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 also shown at Spaceworld 2001. One of the characters, tentatively named Redneck Kong,, or "Crappy Kong" was "killed off" early in the game's development, according to Jens Christian Restemeier, one of the game's developers. Candy Kong would subsequently appear in the background for character selection menus.

One of the builds, said to be presented at a Spaceworld, consisted of a cast featuring both Donkey Kong Country and Mario characters, which would have been a first for a Donkey Kong series spinoff. This version allowed players to select between six Donkey Kong characters (Diddy Kong, Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong, King K. Rool, Funky Kong, and Dixie Kong) and six Mario characters (Princess Peach, Mario, Yoshi [sitting atop a Lakitu's Cloud], Wario [piloting a red biplane similar to the Bulldog], Bowser and Toad). Not much information is known regarding this build or its history.

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") Some Rare employees believed the company was prejudiced since it occurred in a time period just before the Microsoft acquisition. Diddy Kong Pilot was not presented at E3 2002.

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. According to the video's title, the build was dated "September 7, 2001".

Gameplay
Diddy Kong Pilot featured six modes: Racing, Stories, Dogfights, Battles, Clock Race, and Options. The build is largely unfinished since most of the stages are almost empty, with some only having a backdrop and a few assets. Many of the modes, such as dogfights, are non-functional.

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.

Playable characters

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

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

King of Kongs

 * Beach Barricade
 * Hair Raising Rescue
 * Peaceful Passage
 * Cranky Panky

Back to the Light

 * Grub Grab
 * Farm Feud
 * Swamp Swoop
 * Dark Tower

K.Rool's Gold

 * Classic Dogfight
 * Fly Like The Wind
 * Snowball Snapshot
 * Flawed Genie'us

Battle stages

 * Jungle Jig
 * Sunset Scrap
 * Ice Escapades
 * Beach Brawl
 * Hatch Match
 * Ghost Grasp
 * Swamp Showdown
 * Wasteland Wipe Out