[quote=@Dynamo Frokane]
Why am I the only one asking about appeals?

Whats the appeal of Diddy Kong Racing? I always thought the game looked like shit, and the difficulty spikes are all over the place. The music isn't very good either, so why is it so often brought up?
[/quote]

Now were going to have a problem. :I 

Honestly, comparing to other racers at the time. I think it had more tracks, characters and stuff to do than mario kart did. Came out the same year. It had boss fights and an open world in the adventure mode and several different vehicles to race with and had interesting gaming modes. (which admittedly was probably the best part of the multiplayer and not the racing.) Also I'd argue it had a longer and better soundtrack to boot. So aside it being a blatant copy, I think it does plenty of things better than what it mimicked. 

Okay, I'm trying to think of something to question the appeal of...Got nothing. >.>