This musical score works in mysterious ways. Diddy Kong Racing was a game I didn't much care for (An adventure-racing game? Preposterous!), but I must say, the staff at Rare did a very nice job with its music. Although it's in the same mold as Mario Kart 64, this is a much better score. The boss challenge music, for instance, is really bouncy and well done. As hummable as each of the songs are, I would say that "Walrus Cove" is the very best song in the whole score. It's a bouncy wintery song, with hints of popular Christmas songs like "Frosty The Snowman" and "Winter Wonderland". The result is an entertaining piece of music, well worth listening to.

But alas, this domestic CD soundtrack release from Nintendo suffers the same faults as the domestic release of Yoshi's Story. There are only sixteen tracks on here, so this CD should be labeled "Greatest Hits" instead. I feel that it might be wise for Nintendo to try to rival its Japanese counterparts when it comes to soundtracks, and produce them more seriously. The problem here is that the CD is shaped like Diddy Kong. Sure it's cute, but it also doesn't allow much music to be placed on there. Ack! It doesn't even work in some CD players, and it scratches easily.

As always, the Japanese release is a better buy since it is the complete soundtrack.