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Diddy Kong Racing

The Nintendo 64 had it all. Racing games. Platformers. RPG's. You name it. And even at times, those genres came together to create something magical. Whether it be a platformer mixed with RPG elements or much like Diddy Kong Racing, an adventure style racing game. That's right. An adventure style racing game mixed with so many different races and themes, it really creates an outstanding adventure to go through while also maintaining it's own taste and never feeling stale.

This is another one of those examples where I'm pretty sure I have played this game more than a handful of times over the years. Simply put, with all the interesting themes and great level design throughout, it's always a treat to go through despite it showing its age against modern gaming. Of course you'd come to expect that but again, with a handful of games that fit that criteria, the mechanics and the ins and outs of what makes the game run well is what really steals the show. Limitations did occur with the system but that didn't stop Rare from constantly releasing A+ standard games throughout the years. Diddy Kong Racing is no exception as it once again shows that Rare was something you didn't doubt or mess with because they were just consistently putting out winner after winner, with a few hiccups over the years.

As I mentioned previously about the experiences I had as a kid playing the N64, Diddy Kong Racing was and is still up there in terms of games I had the most enjoyment with back in the day and over the years. As much as it is nostalgic to go back and play, it also proves that if you put enough of the good stuff into a game, it will remain good even well after its time is up. And although the system itself did not keep up with the gaming climate as a whole, the memories of playing the games certainly stuck with myself and I'm sure a lot of other people who grew up in that same era. It was a beautiful time for gaming and Diddy Kong Racing is just another testament to that.

And look, I'm not going to end this without talking about some of my favorite things about the game. Because there are many. The character selection is amazing and every character feels different and unique and never feels like you're just playing a copy of another character. They all have their own voice tracks and do different things in races. The level design is nothing short of excellent especially considering it has an amazing hub world to bring it all together. You've got snow levels that require hover crafts, you got cave levels that require an airplane. Speaking of which, you can choose to drive in a car, hover craft intertube thing, or an airplane. And you can do so in the main hub which makes it really fun to go around the hub world, especially in an airplane. The whole game feels completely focused on design and making the game feel good to play and it feels good to play from the start all the way to the finish. Did I mention you end your adventure racing through space levels? Well you do. The final world in the entire game has you taking a rocket ship to space and facing Wizpig for the 2nd and final time. And yes, he rides a rocket ship in the race. It is wonderfun.

It has been many years since I played Diddy Kong Racing but I imagine if I picked it up and played it today, I'd still have a really fun time going through each level and trying to get the best time I can. There are ways to take shortcuts in the levels to maximize your best time and with the mini games and everything else put into the game, it really stands out as one of the best on the system.

Did I also mention the music for the boss races are also amazing. They're unique to their own levels but also have similar vibes which makes them recognizable despite being a little bit different. The wizpig theme has always been a personal favorite of mine but that's mostly due to the stakes being so high during the race itself. The song playing over it just makes it that much more satisfying to go through. And subsequently complete.

Banjo-Tooie still takes it as far as being my favorite game on the system as a whole, but Diddy Kong Racing probably sits in my top 5. It's got everything it needs to be an amazing game and I highly recommend it if you're looking for a blast from the past yet also an amazing game to just sit through and play.

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My Favorite Track in Diddy Kong Racing

If you read my previous post, this should be no surprise so I won't say too much other than just simply listen to this track.

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The Nintendo 64 Controller

If you grew up playing the Nintendo 64 or have in any way gone back to playing on original hardware with the original controllers and everything, then you already know why this deserves it's own post. I could easily just say that the controller was such an obnoxious design choice and really what the hell were they thinking, but I feel like more could be said than just that. Well, aside from the fact that I literally just said it so now I don't have to. Let's move on shall we.

Let's first talk about the joystick and how many times I got blisters on my thumb because of how uncomfortable that thing was to use. First off, it felt like you were always pushing your thumbs into really cheap plastic and while it was manageable, playing for long periods of time really proved to be uncomfortable for that, and for how you would hold the controller in general. One hand was just a little further up than the bottom one so your arms always had to adjust weird and man, I could go on for days just adding more things about this dreaded thing. But most importantly, it served it's purpose. While I do think it's possibly the worst designed controller I've ever had the displeasure to use, I still think for the time, it's what we had. I would probably go as far to say that Nintendo did it on purpose to stick out, as they like to be one to stick out among the rest, but I don't really know if that's true or not. Though I guess you could say they could've gone with a design like other consoles were doing at the time that proved to be much more comfortable. Probably why the original Playstation did as well as it did because the controllers were really nice to hold compared to the Nintendo 64. But I digress, we're not talking about Playstation here. It's almost as if somebody at Nintendo was like like "hey know what'd be funny, add a third handle on the controller that virtually goes unused. Also, unfortunately it doesn't get used often but it is way more comfortable to hold the controller when your left hand is on the d-pad. Unfortunately I rarely, if ever, used the d-pad on the controller. At least with the games I played at the time.

Fortunately however, while the Nintendo 64 controller was hot garbage. It did lead them to making one of the most comfortable controllers I've ever held - the Nintendo Gamecube controller. OF course that also goes along with the fact that the Nintendo Gamecube was an excellent console in terms of design choices and games to play. And that's impressive considering it had to one up the Nintendo 64 which during it's time, was really making a name for itself with excellent release after excellent release. That didn't stop it from getting crappy release after crappy release however. But it was a nice mix.

Anyway, back to the controller. It just wasn't fair that while the games were really great to play, we had to experience them on these ****ty things and as I said before, it could get to feel very uncomfortable to have your thumb pressing on that joystick for hours on end. Or even just an hour. I imagine it would've been an enormous amount more enjoyable to play certain games if the controllers weren't so uncomfortable to use.

Yeah, those controllers suck.

The Batlord

I could never get used to using the joystick with my left hand so I'd use my right and hold the controller diagonally so I could press the buttons with my left. Made using the shoulder buttons a bitch.

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The Nintendo 64 and it's massive library of games
A lot of which I have never played.

I simultaneously realized this from two separate sources. One of which being a Youtuber who is doing a full playthrough of every Nintendo 64 game on original hardware, including exclusives to other countries, etc. Soon after that, I decided I was going to do a theme month for November and once I looked at the actual list of games on the system versus the games that I have actually played, it was pretty crazy. And still sort of blows my mind.

I've looked at separate sources and it looks to be anywhere between 388 and 392 games in total that were released for the console during it's time in the spotlight. That's pretty impressive considering, or I assume, how expensive it was to make the cartridges and games themselves back in the 90's. Certainly has gotten easier over the years I'd hope, but given the amount of games that released, I suppose it is no surprise that I don't even come close to that in regards to the ones I've played.

What's also interesting is that there are a number of games I would have actually loved to play but in some way or another never got around to it or never actually got hands on a cartridge to play it. Games like Castlevania, Carmageddon 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day, the list could go on and on. While it looks like there was a lot of "filler games" thrown into the mix, it also looks like there was and probably still is an impressive amount of games ranging from good to great if not really great.

I don't really kick myself too much for missing out on the other great experiences on the console because I was probably too busy being submersed in the games that I was playing. And playing games like Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask. It took a long time to figure those games out especially without knowing what I know now about those games having played through them multiple times at this point.

Regrettably though, it would've been nice to expand our collection of Nintendo 64 games, but we just didn't have the know how to go about it. Would've been cool to have a bunch of cartridges in my collection today but alas, they are coming harder and harder to come by.

Obviously at some point, there will be ways to play many if not all the games that were included on the system. Hell there probably already are and I'm just missing out. But I do want to play through some of the games that I intended on playing or at least playing through the ones again that I absolutely love.

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I'm imagining what this looks like in my head and it makes me laugh. The controller was just insane.

The Batlord

And like I'm fine with Xbox and PlayStation controllers but just something about the ergonomics of the N64 controller made my brain bluescreen.

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Banjo-Kazooie Promotional VHS Tape

This is one of those things where I'm actually surprised to find that I have a very vivid memory of this. I typically bring up this VHS tape whenever I talk about Banjo-Kazooie or the N64 in general because I honestly find it interesting. And especially considering there were many of its kind, I must have only gotten a small taste of it.



I remember just continuously putting the tape in the VHS player and watching it over and over again, and I think what was so fascinating about it was you were seeing gameplay from another source that you weren't doing yourself. And I have always sort of been fascinating with watching other people play games as much as I enjoy it myself. It's always interesting to see what kinds of tricks and turns other people can take when playing games, either older or newer. But we're focusing on the older. I also think this is one of the first times I'd ever seen anything akin to a video game trailer. And one that actually shows a decent amount of the gameplay. Gets you a pretty good idea of what it's about. Though I guess the term promotional is there for that exact reason.

Honestly, I must have watched this particular tape more than 1000 times because my memory of this is so vivid that it's almost as if I watched it just yesterday. Thank god for Youtube because otherwise I never would have found it again and now I can enjoy reliving the nostalgia over and over again.

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Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Man I love this game. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards has everything, in my opinion, to make it one of the best 3D Kirby games of all time. You get different powerups and you can combine two powerups to be even more powerful. You can float around in typical Kirby fashion to traverse through various levels. You can fight bosses and suck up items to throw back at them. It all feels like genuine Kirby at its best.

I have played older Kirby games on the original Game Boy, but I think I honestly had the most fun playing Kirby 64 because the first time going through it was a complete mystery. You didn't know what certain powerups did nor did you know which enemies even gave powerups. You sort of just had to figure it out on your own but once you did, you were just beating levels left and right and collecting everything you can along the way. It's a really fun game to go back and play again because the replayability is definitely there. Despite knowing what the powerups do, I think if you play it now, you'd probably enjoy it more than you did back then. You understand how these kinds of games work now, and there's a whole layer of potential enjoyment that wasn't there solely due to just being too young to understand the mechanics fully.

All the levels are super fun to go through once again, because you can combine powerups to get certain items, or just make note of which powerups you need so that you can come back later and finish the collectible part of the level. Despite having to back track though, it is really fun to go through the levels again just to make sure you've got everything. I don't usually mind going through levels again anyway so maybe it's a gripe with some people but I don't mind it.

Surprisingly, despite the N64 controller being the way that it is, the game still feels really natural to play and doesn't really feel like the controller hinders it much, if at all. Kirby floats and does everything he needs to do very well to where controlling him just feels good, again despite the ridiculous design of the controller. I never really found myself getting too terribly frustrated at the game, although some parts are definitely tougher than others. I think this game for me would fall around the same enjoyment I got with Glover. It's a great game to play from time to time, but it's definitely a little on the tougher side if you don't know what you're doing.

Boss fights are certainly all unique and come with their own arsenal to throw at you and while being unique and creative in their own rights, they all have weaknesses that you can figure out during the fight to put you in the advantage. I don't really remember if I ever had any trouble with the bosses in this game, but I do remember having a blast fighting them because they were all so different and unique to what they can do. The stages themselves were also really cool in boss fights because sometimes the stage would just change around you and you had to control yourself from getting kicked off the stage in some way or killed by the boss that you are currently fighting. A lot going on seemingly though never seemed too difficult once you figured them out. Glad the game does have boss fights though as it's sort of a way to test your skill at certain parts of the game. Which is always a plus in my book.

I remember just having good memories playing through this one and I would certainly play through it again if I were to acquire it in some fashion. I have watched people play through it since I played it for the first time and it still looks like fun to go through.

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Grunty's Furnace Fun from Banjo-Kazooie

One of many of my favorite things about Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie is how many different sorts of styles they went for when thinking about the progression of the games. Different levels need different powers to progress, or certain levels involve more creative thinking when the duo split in Banjo-Tooie. The two games combined, there are so many different ways to tackle the adventure ahead of you to the point that the games never feel boring. One of my all time minigames is in the original Banjo-Kazooie though there are a lot in Banjo-Tooie that I love as well. I'm talking of course of Grunty's Furnace Fun.

To me, this is the way to do it. Have the adventurer get through every level and collect everything you can along the way and learn whatever you can as you go. Then at the end of it all, before the final showdown with Gruntilda herself, they quiz you on what you just did. You go through Grunty's Furnace Fun either replaying minigames that appeared in levels that you played prior, or they ask you questions pertaining to certain events that happened on your adventure. At first, it seems like it'd take a while to get through everything, but with such a variety of different tiles on the board, it's actually really fun to try and do everything so that you can collect everything that is available on the board. Of course, you could also just beat the challenge then run across the whole board afterwards. What fun is that though. You've already experienced 100% of what the game has to offer up to this point, you may as well experience the rest in its entirety.

My next point should really be no surprise if you'd been reading my thoughts on Banjo-Kazooie thus far, but one again, the music that plays along with this part of the game just adds more enjoyment on top of what it is already accomplishing. It fits the sort of chaotic yet fun theme that it has going for it, and really truly adds to the experience of going through it. The first time I ever played through the game this part was a little tough but once you do it over and over, you pretty much know what to expect which sort of lets you enjoy it a little more and sort of put yourself to the test of what you know about the game.

I would also like to add that I think it's neat that they have this where it's at because it's simultaneously right after you progressed through each level and right before you take on the final fight and finish the game. It just adds a nice addition to the already excellent pacing of the game as a whole, never making it feel like one thing is a chore. It all blends together nicely.