If a monkey flew a plane for real, that would be the most fucked up thing ever.

Kart racers have come a long way, but the landscape in 1997 was largely colored by two Mario Karts and at least a dozen derivatives. Skunny Kart and BC Racers weren't lighting the world on fire, and even Mario Kart 64's main distinction was that it was in 3D now. And then Rare came along and was like "what if we put planes in a kart racer" and everyone cheered, and then they asked "what if there was boats, too?" and everyone screamed "No! NO! That's TOO FAR!!" but they did it anyway.

Diddy Kong Racing's unique features may not turn heads today, but this game was kind of wild in 97. Every established convention of the genre was played around with and pushed forward in some way. Why have a stock list of tracks to run through when you could have a whole hub world where exploration is key to progression? Why not have a story, additional battle modes, and boss fights? Why limit yourself to a kart when you can take to the skies or bounce off everything haphazardly in a hovercraft that makes you want to hold Diddy under water until the life leaves his eyes? boat

Similar to Goldeneye 64, Diddy Kong Racing benefitted from having a small team that was willing to design whatever they thought was fun rather than sticking to a rigid design doc. After all, this started as a real-time strategy game before undergoing a long metamorphosis into what it is today. I love diving into the development history of Rare games, especially during the Nintendo 64 era, because regardless of how their games turned out (god knows I have a lot of mixed feelings on them), the path they took from concept to release is always fascinating. In the case of Diddy Kong Racing, I think their unique approach to designing games paid off in some big ways, but it's not a perfect experience by any means. The balance is way off, and a few missions (especially boss fights) are unnecessarily brutal. Even as an adult who is more seasoned with kart racers, I found myself really bashing my head against a few parts of this game.

However, this is one of several games I played with my grandpa, and that means it's left an indelible mark on me. Its faults may be apparent, but my score should make it just as clear that I have a lot of affection for this one regardless. Is it nostalgic bias? Sure. And hey, when it really comes down to which kart racer I'm willing to aggressively go to bat for, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed takes a lot from Diddy Kong Racing's book and really runs with it. Far better game. It has Danica Patrick. Who does Diddy Kong Racing have? Banjo. I wanna punt that bozo into a volcano.

Preface: I grew up on these JumpStart games and have now built a Windows 98 machine so my kids can play them. As these are educational games, my review is based on how much I learned and how much I enjoyed them as a kid, as well as how my kids are doing with them now.

You play alongside Botley the robot in a game that feels like a series of television. The premise is that your inventor's daughter Polly did poorly on a test in her history class. Her bright idea is to use Daddy's time machine to send 25 of your fellow robots back in time to alter history so it matches the stupid answers she gave on the quiz.

I kind of love how asinine that plan is.

Each playthrough of the game involves various edutainment mini-games in different set pieces as you rescue each of your 25 time-displaced brethren and undo Polly's temporal meddling. This is legitimately a perfect game for a 7 or 8 year old on Summer Vacation. A standout amongst edutainment titles.