The major innovation in DKR is in the way that the game is set up, rather than in how you play. Instead of presenting each racetrack in standard, circuit style, the game's racetracks are spread out over a virtual island. After you win a few races, you'll find progressively more of the island open to explore. In this way, the game manages to give a sense of exploration when all you're really doing is driving over to another race track. Creative yes, but does it affect the actual racing? No.

The racing takes place in the four main areas of the island. If you manage to rank first on each course in an area, you'll race a "boss." This big showdown is basically you against a giant competitor with a slight advantage. Once again, the presentation is creative, but the gameplay is still straightforward racing. Once you beat a boss, it will challenge you to retry each race track, but this time you must collect several coins scattered along the way. These coins function in essentially the same way as the buoys in Wave Race, except that you have three laps to follow the right path. If you collect the coins and finish first on each track, you'll face the boss again. It's given a slightly better advantage the second time around.

Once you finish first, defeat the boss, finish first while collecting coins and defeat the boss again (phew!), you can try the trophy race for that area. The trophy race is simply playing through each track, one after another, in circuit style. If you finish first in the trophy race on each area, something special is supposed to happen.

Despite the numerous goals and challenges, the gameplay in DKR really isn't all that special. You basically slide around in a race, over and over. DKR's racing is remarkably like the racing in Mario Kart, right down to the method of in-race combat. The control is a little tighter, but it's still loose enough to create a lack of precision. Additionally, the control feels roughly the same for the plane, car and hovercraft, so those aspects of play aren't very meaningful. The speed is also painfully slow. There are occasional speed bursts scattered on the tracks, but they only serve to bring the game up to a moderate speed -- and only for a very, very short time. With the lack of speed and only mediocre control, DKR's racing just didn't appeal to me.

While DKR's racing may be ho-hum, the graphics and sound show real creativity and originality -- aimed squarely at kids. Mario 64 may have a youthful look to it, but DKR is practically a cartoon come to life. I've never seen this particular kind of cartoon atmosphere reproduced so completely in a game. From the comment in the manual that the protagonists hope their parents don't find out what they're up to, to the bosses encouraging you upon defeat, this game is overflowing with a Barney-esqe feel. Even the voices seem aimed at kids. From Banjo's idiotic "Woah! I'm Banjo" to Pipsy's nearly glass shattering voice, it's hard to imagine many people over seven feeling attached to the characters. There is, however, one voice that I liked quite a lot. The genie of the island has a wonderfully acted Indian voice that fits the character and made me smile every time I heard it. It's just too bad that the rest of the voices aren't of the same caliber.

As for support for accessories, DKR follows the trend of several N64 games. For example, DKR is Rumble Pak compatible. While the effect is there, it's certainly no excuse for those of you without a Rumble Pak to run out and get one. There's a jolt when you start racing, or when you slam into a wall hard. That's about it. DKR is also Controller Pak compatible, and has a ghost-car feature just like Mario Kart. The game is even four-player compatible, making it even more like Mario Kart. In fact, the multi-player racing experience is roughly the same, but I still prefer the battle mode of Mario Kart to DKR's multi-player races.

I realize that DKR is yet another in the growing list of N64 games that I have given a less than enthusiastic review. I would love to say that DKR and every N64 game released is worth the high cost of purchase, but this simply isn't the case. I bought my N64 so that I could experience and enjoy breakthrough gaming experiences unlike anything that was possible on the SNES or NES. So far, very few games have really delivered such an experience. DKR is not one of those games. It's not a bad game -- not by any means -- it just doesn't have that breakthrough, compelling gameplay to make it something that would make me consider purchasing it. However, I must note that DKR would be an excellent gift for younger gamers, who should love the atmosphere. It's also something die-hard Mario Kart fans should definitely rent, although I think that some fans will find that it's not quite what they're looking for. For everyone else, a rental would probably be a good idea. Some of you will undoubtedly like it more than others.