20 Remakes and Remasters That Are Worse Than The Original

Of all the nineties racing games based on other hot properties, Diddy Kong Racing is not exactly top of the list. It feels more derivative and less innovative than obvious competitors like Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing, and yet we’d be lying if we said it wasn’t a good time. But a good time enough to warrant it coming to the Nintendo DS? Developer Rare and publisher Nintendo sure thought so, when they released Diddy Kong Racing DS.

Reuniting us with Diddy Kong, while replacing several of the original’s non-entities (Banjo the Bear, anyone?) with more grounded characters like Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong, we take to the ground and air in cars, hovercraft and aeroplanes, tackling racetracks built in the image of the Donkey Kong worlds we know so well.

Unfortunately, despite featuring what at the time seemed like exciting new customisation options, like the ability to record character voices, plus an online multiplayer, the game is pretty awful. The battle modes are restricted to multiplayer only; most of the new features are hollow, adding little or no value; and the touchscreen controls – surely the most important feature for a DS remake – are unforgivably sensitive, making it barely playable if at all.