his is not just a remake of a forgettable N64 game; it feels like a remake of every kart racing game I can recall. That’s not to say that Diddy is incapable of showing you a good time; the little monkey does succeed at delivering a good bit of variety. Unfortunately, none of it has the magic supplied by the much better Mario Kart, and the game starts feeling less like a drive to the finish and more like a time waster.

The best part of Diddy Kong Racing comes in the first hour, when there are consistently new things to see. During this time you’re introduced to the three vehicle types you’ll be driving: The car does nothing you wouldn’t expect, the plane (the most fun of the three) can steer up and down in addition to side to side, and the awkward hovercraft floats around on land or water. In those early minutes you’re also getting to explore the island and winning pretty much every race you encounter. The balloon popping game also shows up pretty early – a sort of track-shooter where your magic carpet floats along a prescribed course as you break balloons with your stylus.

The rinse-and-repeat approach that follows is what pulls Diddy Kong Racing down. The races never get more interesting, but they do get pretty hard, and the poorly structured vehicle upgrade system doesn’t help matters any. It doesn’t become genuinely fast or frantic, and the ”adventure” game promise turns out to be a sham that hides a pretty linear progression. Add on the fact that this is a title that very definitely shows its roots as a game from the ‘90s in terms of visuals and audio, and the whole show comes out as a mediocre pastime for newly minted racing gamers, and not much more.