Jorpho
09-02-2014, 02:13 AM
Way, way back in the day, I remember Diddy Kong Racing being hyped up a lot in Nintendo Power, so it was one of the games I rented with the system at one point. It proved to be hard as heck to get anywhere.
Many years later I had a chance to try the game again through emulation, at which point I learned the key game mechanic of which I had been unaware. The game will advise you to let go of the accelerator right before hitting a "zipper", but it is of critical importance that you not press the accelerator again until the boost has finished – otherwise, it will be cut short and the CPU players will easily overtake you. I finished the game at that time and unlocked T.T. (which requires setting some very good times in Time Trial mode), but only finished part of Adventure 2, the second quest.
I made some effort to get the DS version, only to find that it isn't particularly fun at all: in particular, the racer models get all blinky, so it looks terrible. What's worse is the excruciating balloon-popping touchscreen minigame – are you really supposed to get a perfect score on every track with that thing to 100% the game? It's hell! Also, some of the best tunes from the N64 version (namely Jungle Falls and Hot Top Volcano - by David Wise, if I'm not mistaken) are entirely absent.
Which brings me to today, when I've been messing around with N64 emulation again. Some bits of the game are definitely still horribly challenging. I remember trying to set the record time on Fossil Canyon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JrPoRpOvcYw#t=70 , starting at 1:10) was excruciatingly difficult last time and it's definitely gotten no easier this time around. I don't suppose anyone has some advice on those particular grounds?
Many years later I had a chance to try the game again through emulation, at which point I learned the key game mechanic of which I had been unaware. The game will advise you to let go of the accelerator right before hitting a "zipper", but it is of critical importance that you not press the accelerator again until the boost has finished – otherwise, it will be cut short and the CPU players will easily overtake you. I finished the game at that time and unlocked T.T. (which requires setting some very good times in Time Trial mode), but only finished part of Adventure 2, the second quest.
I made some effort to get the DS version, only to find that it isn't particularly fun at all: in particular, the racer models get all blinky, so it looks terrible. What's worse is the excruciating balloon-popping touchscreen minigame – are you really supposed to get a perfect score on every track with that thing to 100% the game? It's hell! Also, some of the best tunes from the N64 version (namely Jungle Falls and Hot Top Volcano - by David Wise, if I'm not mistaken) are entirely absent.
Which brings me to today, when I've been messing around with N64 emulation again. Some bits of the game are definitely still horribly challenging. I remember trying to set the record time on Fossil Canyon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JrPoRpOvcYw#t=70 , starting at 1:10) was excruciatingly difficult last time and it's definitely gotten no easier this time around. I don't suppose anyone has some advice on those particular grounds?