Diddy Kong Racing

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Diddy Kong Racing is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware. It was released in 1997 and 800,000 copies were ordered in the two weeks before Christmas 1997 according to Guinness Book of World Records. An enhanced remake of this game for the Nintendo DS was announced at Nintendo's press conference on May 9, 2006. It will be called Diddy Kong Racing DS.

A karting game like Mario Kart 64, DKR also has a distinctive adventure mode. The game features characters from Rare games, some of which had yet to be released at the time of this game's release. Diddy Kong Racing was partially intended to help introduce some of Rare's future franchise characters at an early time, so gamers would recognize them when they appeared in future titles later on.

In Diddy Kong Racing, a player can choose to be in either a car, hovercraft, or airplane. However, certain levels have certain restrictions. For example, in the course "Hot Top Volcano", a player can use an airplane or a hovercraft, but not a car.

Plot

An evil intergalactic pig wizard named Wizpig arrives at peaceful Timber's Island and attempts to take it over. The only recourse available to the island's inhabitants is to race Wizpig in an elaborate race that involves cars, hovercrafts, and airplanes. Drumstick, the best racer on the island, failed this challenge and was transformed into a frog by Wizpig's black magic. Other creatures on the island, including Diddy Kong, eventually challenge Wizpig to a race and defeat him. Shortly afterwards, Wizpig left for his home planet, Future Funland. Fearing that Wizpig would again attempt to invade Timber's Island, the islanders travel to Future Funland for a second challenge. As Wizpig loses the second race the rocket he is riding on malfunctions and blasts him to the moon.

Characters

The playable characters who reappear in other games are:

• Diddy Kong the monkey from the Donkey Kong Country series (released in 1994). His abilities are all equal, and he has no advantages nor disadvantages.
• Banjo the bear from the Banjo-Kazooie series (released in 1998). He has low acceleration, and high top speed and is the second fastest racer that's initially available, although he can't turn very well. Kazooie isn't in this game, but she's mentioned in the instruction manual.
• Tiptup the male turtle from the Banjo-Kazooie series. Tiptup has a high acceleration, a low top speed, and good handling.
• Conker the male squirrel from Conker's Pocket Tales (released in 1999), Conker's Bad Fur Day (released in 2001), and (released in 2005). Conker has a low acceleration, and a high top speed, but he can't turn very well. Conker is much more innocent in this game than he is in Bad Fur Day or Live & Reloaded.
• Krunch is a Kremling (the antagonists of the Donkey Kong Country series) who ends up wrapped up in the effort to kick Wizpig off the island. His clothing style was carried over to several of these enemies in Donkey Kong 64 (released in 1999). He has the worst acceleration, a very high top speed, and is the 3rd fastest racer, but he can't turn as well as others.

The other playable characters are:

• Drumstick the rooster, one of the greatest racers on Timber's Island. After Wizpig invaded the island, Drumstick was the first to confront him and was subsequently turned into a frog by a magic spell. Drumstick is a hidden character unlocked by running over a frog with a red crest on its head after getting 4 gold trophies, and 39 gold balloons. He is the 2nd fastest character, and the fastest in the plane.
• Bumper the black male badger. He has a high acceleration, and average top speed, but he can't turn very well.
• Timber the orange and black-striped male tiger. He has a low acceleration and a slightly above average top speed, but his turning is slightly below average.
• Pipsy the yellow mouse. She has a high acceleration, and a low top speed, but she is easy to handle for beginners and professionals alike.
• T.T. was the living stopwatch who helped organize Time Trials. If players beat his records of every track, he becomes a playable character. T.T. is the fastest character in the car and hovercraft, and 2nd fastest in the plane. His initials most likely stand for "Time Trial", "Tick Tock" or "Tick Tick".

The other non-playable characters are:

• Tricky the triceratops (a boss character, boss of Dino Domain). A styracosaurus called Tricky appears in Star Fox Adventures. It is possible this is the same Tricky, since this was the case when Star Fox Adventures was Dinosaur Planet.
• Bluey the walrus (a boss character, boss of Snowflake Mountain)
• Bubbler the octopus (a boss character, boss of Sherbert Island)
• Smokey the dragon (a boss character, boss of Dragon Forest)
• Taj the elephant genie (an ally character)
• Wizpig the alien pig genie (the antagonist and final boss)

One additional character, known only as "the Yellow Dinosaur", appears only in the introductory cutscene and not in the actual game, and has become a minor in-joke due to this obscurity.

None of these characters have appeared in any other Rare or Nintendo games to date, although Taj was scheduled to appear in a GameCube sequel, Donkey Kong Racing. The game was aborted when Rare was bought by Microsoft in 2002, although it is rumored to reappear as an Xbox title called Sabreman Stampede. A portable sequel to the franchise, Diddy Kong Pilot, was also in development, which would have seen the return of Krunch. It too was redesigned following Rare's buyout as Banjo Pilot, which only stars Banjo and characters from his franchise.

Courses

There are 4 main courses in each of the 5 worlds, plus a trophy race, in which players race through all 4 tracks, earning points depending on how well they place.

Dino Domain

• Ancient Lake
• Fossil Canyon
• Jungle Falls
• Hot Top Volcano
• Trophy Race

(Dino Domain Boss: Tricky)

Snowflake Mountain

• Everfrost Peak
• Walrus Cove
• Snowball Valley
• Frosty Village
• Trophy Race

(Snowflake Mountain Boss: Bluey)

Sherbet Island

• Whale Bay
• Pirate Lagoon
• Crescent Island
• Treasure Caves
• Trophy Race

(Sherbet Island Boss: Blubber)

Dragon Forest

• Boulder Canyon
• Greenwood Village
• Windmill Plains
• Haunted Woods
• Trophy Race

(Dragon Forest Boss: Smokey)

Future Fun Land

• Spacedust Alley
• Darkmoon Caverns
• Star City
• Spaceport Alpha
• Trophy Race

(Future Fun Land Boss: Wizpig)

Battle Stages

In addition, there are several battle stages, each of which must be unlocked by obtaining a hidden key from each world:

• Dino Domain: Fire Mountain - The objective is to hatch three dinosaur eggs. Players take eggs from the volcano in the center of the arena to their nest, which is identified by a picture of their character. When an egg is dropped in a nest, it will eventually hatch. Unhatched eggs in other player's nests can be stolen. As such, players have to defend their nests as well.
• Snowflake Mountain: Icicle Pyramid - The objective is to survive. Collecting red balloons will give the player missiles, which can be shot at opponents. Each player gets 8 bananas, and each shot takes 2 away; players are knocked out when they lose all 8, with the last remaining player the winner. There are also yellow baloons, which provide a shield.
• Sherbert Island: Darkwater Beach - The same objective as Ice Pyramid, but on the water and small areas of land.
• Dragon Forest: Smokey Castle - Similar to Fire Mountain, players must take bananas to their chest, which is identified by a picture of their character. Players can only carry 2 bananas at a time, and must put them into the chest by passing near it. Players can steal bananas from their adversaries by shooting them, but they can be shot too. Once bananas have been placed on a chest, they cannot be stolen.

Future Fun Land does not have a battle stage.

If the player beats Wizpig in Future Fun Land and obtains the amulet pieces and gets all of the gold medals, the player will be able to play in a mode called Adventure 2. In this mode, all of the balloons will be silver and the courses will be mirrored, meaning that they are flipped from left to right. The silver coins are in different locations in each track.

Weapon balloons

Throughout the courses, players can find balloons. There are five different kind of balloons, each containing different weapons or items. When a balloon is collected, the item can be used immediately, or the player can wait for another balloon with the same colour. When they pick up a second balloon of the same colour, the item will be upgraded. A third balloon of the same colour will upgrade the item to its maximum level. Below is a listing of items the upgrades.

• Red Balloons: Missiles - These are offensive weapons that can be shot at opponents.

• Green Balloons: Dropper- Obstacles that can be dropped behind the player to obstruct opponents.

• Blue Balloons: Speed Boost - These give the player a speed boost just like a Zipper.

• Yellow Balloons: Shield - These will give the player shields to protect them from missiles or droppers.

• Rainbow Balloons: Special - A magnet attack, which will attract the player towards the targeted opponent or pull him back.

Legal ambiguities

The legalities of Diddy Kong Racing are now open for debate due to the situation involving Rare and Nintendo. Nintendo retained the rights to Diddy Kong and Krunch, while Rare owns Banjo, Conker, and Tiptup. The ownership of the other characters is unknown, although most assume Rare made off with them. Tricky is the biggest mystery, as his younger self became a character in Nintendo's Star Fox series, while the older version that was in DKR may belong to Rare. With the release of , it appears that Tricky and all characters from Dinosaur Planet now belong to Nintendo, as the planet and a grown-up Tricky appear in that game.

Sequels

Originally, two sequels to DKR had been planned; Diddy Kong Pilot and Donkey Kong Racing. Diddy Kong Pilot eventually became Banjo Pilot, a game based on Rare's Banjo-Kazooie. Donkey Kong Racing was scrapped, although rumors have surfaced that the cancelled Sabreman Stampede, a game believed to be based on Donkey Kong Racing, is to be released on the Xbox 360.

At E3 2006, Rareware announced they were developing an enhanced port of Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo DS, entitled Diddy Kong Racing DS. [link] Another racing game, DK: Bongo Blast for the Gamecube, is also being developed.

Other Taglines

• "Better than Mario Kart 64!"--Electronic Game Playing Monthly
• "A Wild Racing Adventure!"--Cover Line
• "One if by Air, Two if By sea, Three by Road"--Tagline in 1998

See also

• Banjo Pilot
• Diddy Kong Racing DS
• Donkey Kong Racing

External links

• [Donkey Kong Racing screenshots and videos on GameSpot]
• [Diddy Kong Racing] at GameFAQs
• [Diddy Kong Racing] at MobyGames
• [DKR World]
• [DKR HQ]
• [Diddy Kong Racing Hotel Resort]

 

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