Diddy Kong Pilot (2001)

Diddy Kong Pilot is a cancelled follow-up title of Diddy Kong Racing for the Game Boy Advance, and was developed by Rareware. As the title suggests, the main feature was Donkey Kong series characters racing around the courses in Planes. In 2005, the game was finalized as the Banjo-Kazooie title, Banjo-Pilot. The reason for its change was from Microsoft's acquisition of Rare in 2002. In 2002-2003, before the decision to make it a Banjo-Kazooie title, Diddy Kong Pilot was already being redeveloped into an entirely different game.

History
The game was first shown at E3 2001, and was later shown at Spaceworld. One of the builds consisted of a cast featuring both Donkey Kong Country and Mario characters - a first for a Donkey Kong Country spin-off. This version allowed players to take control of Diddy Kong, Princess Peach, Mario, Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong, King K. Rool, Yoshi (sitting atop a Lakitu's Cloud), Wario (piloting a red biplane similar to the Bulldog), Bowser, Funky Kong, Dixie Kong, and Toad.

A later build revised the roster to Kritter, Dixie Kong, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, King K. Rool, Cranky Kong, and a character tentatively called Redneck Kong, who was "killed off" early in development according to one of the developers. The character selection menu showed Candy Kong, who would have allegedly replaced him.

In 2002, Nintendo refused to publish Diddy Kong Pilot, as they found the game "substandard" (one of their criticisms was "There's no point in flying up and down on flat levels")

On September 15, 2011, after ten years of no new information regarding the game, a former Rare employee, under the pseudonym of Transparentjinjo, posted gameplay footage of the game on YouTube. A lot of details were revealed about the presumed final build of Diddy Kong Pilot, from September 7, 2001, before its cancellation.

Gameplay
Diddy Kong Pilot featured six modes: Racing, Stories, Dogfights, Battles, Clock Race, and Options.

Like the predecessor, the player can collect bananas. When Races mode is selected and the player goes on to selecting a level, he or she can choose the difficulty of the level.

There is also a stories mode with three different stories: King of Kongs, Back to the Light, and K. Rool's Gold. King of Kongs set contains Beach Barricade, another beach level. It appears to be incomplete. There is also a lava level in the Back to the Light set, but it is unknown what the course's name is. There is also a Classic Dogfight in the K. Rool's Gold set on which appears to have Magma Mainland in it.

Another mode is the dogfight mode where the player may do a Classic Dogfight, a Dawn Duel, a Classic Variation, or a Focal Feud. This mode has players fighting against each other. The difficulty can also be chosen on this mode.

The Clock Race allows for the player to race on a selected course in a Time Trials-like way. They can also choose the difficulty level.

Options only allows the player to choose between D-Pad or tilt control. The tilt sensor capability was shown off at E3 2001.

Items

 * Rockets: These items slow down players.
 * Rocket Boost (green and red): These can be used to speed up temporarily. The red one causes the player to accelerate the fastest and farthest.
 * Peanuts (5 and 10): These can be used to shoot opponents into the ground.
 * Magnet (green and red): These can be used to make the player pass others when close by. It occasionally doesn't work.
 * DK Balloons: These contain an item with Cranky on it. It retires the player from advancing.
 * ? Balloons: They contain regular items.

Sleepy Shores

 * Bounty Beach: A race track taking place on the beach as the name states. It has palm trees in the background along with the shore.
 * Farm Attract:
 * Jet Set Jungle:
 * Beach Race: The player races Donkey Kong in this area.

Kongo Kingdom

 * Swoop Swamp:
 * Jungle Race:
 * Magma Mainland: A lava-like area with volcanoes nearby.
 * Haunted Race:

Western Wastes

 * Lake Race:
 * Lava Race:
 * Swamp Race: Takes place in a Swamp-like area. Nothing else is known.
 * Crackpot Keep:

Island of Eggs

 * Vulture Valley:
 * Keep Race:
 * Lake Race:
 * Chicken Chase: There appear to be chickens in this level and takes place near a farm.

Polar Plateau

 * Frosty Lake
 * Farm Race
 * Desert Race
 * Snow Race

Battle stages

 * Jungle Jig
 * Sunset Scrap
 * Ice Escapades
 * Beach Brawl

Playable

 * Donkey Kong
 * Diddy Kong
 * Dixie Kong
 * Cranky Kong
 * Kritter
 * King K. Rool
 * Redneck Kong (removed)
 * Candy Kong (unimplemented)