Diddy is racing towards the finish line and onto the DS, but can this ten year old N64 port still retain the fun of the original?

Back in 1997, Diddy Kong Racing was released for the Nintendo 64 with little to no marketing. And yet, it still went on to sell extremely well that Christmas. In fact, 800,000 copies were ordered before the game was even released, making it the fastest selling video game at the time.

In this new port for the DS, Banjo and Conker have been removed, because Microsoft now owns the rights to those characters, along with the original developer of the game, Rare.

Apart from this, most of the game retains the features of the original. Diddy Kong Racing is a kart racer with a difference. The adventure mode has a (very simple) storyline, and you'll need to solve puzzles, race against bosses and collect various items in order to progress through the game. Diddy Kong is completely open-ended in that you can choose any one of several races at any given time. Win a race, and you earn a balloon. Collect enough balloons, and new areas will be unlocked, containing new races.

There are a total of four areas, as well as coin races and a new shooter mode previously unseen in the N64 version.

There are three different vehicle types to master. Karts are probably the easiest, while planes allow you to fly virtually anywhere on the map. Hovercrafts, on the other hand, pose a bit of a challenge. They can be extremely tough to keep on the track as they have a tendancy to float (as they do) off the course when you are trying to navigate around sharp twists and turns. Regardless, the driving model here is your standard kart-racing affair, and is good solid fun most of the time.

You can even create your own tracks, and then race in them online against other opponents via the Nintendo WiFi Connection. Diddy Kong Racing is without a doubt the most feature-packed racer to date for the DS, and the extensive multiplayer options serve to increase the longevity of the game tremendously. This really is a big game, and it will take you a long while to finish it, or even to grow bored of the gameplay.

There are plenty of courses and drivers, a good variety of vehicles, a wide array of multiplayer modes, and an engaging single player adventure. Graphics are solid throughout the game, with the general theme being colorful textures and bright game characters.

Unfortunately, Diddy Kong Racing retains several of the flaws that plagued the original game. Namely, the fact that you must repeat races over and over until you win in order to keep progressing through the game and unlock new tracks. What makes matters worse is the puzzles often involve tedious tasks that just become frustrating, and frankly are a bore. The touch screen controls for spinning up your wheels before each race just feel tacked on, because they are.

But despite all of its failings, if you own a DS, this is certainly a game worth picking up. If you're not that keen to spend the US$35 on it now, be sure to check it out when the price comes down to a more reasonable $20.