Not a review, not a consumer guide, just some blissful nostalgia for today! It's nearing the end of September, and the Fall season approaches. Although the weather cools and the leaves turn their lovely colour, it seems that the perpetual dread that followed Summer's end still lingers ever so slightly, as some people settle into their new/old jobs, while others face an onslaught of school and midterms. It is during these times that you start thinking about old nostalgic memories of days gone bye, remembering the fondness of freedom and the joy of having no responsibility, as a means to alleviate the recurring stress. It is, as always, different for everybody, but for myself the greatest days of old consisted of playing games, either by myself or with others. (Hmm, well when I put it that way, I'm nostalgic all the time, haha.) Oh sure, I "went outside" and stuff, but such silly nonsense was unimportant when I could be inside, away from the horrid sun, turning pale amongst the mesmerizing glow of a TV.
Some of the earliest memories I have of playing games involve two in particular: Mario Kart 64, and Diddy Kong Racing. Indeed, two Nintendo 64 racing games! In fact, I'd wager that at the tidy age of 4, I played these two games the most out of any other, with the exception of perhaps Pajama Sam, which at least equalled the playtime between the others. Back then, Blockbuster was still a thing, and that's primarily how I was able to play them. We wouldn't own an N64 for a while, so my household would actually rent the console itself (it came in this cool black plastic briefcase), as well one of those two games, and hook it up to the living room TV. It was always a huge event, and it was always a ton of fun! My mom would play the games with me when we rented them, and I have no doubt that both MK64 and DKR are just as nostalgic for her as they are for me. Many memories are made better with others!
Mario Kart 64 let's you control one of eight Mario series characters - Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, and Bowser - as they participate in races using karts. Like, racing karts. Like, go-karts. You know what they are. MK64 allows up to four players at once, with a single player Time Trial mode, up to two people participating in a Grand Prix, and two or more people participating in a VS race, or the memorable Battle Mode. There are four different sets of four tracks, each corresponding to a different cup (Mushroom, Flower, Star, Special), and you have four "speeds" that refer to the difficulty: 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and EXTRA, later known as Mirror Mode (you play reversed tracks at a high difficulty). The racing itself is simple: A is go and B is reverse. Z fires one of the many weapons you can pick up randomly from "?" blocks, and the R button can be used to drift, if you don't end up spinning into a wall first.
It's that simplicity and charm that makes Mario Kart 64 so endearing. If you've played it before, which likely you have, then I'm sure you know what I mean. On their own, each track is unique and colourful, and unforgettable. Even the little things like fictional racing ads that border the tracks contribute to the details. And since we're talking details, one my favourite things to do is take my racer off the track and explore the surrounding areas. You know, things like exploring the train tunnel on the Kalimari Desert track, wandering around Bowser's Castle, or the best in my opinion, finding the path on Peach's Royal Raceway that leads to an almost identical recreation of her castle from Super Mario 64! I can't tell you how freaking cool it was to find out how similar the grounds were when I played both games. That was an absolute treat!
And that soundtrack has always been fantastic. Like the theme for the credits? Oh man. One of the best credit themes out there (oh-ho, that's a list for another day). Yet I feel like the defining part of MK64 has always been the multiplayer. Particularly, of course, the battle mode. Four arenas where up to four racers can battle it out before their three balloons are popped. So much fun!
A fun little story: years ago, this was the first game (I..can't say only) where I missed my school bus one day, and by proxy, was late to school, because I was too busy playing! Grand Prix's don't win themselves, you know. Heh, I think my folks were a little unimpressed with that.
Worth it.
So compared to Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing takes a whole new approach. But, like MK64, it's still a fantastic time! DKR's main draw is its expansive Adventure mode, wherein you pick one of the many racers and one of the three vehicles and manoeuvre around a hub-like world. Within the world are various sections that house different races and race conditions, amongst the several tracks inherent to the theme of the area (i.e, snow, beach, etc.). Winning races and challenges earn you Golden Balloons, which unlock more areas depending on the amount you have. Among each area, there are trophy races, time trials, challenge arenas, and even a unique boss
Many of the characters are unique to Diddy Kong Racing, with the exceptions of Diddy and Krunch (from the Donkey Kong series) with Banjo and Tiptup soon to appear in Banjo-Kazooie. Conker the Squirrel would also later be featured in two games of his own, Conker's Pocket Tales for the Game Boy Color, where he was the cute and loveable squirrel from DKR, and Conker's Bad Fur Day, for the N64, where he was...not. Oh, I'll talk about Conker's Bad Fur Day someday soon, hahaha.
Diddy Kong Racing is also unique in that it features other vehicles besides the car/kart: in this case a hovercraft and plane. You pick which vehicle you use before the race, if the track permits it, but in the overworld you can change your vehicle at any time by talking to the genie, Taj, who...just kinda wanders around and hums to himself. Ah well, I'm not one to question the mind of a blue elephant genie. Each vehicle handles differently from one another, and this has a neat effect of making many of the tracks feel different as you use each vehicle. It also makes for fun multiplayer, since when playing with others each person can individually select their own vehicle.
Another innovation Diddy Kong Racing has is actually in the way you use items. Compared to say Mario Kart 64, where you run through a block and receive one random item, DKR uses a kind of hierarchy tree when collecting items. You run through different coloured balloons to receive the first stage of the item respective to each balloon. For instance, red balloons house missiles, and going through a red balloon will grant you a single missile. Hitting a balloon of a different colour before you use the missile will change the item, however if you hit another red balloon, your single missile becomes a homing missile, effectively upgrading or powering up the previous item. You may do this a third and final time for every item, where in the case of the red items the homing missile becomes 10 normal missiles at your disposal. Each colour corresponds to a different use for the item, where red (the missiles) is offense-based, blue gives you speed, green lets you lay traps, yellow grants you shields, and the rainbow balloons let you magnetize and pull up to a racer ahead of you. The items in Diddy Kong Racing are one of my favourite features of the game, and they mix up the races in such a cool way!
It's funny that, for the years I've been playing DKR, I've only completed the main story (where you unlock all the tracks) once...just a few months ago! I originally thought I had completed it many years ago...until only recently I realized that it's one of those games with a dual ending. You beat the main villain, Wizpig, the first time, and it appears like you've done everything...except, psyche!, there's still an entire set of tracks to unlock! Yeah, once you beat the four areas and their sets of tracks, you still have to go through and unlock the hardest of the track sets known as Future Fun Land! And after going through it, you have one final, and difficult, race against Wizpig. And when you beat him...oh man, the relief is real. But I tell ya, imagine my surprise playing a game for so long only to find out you completely missed something like that. Wow!
Racing games on the N64 weren't just limited to Mario Kart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing, there were many others too! I remember the surprisingly competent Mickey's Speedway USA, and I remember the utter nonsense and obsession I had with Cruis'n USA, both on the N64 and in the arcades. Those highscores were absurd! And don't tell me you didn't crash while driving the San Francisco course. I'm fuming just thinking about it. Anyway point is, I'm drawing the line somewhere. And believe me, if I didn't limit this to racing games I could write an entire thesis. But hey, what memories of N64 racing games do you have? Maybe there's some I've neglected to mention (there is), or maybe your racing console of choice at the time was a Playstation? Oh man, the library grows even more! And, aha, I'm sure it goes without saying that there will be more posts on nostalgia in the future because...well, because nostalgia!
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