Soon you’ll be able to play Diddy Kong Racing natively on your PC
The Diddy Kong Racing Decompilation project is around 80% complete.
The Trend of Decompilation
This process allows the homebrew community to recompile native versions of classic games like Star Fox, Super Mario 64, and Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Diddy Kong Racing’s Place in N64 History
Released in 1997, Diddy Kong Racing is one of the best examples of a kart-based racer on the N64. Fans even claim it trumps Nintendo’s own offering on the same console.
Creating motion capture and being in control of a set of fighting characters was like a dream for me. But after taking a break from two ‘pretty gory’ and dark games, Diddy Kong Racing was like a breath of fresh air and happiness.
– Kev Bayliss, former Rare staffer (2023)
The Road Ahead
The project is 80% complete. It should be noted that, in these projects, the final percentage points often take the longest to complete.
Potential enhancements include
- 4K resolution
- Ultra-wide screen support
- Improved frame rate
- Support for mods like new characters and tracks.
How do you think Diddy Kong Racing compares with Mario Kart?
DKR was awesome. I always wanted to play that one on the N64, even though the others at the time just wanted to play 007.
I just 100% the game a few months ago. It actually holds up really well and it’s still really fun. There were a few annoying silver coin races, but it wasn’t too bad. Plus that stuff isn’t really necessary to enjoy the game.
That’s awesome, and good to hear it still holds up. It will always hold a special place for me.
At some point, I’d like to do a deep dive into all these awesome decompilation projects that are being developed. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Same! I played that game a bunch and some of the decompiled stuff is really awesome.
Which ones have you played so far?
Perfect dark, ocarina of time.
I feel like I’ve played others but I can’t think of it off the top of my head. Star Fox has one, but the people who did Zelda, but last I checked it didn’t work on Linux yet.
I setup the sonic one, but haven’t played it yet.