Diddy Kong Racing (Nintendo 64, 1997)

It isn't common to see a game directed towards a pre-teen audience be as explosively fun and popular as Diddy Kong Racing. Unlike Mario Kart 64, this game features something unique to other racing games: a well detailed adventure mode. In fact it's extremely similar to 3D platformers such as Super Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie. You drive around the beautifully rendered 3D world, find Levels (or "domains"), and then within those domains, you must race and win. The object of the game is to collect Gold Balloons (similar to Power Stars in SM64 or Jiggies in Banjo-Kazooie), which can be obtained by winning races. Some of the later courses in the game require a certain amount of Gold Balloons in order to access them. The game has bosses that you must defeat, powerups you can use, and characters you meet to help you on your quest. Although this is a racing game, I would consider it closer to a 3D Platformer, and a great one at that. Definitely pick up this title.