Mario Kart 64 or Diddy Kong Racing?

megashock5

megashock5

CAGiversary!
I picked up an N64 last week at a garage sale (never had one before).

My 4-year old son loves MK-DD on the Gamecube (as do I) and I was thinking of picking up one of these two for something to play with him. I'm leaning toward Diddy Kong because having vehicles other than cars might add some variety.

Any opinions? I haven't played either of them.
 
Diddy Kong is a bit simpler, and not as much replay value as Mario Kart, but it's still fun as hell. I don't know how good your son is at video games, but in Diddy Kong you have to unlock the tracks, they don't go one after another, so that may be a little confusing to a 4 year old. They are both must-haves for a kid racing fan though.
 
I tend to prefer Mario Kart 64, since it seems a bit more polished, but my friends and I had a lot of fun with Diddy Kong. One level in particular involves flying airplanes around an arena and dropping eggs in nests... We spent hours playing that one level. Both games are pretty cheap, so you might just get both since they're so different.
 
Diddy kong is awesome, much harder then Mario Kart. Completing that game is a chore if you are going for everything. Its almost like a kart game with a little adventure in the mix for good measure.
 
Diddy Kong Racing is probably the best kart racer next to Mario Kart for the SNES.

It has a lot of unlocking though, which is annoying.

The game also has an adventure style of gameplay, you have to explore and win races in order to unlock tracks and even fight bosses.
 
[quote name='rabidmonkeys']Diddy kong is awesome, much harder then Mario Kart. Completing that game is a chore if you are going for everything. Its almost like a kart game with a little adventure in the mix for good measure.[/QUOTE]


I really enjoyed Diddy Kong as well. The different vehicles, the overworld, the exploration/adventure elements. If it is a choice of one or the other, I'd go with DKR, especially if you already have MKDD.
 
I love both, but give a slight edge to Diddy Kong. It's Rare at it's best: taking the Nintendo formula and improving on it. Adventure racing is such a cool idea. I was pissed when Donkey Kong Racing for GCN was cancelled. But you can't go wrong with either, and I think they are both better than Double Dash.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']in Diddy Kong you have to unlock the tracks[/QUOTE] That's why I didn't like Diddy Kong. If I slap down $50, I want access to *all* the game (or as a compromise 95%).... not just a few tracks.

I got frustrated with only being able to play 3-4 tracks, and traded Diddy Kong for Mario Kart..... much, much better.

troy
 
Hmm. I'll be keeping an eye out for both at the right price. I borrowed Mickey's Speedway USA from a buddy and my son loved it. Guess I'll watch for that as well.

Okay, couple more questions :)

Is Wave Race 64 worth it if I already have Blue Storm?
And is Wipeout 64 worth it if I have WipeoutXL, Wipeout 3, Wipeout Fusion and Wipeout Pure?
I've stayed away from the original because of the stop-dead-when-you-touch-a-wall feature.

thanks, everyone!
 
[quote name='megashock5']Hmm. I'll be keeping an eye out for both at the right price. I borrowed Mickey's Speedway USA from a buddy and my son loved it. Guess I'll watch for that as well.

Okay, couple more questions :)

Is Wave Race 64 worth it if I already have Blue Storm?
And is Wipeout 64 worth it if I have WipeoutXL, Wipeout 3, Wipeout Fusion and Wipeout Pure?
I've stayed away from the original because of the stop-dead-when-you-touch-a-wall feature.

thanks, everyone![/QUOTE]

I loved Wave Race back in the day, but I never really got into Blue Storm. I know you can find Wave Race really cheap, so I'd recommend it.
 
[quote name='megashock5']Hmm. I'll be keeping an eye out for both at the right price. I borrowed Mickey's Speedway USA from a buddy and my son loved it. [/QUOTE]
BEETLE ADVENTURE RACING. A fun little game that will make you laugh out loud. :)

troy
 
now that i think about it more, diddy kong is a better game overall, and more unique and fun. but mario kart is probably better for a 4 year old. diddy kong racing was my first N64 game ever....
 
I would definitely choose DKR over MK. Diddy Kong Racing features 3 different vehicles, unlockable characters, an adventure mode (which can be played with 2 players if I remember correctly), boss battles, AI opponents in the battle arenas, a better powerup system (IMO), a cheat menu, more tracks, and more interesting environments (again, IMO). I found DKR to be much more enjoyable, single player and multiplayer. While mario kart isn't bad, the 64 version is my least favorite to date, and the single player mode is too straight forward and boring for me. I found MKDD to be more enjoyable due to its 2 player co-op racing, and bigger character selection. Seeing how you already have MKDD, I would go with DKR also because it will provide a different experience overall.

As far as unlockables go, they are what kept me playing the game, and I view them as a pro, not a con.
 
DK Racing seems to be cheaper and has a far better single player, where as Mario Kart has the better multiplayer, but can be pricey (in the $20 range).
 
[quote name='megashock5']Hmm. I'll be keeping an eye out for both at the right price. I borrowed Mickey's Speedway USA from a buddy and my son loved it. Guess I'll watch for that as well.

Okay, couple more questions :)

Is Wave Race 64 worth it if I already have Blue Storm?
And is Wipeout 64 worth it if I have WipeoutXL, Wipeout 3, Wipeout Fusion and Wipeout Pure?
I've stayed away from the original because of the stop-dead-when-you-touch-a-wall feature.

thanks, everyone![/QUOTE]

Wave Race 64 is far superior to Blue Storm.
I never spent much time on the PSX Wipeouts (I thought they stank), but Wipeout 64 still gives me joy to this day.
I had never heard of Beetle Adventure Racing being announced, but it was just one of those games that secretly showed up on store shelves one day. So I thought that there was a bad reason for never having heard of it. But I bought it anyway, despit my suspicions of it being a stinker. It was probably my best N64 impulse buy ever. I love this game.
Mario Kart 64 is superior to DKR, IMO. It has more replay value and multiplayer is a blast.
But DKR is very good as well. It takes a little more work to get through the entire thing, but seems to have less technique in the driving aspect.

I'd definitely say that you should at least get Wave Race, BAR, MK and DKR. If you don't have any other Wipeouts, get W64. If you have others, try and find it real cheap and get it anyway.
 
[quote name='Ziv']My vote's for Mario Kart. If you're looking for a good cheap regular racer also the go for Top Gear Rally. http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/135086.asp[/QUOTE]

Back in the day, before we were used to what we have today and while we may have been suffering an N64 game drought, this might have been an okay rental (which it was - I rented it). But today it would be nighty painful to suffer through. Back then it had a hard time holding my attention for three days. The other games in the thread are much more worthy of having the $2.99 spent on this game put towards them.
 
Diddy Kong is definitely the better single player racer, as others have mentioned it has much more variety with different kart types (ie. planes), bosses, and adventuring. Mario Kart 64 had really bad rubber band AI, which really brought the single player racing down IMO.

Mulitplayer is a different story. I think Mario Kart has the better overall fun factor here, I can't explain exactly why, it just had more of a fun factor for me. Things like being a bomb when you die add so much intensity. Diddy Kong is good as well, especially the airplane egg gathering, we spent many hours in high school playing that and yelling and screaming at each other.
 
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