Well we all know about the great showing of Mario Kart for the Gamecube, but Nintendo and Rare surprised everyone at E3 by revealing “another” racing game to be released sometime during the 2002 season.  As of now the game is called “Donkey Kong Racing”, but it is not just another spin off of previous DK games.  This game could “redefine” the genre of racing games for all platforms (see third paragraph).  The only material at E3 was some video footage, but the developers at Rare said it was going to be equal to the actual “game play” graphics when the game releases. 

In short, here are the “features” of the game (from IGNcube.com): 

• Choose to play as one of your favorite monkeys: Donkey Kong, Dixie Kong, Tiny Kong and more! 
• Saddle up and brave the tropical landscape with a rhino, piranha, or ostrich in high-action races. 
• Take to the sky, sea, or land for numerous amounts of strategic routes. 
• Ride through blooming jungle scenery, teeming with wildlife of all kinds. 
• Turn you animal(s) of choice into true thoroughbreds by collecting food and prizes during races. 
• Hear a fully orchestrated soundtrack and pristine sound effects in Dolby Surround Experience "real-world phenomena" such as fading sunlight, shifting shadows, swaying trees, etc. 
• One to four players.
• Available in 2002. 

Rare is trying to make this more than a racing game though.  They want (combined with the Dolby Digital sound and streaming video graphics) to immerse the players in a 3D world where one route for one animal may not be the “best” route.  If you run into a thick clump of trees with your Rhino, you may need to either switch in favor of a wasp, or take an alterior route.  This is to add a new “depth” to the game which has not really been achieved in racing games. 

All in all, DK Racing looks to be an exceptional game.  When I first started to work on this article I thought (oh boy another DK game!), but it is really more than that.  I would recommend this game over Mario Kart, or any racing game for that matter because of its “revolutionary” way of looking at racing.  If you are either an RPG gamer who likes “exploring the worlds”, or just a hardcore racing fan looking for the extra challenge, I would definitely recommend this game to you!