So recently I've been digging out my good ol' N64 to replay some old games and to play some others for the first time that I've never played before. I recently borrowed a friend's copy of Rayman 2: The Great Escape (shout out to You Pay This Much!) to play it properly for the first time and enjoyed it for what it was. I made my first ever LTTP thread on Rayman 2 in the old forum, and now I'm making my first ever RTTP thread on DKR.
Recently watching a playthrough of the game on YouTube inspired me to revisit this game. The last time I played this game was about 4 years ago and I remember beating Wizpig and getting to the last space world, but for some reason I never beat the game. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe the last world was too hard for me? Maybe I got distracted by other things? I dunno. But after coming back to the game, I still found it just as fun as ever, and I think it may possibly be the best kart racer on the N64.
If you're used to playing Mario Kart 64, the driving mechanics might be a bit tough to get used to at first. It's a bit different from Mario Kart. Not necessarily better or worse. Just different. And unlike MK64, DKR has an actual single player adventure mode. MK64 only has a traditional Grand Prix single player. MK64's single player is still fun, mind you. But there's nothing more to it than that. Sadly Nintendo didn't follow DKR's idea of having the single player be a whole adventure with its own story and all the Mario Karts still just only have a basic GP mode even today. For shame, Nintendo.
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The story takes place on Timber Island with its own central hub area that players can explore. I'm not even sure what the story is. There's an evil pig from space called Wizpig that wants to destroy or take over the island and you need to stop him by......racing him. I guess that's basically it? The story is obviously just an excuse to give players a reason to have an adventure mode, and there's nothing really wrong with that. Cartoony Nintendo kart racers don't exactly need some deep story, and the game clearly tries to focus more on the gameplay side of things.
The island is divided into five worlds. There's Dino Domain which is a prehistoric desert world. Snowflake Mountain is your typical snow world. Sherbet Island is a sandy beach world with a pirate theme. Dragon Forest is a medieval foresty world. And then finally, the bonus world after you beat Wizpig the first time is Future Fun Land which is set in space. After that, you have to beat Wizpig the second time to defeat him once and for all.
Each world isn't just a generic Grand Prix race type thing. There's actually a bunch of challenges and stuff you need to do in each world. First, you start off by racing in all the tracks of the world and try to win normally. After that, you have to race against the world's boss. Yes, this game has bosses. How cool is that? After you beat the boss, you'll need to race through all the tracks again. Except this time you'll need to collect all the silver coins scattered around the tracks and win the races at the same time which makes things considerably harder. After that, you'll need to race against the boss a second time. Only this time they're way more tough to beat. There's also a trophy race challenge in each world that is basically just your basic Grand Prix race that works like Mario Kart. You don't have to get in first place in all the races, but you do need to have enough points to get in first place in the end.
Each world also has its own unique competitive minigame challenge where you play against 4 random bots. Each challenge is hidden behind a locked door and the key to the door is always hidden in one of the world's tracks. Once you find it, the door is opened and you can play the minigame. I'll try not to go into too much detail about these minigames, but I'll just do a quick rundown of what they are. The prehistoric world's minigame is fairly unique. Basically each player has their own nest and the players need to pick up eggs that spawn in the middle of the map and bring it to their own nest. You also need to wait until your eggs hatch once you drop it in your nest. Whichever player has three hatched eggs in their nest wins. Players can also steal each other's eggs from their nests before they can hatch, so this game isn't exactly easy to win. The snow world's and beach world's minigames are basically the same concept. They're just regular deathmatches where the last player standing wins except they're both in different settings. Kind of like Mario Kart's battle mode. The medieval world's minigame is similar in concept to the prehistoric world's minigame except it's way easier to win. Each player has their own treasure chest and they need to collect bananas that are scattered around the map and stash it in their chest. Whoever stashes as many bananas as needed to win first wins the game. Strangely enough, the space world didn't have its own minigame. I'm not exactly sure why that is, but I think it definitely could've (and probably should've) had one.
Another thing I forgot to mention is that unlike Mario Kart, you don't just control regular karts. There are also planes and hovercrafts as well. Granted, the controls of the plane and hovercraft take some getting used to at first. The hovercraft controls are especially floaty and can be hard to control at first, but once you get used to them, they're not that bad.
Overall, I didn't have too much trouble with the game surprisingly. When I played through it properly for the first time four years ago, I remember the game being very hard. Although I guess the difference this time is that I'm more familiar with the game than I was back then. I did watch a whole playthrough of the game like I mentioned earlier and I occasionally play multiplayer with my friend when I come over. To be fair though, I did use what I call the "green boosts". Basically when you let go of the accelerator right before you hit a boost, you get an extra green colored boost that really tends to help in races. I guess this is why Wizpig wasn't as hard this time for me despite being a notoriously hard boss. Maybe I should refrain from using the green boosts next time I play the game......
I'll say the one part of the game that really was pretty hard and was very frustrating was this boss in particular:
Fuck this boss. This was the boss from the beach world, and the second time you race him was especially bitchy. While it was frustrating and hard, it was still fun, but this was probably the boss that took me the longest to beat, even when using those green boosts. The silver coin challenges in the medieval and space worlds could also be pretty hard at times. Especially in the level Spaceport Alpha. That one took me awhile too.
This game is very fun, even if it could be a bit hard and frustrating at times. I did use the green boosts which made the game a lot easier, so for any future newcomers to the game, don't go into this expecting it to be easy. It's actually a very challenging game. It's just that I'm not new to the game and know the maps fairly well and I'm used to the mechanics of all the different vehicles. Apparently there's also a second adventure mode where all the tracks are backwards, but I didn't do it. Maybe I'll return to it at some point and do it, but at the moment, I'm just finished with the core game. For those of you who haven't played the game yet, I definitely recommend checking it out.
Also, how could I forget about the soundtrack?! Music is always one of the strongest points in a Rare game, and DKR is no exception. Composed by the amazing David Wise, the OST is definitely one of the stronger points of the game. Normally I would provide links to some great tracks, but I don't want to drag this post out any longer. I'll just let you guys handle the job for me. :)
Overall, it's a really great game and possibly even the best kart racer on the N64. I definitely had fun playing through the game again and had fun making this thread. And hopefully you guys enjoy reading this long wall of text (sorry! There was just a lot to say :p). Post your opinions and impressions of the game. Let the DKR love (Or hate. I guess it depends.) commence!
Recently watching a playthrough of the game on YouTube inspired me to revisit this game. The last time I played this game was about 4 years ago and I remember beating Wizpig and getting to the last space world, but for some reason I never beat the game. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe the last world was too hard for me? Maybe I got distracted by other things? I dunno. But after coming back to the game, I still found it just as fun as ever, and I think it may possibly be the best kart racer on the N64.
If you're used to playing Mario Kart 64, the driving mechanics might be a bit tough to get used to at first. It's a bit different from Mario Kart. Not necessarily better or worse. Just different. And unlike MK64, DKR has an actual single player adventure mode. MK64 only has a traditional Grand Prix single player. MK64's single player is still fun, mind you. But there's nothing more to it than that. Sadly Nintendo didn't follow DKR's idea of having the single player be a whole adventure with its own story and all the Mario Karts still just only have a basic GP mode even today. For shame, Nintendo.
The story takes place on Timber Island with its own central hub area that players can explore. I'm not even sure what the story is. There's an evil pig from space called Wizpig that wants to destroy or take over the island and you need to stop him by......racing him. I guess that's basically it? The story is obviously just an excuse to give players a reason to have an adventure mode, and there's nothing really wrong with that. Cartoony Nintendo kart racers don't exactly need some deep story, and the game clearly tries to focus more on the gameplay side of things.
The island is divided into five worlds. There's Dino Domain which is a prehistoric desert world. Snowflake Mountain is your typical snow world. Sherbet Island is a sandy beach world with a pirate theme. Dragon Forest is a medieval foresty world. And then finally, the bonus world after you beat Wizpig the first time is Future Fun Land which is set in space. After that, you have to beat Wizpig the second time to defeat him once and for all.
Each world isn't just a generic Grand Prix race type thing. There's actually a bunch of challenges and stuff you need to do in each world. First, you start off by racing in all the tracks of the world and try to win normally. After that, you have to race against the world's boss. Yes, this game has bosses. How cool is that? After you beat the boss, you'll need to race through all the tracks again. Except this time you'll need to collect all the silver coins scattered around the tracks and win the races at the same time which makes things considerably harder. After that, you'll need to race against the boss a second time. Only this time they're way more tough to beat. There's also a trophy race challenge in each world that is basically just your basic Grand Prix race that works like Mario Kart. You don't have to get in first place in all the races, but you do need to have enough points to get in first place in the end.
Each world also has its own unique competitive minigame challenge where you play against 4 random bots. Each challenge is hidden behind a locked door and the key to the door is always hidden in one of the world's tracks. Once you find it, the door is opened and you can play the minigame. I'll try not to go into too much detail about these minigames, but I'll just do a quick rundown of what they are. The prehistoric world's minigame is fairly unique. Basically each player has their own nest and the players need to pick up eggs that spawn in the middle of the map and bring it to their own nest. You also need to wait until your eggs hatch once you drop it in your nest. Whichever player has three hatched eggs in their nest wins. Players can also steal each other's eggs from their nests before they can hatch, so this game isn't exactly easy to win. The snow world's and beach world's minigames are basically the same concept. They're just regular deathmatches where the last player standing wins except they're both in different settings. Kind of like Mario Kart's battle mode. The medieval world's minigame is similar in concept to the prehistoric world's minigame except it's way easier to win. Each player has their own treasure chest and they need to collect bananas that are scattered around the map and stash it in their chest. Whoever stashes as many bananas as needed to win first wins the game. Strangely enough, the space world didn't have its own minigame. I'm not exactly sure why that is, but I think it definitely could've (and probably should've) had one.
Another thing I forgot to mention is that unlike Mario Kart, you don't just control regular karts. There are also planes and hovercrafts as well. Granted, the controls of the plane and hovercraft take some getting used to at first. The hovercraft controls are especially floaty and can be hard to control at first, but once you get used to them, they're not that bad.
Overall, I didn't have too much trouble with the game surprisingly. When I played through it properly for the first time four years ago, I remember the game being very hard. Although I guess the difference this time is that I'm more familiar with the game than I was back then. I did watch a whole playthrough of the game like I mentioned earlier and I occasionally play multiplayer with my friend when I come over. To be fair though, I did use what I call the "green boosts". Basically when you let go of the accelerator right before you hit a boost, you get an extra green colored boost that really tends to help in races. I guess this is why Wizpig wasn't as hard this time for me despite being a notoriously hard boss. Maybe I should refrain from using the green boosts next time I play the game......
I'll say the one part of the game that really was pretty hard and was very frustrating was this boss in particular:
Fuck this boss. This was the boss from the beach world, and the second time you race him was especially bitchy. While it was frustrating and hard, it was still fun, but this was probably the boss that took me the longest to beat, even when using those green boosts. The silver coin challenges in the medieval and space worlds could also be pretty hard at times. Especially in the level Spaceport Alpha. That one took me awhile too.
This game is very fun, even if it could be a bit hard and frustrating at times. I did use the green boosts which made the game a lot easier, so for any future newcomers to the game, don't go into this expecting it to be easy. It's actually a very challenging game. It's just that I'm not new to the game and know the maps fairly well and I'm used to the mechanics of all the different vehicles. Apparently there's also a second adventure mode where all the tracks are backwards, but I didn't do it. Maybe I'll return to it at some point and do it, but at the moment, I'm just finished with the core game. For those of you who haven't played the game yet, I definitely recommend checking it out.
Also, how could I forget about the soundtrack?! Music is always one of the strongest points in a Rare game, and DKR is no exception. Composed by the amazing David Wise, the OST is definitely one of the stronger points of the game. Normally I would provide links to some great tracks, but I don't want to drag this post out any longer. I'll just let you guys handle the job for me. :)
Overall, it's a really great game and possibly even the best kart racer on the N64. I definitely had fun playing through the game again and had fun making this thread. And hopefully you guys enjoy reading this long wall of text (sorry! There was just a lot to say :p). Post your opinions and impressions of the game. Let the DKR love (Or hate. I guess it depends.) commence!
