Diddy Kong Racing

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Diddy Kong Racing is a game for Nintendo 64. Like the Mario Kart series, Diddy Kong Racing is a racing game, but made use of airplanes, hovercrafts, and wheeled vehicles; it is also the first game of the Donkey Kong Racing series. The game has a story mode, multiplayer modes, and a variety of characters (many from Rare series), such as Diddy Kong, Banjo, Tiptup, and Conker, but not Donkey Kong.

Story

File:DKR WizpigHead.PNG

Wizpig's face, carved into the mountains.

The story begins with Diddy Kong sitting on the porch of his tree house curiously opening a letter since it wasn't often that a message had arrived that was so far away that a carrier pidgeon had to bring it to him. The note read "Dear Diddy, Help!!!". It turned out that the message was from his old friend, Timber who was the son of the Kong's guests, the Tigers. Diddy read the note a few times and knew that he had to help but he wasn't sure on whether he should or should not draft some extra help since the Wizpig he had read about in the letter seemed like a pretty mean foe. Finally, he decided that his friends Banjo and Conker would still enjoy an adventure, even if it turned out that their services weren't needed. Diddy called Squawkss his makeshift carrier pidgeon and gave him the messages for his friends.

Diddy Kong was later at the beginning of his journey, tearing off at high speed through the jungle. A pair of Kremling spies lurking behind a boulder watched him with suspicion. The one Kremling, Krunch, suggested to go with Diddy, but the other Kremling had rejected his suggestion and bolted into the undergrowth. Krunch, however, tagged along with the young ape, through the jungle.

Meanwhile, Timber was trying to calm the excitable Pipsy so that he could understand at least part of what she was saying. Pipsy angrily complained on how she had just seen Taj the Genie who said he'd help. Tiptup, confused, protested that Taj hasn't been seen in fifty years. Afterwords, they all though about the Wizpig face that was carved onto the mountainside overnight and they race courses that were magically sealed off. The group knew that they needed to get this mess sorted out before Timber's parents got back. Bumper then concluded the conversation by telling his friend that everybody needs to start practicing. Agreeing with Bumper, Timber and his friends left, hoping that Diddy Kong doesn't mention the mess to his parents.

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File:Diddy Kong Racing!.PNG

Diddy Kong in the first Wizpig race.

When the first four worlds are completed, the carving of Wizpig's head on the mountainside opens and allows the player to race Wizpig. After beating him, the playable characters will have a party along the beach. However, Wizpig crashes the party and chases everyone around, destroying everything. Afterwords, a spaceship comes and takes him into space. The credits will then roll, and a message will come up saying "The End?" If the player continues playing, the lighthouse on the beach will turn into a rocket and will take them to Future Fun Land.

After the player completes all his/her tasks in that world and gets the whole T.T. Amulet, he/she will face Wizpig again, except this time in his/her airplane on a space themed stage. After winning, Wizpig's rocket short circuits and blasts him into an unknown planet that can possibly be the moon. Once again, the heroes of the island celebrate their victory, except this time, without Wizpig in the way. The carving of Wizpig's head on the mountainside is also seen to be changed into a golden carving of Taj's head.

Right before the credits roll, one of Wizpig's spaceships appear and Wizpig is heard laughing, possibly meaning that he will make a return. As of now though, a sequel hasn't been made for Diddy Kong Racing.

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Modes

Adventure Mode

File:Diddy Kong Racing (2).gif

The overworld for adventure mode.

Adventure mode is the main mode of the game. Here, the player must find a number of golden balloons to defeat Wizpig. In order to find them, they must win races. After they win all the races in one of the five worlds, they will race a boss, and if the enemy is beat, the player will be given the challenge of collecting eight coins in each course and then win. If the player completes the challenge, they will face the boss again. After winning again, they will get a piece of the Wizpig Amulet and the boss will tell them to try the Trophy Race.

Keys are also hidden in the first four worlds and if found, the player can play special battles against CPUs or friends.

Adventure Two Mode

Adventure Two is played the same as Adventure One, however, the tracks are backwards, making them harder to get used thus making it much harder than the first adventure. This mode is very similar to Mirror Mode in the Mario Kart series.

Tracks Mode

Here the player can freely play all the race tracks they have unlocked. They can also race T.T, unless he has already become playable character.

Stats

Diddy Kong

Weight group: Middle
Acceleration: 3/5
Turning: 3/5
Top Speed: 3/5

Tiptup

Weight group: Light
Acceleration: 5
Turning: 4
Top Speed: 2

Pipsy

Weight group: Light
Acceleration: 5
Turning: 5
Top Speed: 1

Bumper

Weight group: Middle
Acceleration: 4
Turning: 2
Top Speed: 3

File:Conker0.png

Conker

Weight group: Middle
Acceleration: 2
Turning: 2
Top Speed: 4

Timber

Weight group: Middle
Acceleration: 2
Turning: 2
Top Speed: 3

Banjo

Weight group: Heavy
Acceleration: 1
Turning: 2
Top Speed: 5

Krunch

Weight group: Heavy
Acceleration: 1
Turning: 1
Top Speed: 5

T.T.

Weight group: Middle
Acceleration: 5
Turning: 4
Top Speed: 5

Drumstick

Weight group: Heavy
Acceleration: 1
Turning: 3
Top Speed: 5

Vehicles

There are three different vehicles:

Car- A simple to control vehicle that is used in many races.
Hovercraft- The hardest vehicle to control. They are shown to be very powerful and can ride through fire.
Plane- Planes are used the least often out of the vehicles. They are much easier to control if the player holds the R button while driving. They can also do stunts on these.

Vehicle Colors

Each character has different colored vehicles:

Diddy Kong - Dark Blue
Pipsy - Pink
Bumper - Yellow
Tiptup - Light Blue
Timber - Dark Green
Banjo - Light Green
Conker - White
Krunch - Orange
Drumstick - Red
T.T - Silver

Character Gallery

Playable Characters

Diddy Kong
Carbanjo.jpg

Banjo
DKRconker.jpg

Conker
DKRtimber.jpg

Timber
Tiptup
Pipsie.JPG

Pipsy
Bumperman.jpg

Bumper
Bigkrunch.jpg

Krunch

Unlockables

Non Playable Characters

Wizpig
Taj3.JPG

Taj the Genie
Trixy.JPG

Tricky the Triceratops
Bluie.jpg

Bluey the Walrus
Bubbler.jpg

Bubbler the Octopus
Dragon.JPG

Smokey the Dragon

Areas

Key

C = Car
H = Hovercraft
P = Plane

The letter that's in bold represents the default vehicle for the track.

Timber's Island Areas
Dino Domain
#	Track	Balloon Amount	Silver Coin Challenge Balloon Amount	Types of Transportation Available
1	Ancient Lake	1	6	C , H , P
2	Fossil Canyon	2	7	C , H , P
3	Jungle Falls	3	8	C , H , P
4	Hot Top Volcano	5	10	H , P
5	Boss - Tricky the Triceratops	5 or more once all 4 are beaten	10 or more once all 4 are beaten	C
Snowflake Mountain
#	Track	Balloon Amount	Silver Coin Challenge Balloon Amount	Types of Transportation Available
1	Everfrost Peak	2	10	C , H , P
2	Walrus Cove	3	11	C , H
3	Snowball Valley	6	14	C , H
4	Frosty Village	9	16	C , H , P
5	Boss - Bluey the Walrus	9 or more once all 4 are beaten	16 or more once all 4 are beaten	H
Sherbet Island
#	Track	Balloon Amount	Silver Coin Challenge Balloon Amount	Types of Transportation Available
1	Whale Bay	10	17	H
2	Crescent Island	11	18	C , H
3	Pirate Lagoon	13	20	H
4	Treasure Caves	16	22	C , H , P
5	Boss - Bubbler the Octopus	16 or more once all 4 are beaten	22 or more once all 4 are beaten	H
Dragon Forest
#	Track	Balloon Amount	Silver Coin Challenge Balloon Amount	Types of Transportation Available
1	Windmill Plains	16	23	C , H , P
2	Greenwood Village	17	24	C , H
3	Boulder Canyon	20	30	H
4	Haunted Woods	22	37	C , H
5	Boss - Smokey the Dragon	22 or more once all 4 are beaten	37 or more once all 4 are beaten	P

First Wizpig Battle

Once the racer gets all the pieces of the Wizpig Amulet, he/she can fly up into the newly opened mouth of the Wizpig Head in the courtyard of the Island and race against Wizpig. The player uses a car for this race.

Wizpig's Kingdom

Future Fun Land
#	Track	Balloon Amount	Silver Coin Challenge Balloon Amount	Types of Transportation Available
1	Spacedust Alley	39	43	C , H , P
2	Darkmoon Caverns	40	44	C , H
3	Spaceport Alpha	41	45	C , H , P
4	Star City	42	46	C , H , P
5	Boss - Wizpig	---	47 + all 4 pieces of the T.T. Amulet	P

Challenges

File:DKR TajRace.PNG

Tiptup racing Taj the Genie in a plane.

After the player collects enough Golden Balloons in Adventure Mode, Taj the Genie will appear and challenge the player to a race in a specific vehicle. The player has to race Taj, who rides a flying carpet. The racetrack is marked with red flags showing the Nintendo 64 logo and the player has to follow them. If they leave the set track, they will be disqualified. After Taj is beaten, he will reward the player with another Golden Balloon. There are three different challenges and each of them can be repeated at every time after they have been unlocked (the player will only obtain one Golden Balloon per challenge however).

Car Challenge

The Car Challenge is a relatively easy race done in a car. This race goes around a dirt road right in front of Dino Domain and reaches into a tunnel. This should be very easy for the player because of Taj's slow movement.

Hovercraft Challenge

The Hovercraft Challenge is the second of Taj's races and is a tad harder than the Car Challenge. The track is mostly in water and begins next to the bridge which leads to Dino Domain. In the race the player will hover into a waterfall that is on the far east of the river. Here, they will be in a cave leading to Snowflake Mountain and eventually fall down two small waterfalls taking them to the ocean. Going east will take the player back on shore where they need to go through a small tunnel leading them to the finish line.

Plane Challenge

The Plane Challenge is considered to be the hardest of Taj's three races and a plane is used in it. This race begins at the same place where the Car Challenge begins. From the start the player must fly up to the tunnel leading to Snowflake Mountain and then move east, going over a long river. From there, the player must glide to the beach and go east again. After going through a small tunnel, the player should end up at the finish line.

Items

Item Balloons

File:Globos.gif

Item Ballons.

During the challenges on the different race tracks throughout the game the player can find these Item Balloons on the track. Similar to the Item Boxes of the Mario Kart series, these objects will give the player an Item when they break them. There are five different types of Item Balloons, each with a unique colour and a specific type of Item. A special feature of the Item Ballons is their upgradability, meaning that the player will receive stronger items if they collect more balloons of one colour. An item can be upgraded two times, making a total of three items obtainable from one type of balloon.

File:DKR RedBalloonContent.png

Red Balloons
- 1: One rocket
- 2: One homing missile
- 3: 10 rockets

File:DKR BlueBalloonContent.png

Blue Balloons
- 1: A weak powered orange turbo
- 2: A moderately powerful blue turbo
- 3: A very powerful purple turbo

File:DKR GreenBalloonContent.png

Green Balloons
- 1: An oil slick
- 2: A mine
- 3: A bubble

File:DKR YellowBalloonContent.png

Purple Starred Balloons
- 1: A weak barrier lasting around 7 seconds
- 2: A strong barrier lasting around 10 seconds
- 3: A very strong barrier lasting around 15 seconds

File:DKR RainbowBalloonContent.png

Rainbow Balloons
- 1: A yellow magnet that attracts the closest opponent
- 2: A red magnet that has a longer range for attracting the closest opponent
- 3: A green magnet that attracts the opponent and pulls him/her backwards

Golden Balloons

File:DKR GoldenBalloon.jpg

Taj giving a Golden Balloon to Conker.

Golden Balloons are the key items in the game. The player must collect them to unlock different courses. After winning a race, Taj will give the player one Golden Balloon. There is a total of 47 balloons total and 43 balloons which are given in races.

Hidden Golden Balloons

The player will come across four hidden Golden Balloons throughout the overworld in the game:

The first one is right in the entrance to Dino Domain.
The second is to the left of the stone Wizpig's head.
The third is in the ocean behind Sherbet Island's entrance to the left.
The last balloon is behind two trees east of Snowflake Mountain's entrance, next to a waterfall.

Bananas

A Banana

Bananas are scattered a over every course. By collecting them, the player is able to increase the top-speed of his or her vehicle. While a single banana doesn't make much of a difference, more of them can help to improve the vehicle's performance in a race. The top-speed of the vehicle will increase with every collected banana, until the banana counter reaches ten. After that, the bananas won't affect the player any further.

Additionally, bananas play a key role in the battle games of Icycle Pyramid, Darkwater Beach, and Smokey Castle, since they are required in a specific way to win the game. They act as the player's life gauge in the first two games, and they need to be collected and stored in a treasure chest in the last game.

Zippers

File:Zippers.png

Car, Plane, and Hovercraft Zippers.

Zippers can be used to give the player an extra speed boost. They are found in every track. Letting go of the A button before hitting one will make the player go slightly faster.

Types of Zippers

Each vehicle has a different kind of zipper:

The Car Zipper - A zipper that's flat on the ground and easy to go over with cars and hovercrafts. Planes can also go on these, but the player must be very low to the ground for it to completely work.
The Hovercraft Zipper -A zipper only found in water with a flat bottom. Planes can also go through these.
The Plane Zipper -Unlike other zippers, the plane zipper is in the air. The only vehicle that can go through this is the plane itself.

Keys

File:DKR Key.PNG

Tiptup finding a Key on Crescent Island

There are four keys hidden throughout the adventure mode of the game. Getting them can unlock 4-player battle stages. There is one in each of the four regular worlds:

Dino Domain- Course: Ancient Lake - The player must go up a nearby ramp to get the first key.
Snowflake Mountain- Course: Snowball Valley - The player will find the second key to the left of the finish line.
Sherbet Island- Course: Crescent Island - At the start, the player should take the left way at the split and go into the water and Search to find the key.
Dragon Forest- Course: Boulder Canyon - The player must race until they get to the bridge and hit the bell. Then listen for a ring, turn 180 degrees, and the bridge should rise. The player must make sure they have the maximum power-ups with the purple star balloons. As the bridge is rising, the player must boost themself up and over the jump. They should be on a platform where they can can obtain the key.

Battle Stages

File:DKR BattleStageDoor.PNG

A door that leads to one of the Battle Stages.

Battle Stages are special challenges that can be found throughout the four main worlds of the game. Each of these worlds have one Battle Stage matching the theme of the world and they can be unlocked by finding Keys throughout certain race tracks. By winning on a Battle Stage, the player obtains a part of the T.T. Amulet. Each battle stage is different in its appearance and the task it offers to the player.

Dino Domain- Course: Fire Mountain- On fire mountain the players goal is to get three eggs into their nest and waiting for all of them to hatch. They can get eggs from the middle of the course, or steal it from opponents. However, once the egg is hatched, it may not be stolen. The player can hit their opponents with weapons to make them drop their eggs. This battle is played in a plane.
Snowflake Mountain- Course: Icicle Pyramid- To play in this battle, the player must simply hit their opponents with weapons in a three-story pyramid. If a player gets hit four times, they will be out of the battle and lose. The last person standing wins. This is played in a car.
Sherbet Island- Course: Darkwater Beach- This one is played the same way as Icicle Pyramid, but takes place on a beach. It is played in a hovercraft.
Dragon Forest- Course: Smokey Castle- The goal in Smokey Castle is to find ten bananas throughout the course and be the first one to bring them to their own treasure chest. However, the player can only hold two bananas at a time. The player can also hit their opponents to make them lose bananas. This is played in a car.

Trophy Races

Main article: Trophy Race

File:DKR TrophyRaceTrophy.PNG

A gold Wizpig trophy.

When the player manages to defeat an area boss twice and receive a piece of the Wizpig Amulet, he/she can compete in that area's Trophy Race. If the player manages to finish all four races and be placed in 1st place, he/she receives a gold trophy; silver for 2nd, and bronze for 3rd.

All five areas have a Trophy Race, but Future Fun Land's is only accessible after the player completes all of the Sliver Coin Challenges.

Sequels

Diddy Kong Pilot

Main article: Diddy Kong Pilot

Rare planned to make a Diddy Kong Pilot, but the game ended up canceled. It was supposed to be for Gameboy Advance and Many Kongs were set to be playable, including an unnamed hillbilly Kong. It was replaced by Banjo Pilot.

Donkey Kong Racing

Main article: Donkey Kong Racing

Rare and Nintendo also planned to make Donkey Kong Racing for the Nintendo Gamecube. However, this game was also canceled. Very little had been revealed about it, but Animal Buddies were supposed to appear.