Back To Sherbet Island

Now that I have the key for the Sherbet Island door, I decide it is finally time to pay the place a visit. Naturally, reaching it still requires travelling through Snowflake Mountain and then Dino Domain first, because the island no longer believes in straightforward progression.

I still cannot help wondering what is hiding behind the original Sherbet Island and Snowflake Mountain doors, but for now I am trying to stick to a rough path through the campaign — mostly by prioritising whichever doors I currently have enough balloons to enter.

Once inside, I begin investigating the available routes.

Future Fun Land.

Darkwater Beach.

Boulder Canyon.

Hot Top Volcano.

Honestly, not a bad selection.

Before dealing with any of those properly, however, I notice another unlocked door waiting for me:

Smokey Castle.

Smokey Castle And The Banana Incident

The objective here is simple enough: collect ten bananas before the other racers.

Unfortunately, the race also involves driving a car.

Which means it is time for Krunch to once again demonstrate that he has no interest whatsoever in cooperating with basic steering.

The hovercraft feels manageable.

The plane feels surprisingly comfortable.

The car, however, feels like Krunch is actively improvising his own route through every corner.

To be fair, there are moments where everything suddenly clicks and the speed becomes incredible. Unfortunately, those moments are usually followed by Krunch deciding that the wall looks approachable.

Still, despite the chaos, I eventually secure all ten bananas and earn my first piece of the T.T. amulet.

The second one will not be far behind.

Hot Top Volcano Redemption

Next comes Hot Top Volcano.

Four laps of it.

After spending the last two entries wrestling with Darkmoon Caverns, this course feels genuinely relaxing by comparison.

For once, Krunch and I appear to be in agreement regarding where the plane should actually go.

The race goes so well that I end up lapping at least three of the other racers on my way to securing balloon number twelve.

Honestly, after Darkmoon Caverns, I needed that confidence boost.

Boulder Canyon Fights Back

After Hot Top Volcano, I move on to Boulder Canyon — one of my favourite courses in Diddy Kong Racing.

There is another key available here, so naturally I decide to grab it.

For once, however, Krunch is not the problem.

The course itself is.

To reach the key, I need to ring the bell that raises the drawbridge leading toward it. What follows is an embarrassingly long struggle to actually make that happen consistently.

The other racers eventually lap me while I continue fighting the course itself.

Once the key is finally secured, I reset the race properly and complete yet another four-lap event to secure balloon number thirteen.

At this point, the randomizer appears deeply committed to making every race last as long as possible.

Darkwater Beach

The final stop of the session is Darkwater Beach.

Thankfully, this one is a battle challenge rather than a standard race. The objective is simple: be the last racer standing.

I immediately prioritise red balloons for the homing missiles and spend most of the challenge aggressively firing rockets at anything unfortunate enough to appear nearby.

The strategy works.

I secure victory and earn the second piece of the T.T. amulet.

The Island Continues To Collapse

With more balloons collected, my available routes are beginning to narrow.

Thankfully, I now have the key for the Dragon Forest door, which at least gives me another direction to explore.

Still, I am quickly reaching the point where I will need to investigate the original Sherbet Island and Snowflake Mountain doors properly.

At some stage, the randomizer is going to force me to confront whatever horrors are hiding behind them.

That feels like a problem for future me.

Progress Log

• Current Seed: 232968
• Balloons: 13
• Bosses Defeated: Bubbler 2, Smokey 2
• T.T. Amulet Pieces: 2
• Current Threat Level: Krunch versus automotive engineering