Rare's Diddy Kong Racing Upgrade

Amongst the mass of DS announcements one caught my eye the most, Diddy Kong Racing DS. Fond memories of the N64 rushed into my brain and everything felt fuzzy. Nintendo of course kept things very quiet, not giving out further details and a merge single screenshot which appeared to be a track from the original game. Would this just be a direct port of the original version?

An updated Rare website has given us more details about the title. The game will be developed by Microsoft owned Rare, the first DS title for the UK based company.

"Yes, Diddy Kong Racing is our first official DS project, and Nintendo are busily promoting it as part of their next wave of big DS offerings for late 2006. Based on the N64 classic but improved and expanded in ways that only the DS allows."

Good news for everyone, based on the N64 version -- that hopefully means we'll see all the classic tracks and loads of new ones, possibility in the same style as Mario Kart DS.

"A few tantalising DKR DS info-bites to keep you going: eight-player single-card and multi-card WiFi play, touch-screen and microphone compatibility, some familiar faces in newly playable form, remodelled and retextured tracks, customisable vehicles, new modes, weapons and challenges, a little something called TT's Wish Races where you can create your very own tracks... and it doesn't end there."

Oh my.. that's quite alot of promises to live up to, could this be the first sign of Rare's revival under Microsoft? Nintendo DS owners should hope so.