Forget Mario Kart or Kirby Riders, I’m Dying for This Nintendo Kart Racer to Come Back

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Many kart racing games have been released over the years, and several developers have tried to surpass the Mario Kart series as the most popular. Games featuring characters from franchises like Crash Bandicoot and Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as various crossover titles with large casts, are common. However, it’s unusual for any of them to truly compete with Mario Kart. Interestingly, the two games that have come closest to matching Mario Kart‘s success both originated from Nintendo.

When Kirby Air Riders first came out on the GameCube, it gained a dedicated following. It recently experienced a resurgence in popularity on the Switch 2, becoming a great companion game to the newest Mario Kart title. But before that, in 1997, another well-known Nintendo character starred in a kart racer that became a surprising hit on the Nintendo 64. Now, nearly thirty years later, it’s interesting to consider how Diddy Kong Racing pushed the boundaries of the genre and whether a modern remake would be successful today.

How Diddy Took To The Road, Skies, And Rivers

Diddy Kong Racing is still considered one of the most fun kart racers of all time, and fans have been hoping for a sequel for nearly three decades. Following the success of Killer Instinct 2, Rare and Nintendo decided to collaborate on another game. The team was split, with half moving to a different project. They explored several ideas – including a prehistoric real-time strategy game and an adventure game based on Disney World called Adventure Racers – before settling on Pro-Am 64, a racing game inspired by the classic NES title R.C. Pro-Am.

Building on ideas from their earlier, more playful game concepts like Adventure Racers, the developers created a racing game with bigger levels players could explore while racing. When Banjo-Kazooie faced delays and wasn’t finished in time for the 1997 holidays, they adapted the Adventure Racers concept and put Diddy Kong – a popular character from the Donkey Kong Country games – in the starring role. The game also included a story mode where Timber the Tiger enlists Diddy and other racers to stop Wizpig, an alien pig-wizard who has invaded his island.

Developed by a small team and released in November 1997, Diddy Kong Racing was the major Nintendo 64 game released that season. It quickly became popular with both critics and players, earning an 88/100 score on MetaCritic thanks to its impressive 3D graphics and smooth gameplay. With little competition on the N64 at the time, the game sold incredibly well, reaching 4.5 million copies worldwide and becoming one of the console’s best-selling titles. It was a fantastic game and immediately established itself as a strong competitor to Mario Kart 64.

A Modern Diddy Kong Racing Could Be Amazing

Although Mario Kart is still the best kart racing series, particularly on Nintendo consoles, and games like Kirby Air Riders are fun, Diddy Kong Racing was a truly unique competitor. It stood out by focusing more on storytelling, offering a larger world to explore in its single-player campaign, and letting players use different types of vehicles to keep things fresh. While the racing itself felt similar to Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing improved on the formula with new features, especially in modes like the combat mode, which was greatly enhanced by the addition of plane-based gameplay.

I really loved how Diddy Kong Racing wasn’t just about racing; the boss fights actually felt like a proper single-player game within the game, and it totally worked. Seriously, that game was just a ton of fun, and it reminded me how special the partnership between Nintendo and Rare was – they just got each other creatively. Now that kart racers like Mario Kart World are pushing the genre in so many new directions, it’s a real bummer we never got a sequel to see where Diddy Kong Racing could have gone.

As a huge fan of Diddy Kong Racing, I always hoped we’d get a sequel! There were plans for a couple of them – one for the GameCube called Donkey Kong Racing and another, Diddy Kong Pilot, for the Game Boy Advance – but sadly, both fell through or were changed a lot. They did remake it for the DS, but it just didn’t capture the magic of the original. Honestly, I think a new Diddy Kong Racing game today could be amazing. Look at how Mario Kart World is doing things – big, explorable worlds and epic boss fights! That feels like exactly the direction Diddy Kong Racing was hinting at all those years ago. I don’t know if we’ll ever get a true sequel, but it would be incredible to see that kind of racing adventure return and really push the genre forward again.

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2026-01-16 22:52