the beginning. If you are in a car, you spin a wheel on the touch screen, if you are in a plane you spin a propeller, and if you are in a hovercraft you blow into the microphone. To say the least, this is a very compelling idea, unfortunately, spinning the wheel is so hard, spinning the propeller is to easy, and blowing is way way to easy (oops...). However, this is a very minor detail. As long as we are talking about the cars, I might as well tell you one of the new features that I like about this game. That is the newly added unlockable features, which includes car upgrades. Are you as excited as I was? Well... probably not, but anyways, my excitement didn't last long because, it turns out upgrading is too easy, and makes the game too easy. If you keep losing a race, just upgrade your top speed, and you will win. "But, wait," you say, "I don't have enough coins to upgrade!" (you collect coins during races.) Well then, you just go back to the first races, the way too easy races, and you collect lots of coins. The other things that you can unlock include a design-a-course race, which I was disappointed in, mainly due to its lack of depth.

Anyways something that I loved in the original was the music, it was awesome, and thank god it wasn't changed for this game. Hot Top Volcano still has the same somewhat stereotypical music. Another thing I loved in the original was the elephant's extremely stereotypical Indian voice, but unfortunately, this did not return (it's not hard to figure out why.) Something else that I have yet to mention is the Wi-Fi, and for the most part it works fine, it's nothing special. It does add more to the game though. In the end, I still spend a lot of time with this game, and I don't care what everyone else says. If you read my original review, you can understand why I like the remake. Is my review possibly biased? Well get used to this, it's a good game.

Pros: Upgrades, Music the same, Much like the original.
Cons: Loss of stereotypical Indian voice, Design a course, Upgrades.

Review: Dan