Diddy Kong Racing DS is a massive game considering its genre. It’s set up like an adventure game where each level (track) will be unlocked by winning races. There’s a huge overworld hub that must be explored to discover new realms and locate more tracks. At the start you will navigate the overworld and race the courses with just a simple racecar. An hour into the game you will most likely have earned the other two vehicles: the hovercraft and the plane. Specific levels will require the use of a certain vehicle, while others will allow players to choose whichever one they’d like. This diversity certainly adds to the experience as the more options the better.

There are all sorts of things that can be collected to unlock features in the game. Rare is well known for its collect-a-thon games and this one, for better or worse depending on whom you talk to, is no different. As you progress through the game and win races and collect silver coins, you will be rewarded with new multiplayer tracks, upgrades to your vehicles, customizable sound clips, and new modes of play. It’s great when a game constantly evolves and new options present themselves, but requiring players to unlock almost every little enhancement, especially multiplayer tracks, sucks. Players must carefully decide what to spend their earned coins on, and it may take some gamers a long time to even unlock many of the multiplayer options, which should have been available at the start of the game.

For those of you who have played the Nintendo 64 version of Diddy Kong Racing, the DS version is nearly identical when it comes to how it plays and the racetracks. There are a few notable differences that may impact your enjoyment of the new game. First up, the touch screen is used for some unfortunate gameplay decisions. To initiate a speed boost at the start of the game, players must tub the touch screen as fast as possible instead of simply timing the gas correctly. Other tracks take a bizarre turn where you ride a magic carpet through the level and try to pop every balloon you see by tapping the screen. The worst offenders are the final boss challenges where you have to use the touch screen exclusively to pilot the plane or to plot your course. These additions are gimmicky at best and are prime examples of shoddy game design. That may sound harsh, but these levels do nothing to enhance the experience or increase the fun factor and may have been better suited for some mini-game bonuses or left out altogether.

A change for the better is the weapon balloons. In the original, if you raced through a red balloon, giving you missiles, but then accidentally raced through another colored balloon before using the missiles, you’d lose your existing power-up and take on the new one. The game now allows players to discard an unwanted weapon with a press of a button and makes powering up existing items much easier than it was before.

The greatest enhancement to the game is the addition of Wi-Fi. Up to 6 people can race across 24 tracks over the Internet. Finding friends that own the game is much easier than Mario Kart DS. After exchanging friend codes, if you have buddies online it will show them in the lobby and you can join in the fun. Battle mode can also be played online, but requires you to purchase them via the in-game coins. Of course, you can also play against strangers at any time to see how you rank against them, which definitely adds to the longevity of the title.

At the end of the day Diddy Kong Racing DS comes up short. It’s just not as fun to play as Mario Kart DS. The power-ups aren’t as entertaining, the game runs slower, the characters are generic, and the tracks feel uninspired. The game lacks the randomness of the Mario Kart games, which can lead to boring races with obvious outcomes that do little to encourage newcomers to join in and enjoy themselves. A robust single player adventure mode and online multiplayer can’t overcome the tedious unlockables and mangled touch screen controls. If you’re a huge fan of the original you’ll find enjoyment here, but the rest of you should steer clear and buy Mario Kart DS instead.