From its mode 7 beginnings on the SNES all the way to its much anticipated and upcoming release on the  3DS Mario Kart has been the undisputed champion of kart racing titles, often leaving any and all competition in its dust. In the past, however, there was one exception. That game was Diddy Kong Racing, developed by Rare for the N64. This mascot racing game , which introduced gamers to early versions of both Banjo and Conker, was every bit as fun to play as Mario Kart 64 and in some aspects it was even superior to it. The visuals in DKR were far superior to the bland , non polygon racing characters that plagued Mario Kart 64 . Also, the the race tracks and backgrounds came to life with more colorful, bright and crisp visuals than seen in Mario Kart 64. Not satisfied with just using go-karts, DKR featured hover craft to race over land and water and also planes to fly above the tracks. Thus, the three different vehicle types gave a nice variety for racing fans and kept things very fresh and new. Another great thing about DKR was its adventure mode. Unlike any kart racing title up to this time in video game history, payers did not just choose a circuit on the menu and race from there. Instead, there was an entire world to be explored in order to discover the hidden locations that held all sorts of tracks to race in. Think Mario 64 and its hub world, only larger, and you will get the idea here. Also, after an entire group of tracks was completed with first place victories, a boss would appear and challenge you to a fun but often not so fair race. Defeat the boss and you unlocked an even harder race modes that included collecting coins, finding mysterious keys and more. DKR was a fun, unique adventure of a kart racing game that was at  its time and arguably still is the only kart racing game that was in the same league as the legendary Mario Kart series. In my opinion on the N64, if I was somehow “forced” to choose only one kart racing game, it would be Diddy Kong Racing. Good thing I never had to choose!