Diddy Kong Pilot (2003)

Diddy Kong Pilot is the name of a canceled Game Boy Advance racing title starring Diddy Kong and other Donkey Kong characters racing against each other in Planes. This build was entirely redone from the original version, before finally becoming Banjo-Pilot in 2005.

History
No information regarding this build of Diddy Kong Pilot was publicly known until October 3, 2011, when a former Rare employee, with the pseudonym "Transparentjinjo", posted a gameplay video on YouTube. According to its title, the game's build date was "February 19, 2003". About a month later, the game leaked onto an unrelated Rare fansite.

Gameplay
Diddy Kong Pilot has a few modes, including the Grand Prix-type mode "Cups", a Time Trials, or even the Cranky's Challenge mode, in which the player's goal is to obtain Banana Coins placed around the course. The multiplayer option is crossed out and cannot be accessed. Diddy Kong Pilot features three different teams: Team Kong (consisting of Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Donkey Kong, and Funky), Team Kritter (consisting of Kritter, Klaptrap, Klump, and K. Rool), and Team Cranky, whose only member is Cranky Kong; he even appears in all four character slots. The player can unlock the Kremlings by finishing every cup, and Cranky if the player beats all the Cranky Challenges.

Gameplay progression is as follows:
 * 1) Team Kong beats Team Krem in all four cups and boss fights, after which Cranky bets the player couldn't do it while playing as a Kremling.
 * 2) Team Krem beats Team Kong in all four cups and boss fights, after which Cranky laments the fact that the Kremlings have earned the rights to claim the title screen as Kremling Pilot, showing a lava temple area.
 * 3) Player beats all Cranky Challenges with any character, after which Cranky allows himself to be played.
 * 4) Cranky beats Team Krem in all four cups and boss fights, claiming the title screen in his own name. The title screen is restyled to Cranky Kong Pilot, which shows a scenery of the open sea and Enguarde jumping out on occasion.

Options menu
The options menu has six selectable options, most of which are related to debugging: "Language", "Sound", "Secret", "Multiplayer Weapons", "Ghost", and "Clear Scores". The Language option is highly unfinished, and is shown to have four other options, aside from English: French, Spanish, German, and Italian. The only text translated into German are the options from the title screen and options menu. The other languages use the same, default English text for a placeholder.

Despite having no relevance to sound, the Sound option redirects the player to an incomplete initials menu. After entering three characters, the rotating character input goes to the number 5. If the player presses while the number is highlighted, they are sent back to the options menu.

The Secret option unlocks everything in the game. The Multiplayer Weapons option shows a replay of the cutscene from the most recent defeat in a dogfight match. Despite its title, the Ghost mode has no relevance to Time Trial ghosts, and instead displays the victory photo of a team. The team displayed in the photo corresponds to the current title screen. The last option is Clear Scores, which erases all of the game data.

Items

 * K-O-N-G Letters: Collectibles that were later replaced with Musical Notes in Banjo-Pilot. They seem to serve no purpose in the unfinished Diddy Kong Pilot.
 * Pink Buzz(es): Homes onto the nearest opponent. They are either featured in a set of one or three.
 * Blue Buzz: Homes in on the pilot in first place, but can be escaped with a Zinger item or a zipper boost.
 * Zingers: Can be dropped behind by racers as an obstacle for other racers to crash into. They fly up and down after being placed, but not left or right.
 * TNT Barrel: Boosts the user while damaging other pilots nearby. In a boss fight, the boss is automatically damaged if the player uses it, regardless of positioning.
 * Wrench Barrel: Strikes other racers with lightning and makes them dizzy, or damages the opponent during a boss fight. CPU opponents cannot use this item.
 * Rambi the Rhino: Grants temporary invincibility to everything except hazards such as trees, like a Star from the Mario Kart series

Klaptrap Cup/Dixie Kong Cup

 * Steamy Swoop: Jungle-themed stage with Donkey Kong's Treehouse in the background
 * Plain Pursuit: Desert-themed stage where Expresso makes a cameo
 * Chilly Length: Ice-themed stage with orcas in the background
 * Magma Spurt: Lava-themed stage with a golden K. Rool statue in the background

Kritter Cup/Diddy Kong Cup

 * Shore Strife: Beach-themed with DK Isle in the background, and Enguarde as an Easter egg.
 * Jungle Jostle: Jungle-themed
 * Temple Heat: Lava-themed
 * Wild Wilderness: Wilderness-themed

Klump Cup/Funky Kong Cup

 * Frosty Feud: Ice-themed
 * Vine Rush: Jungle-themed
 * Speedy Show: Lava-themed
 * Reef Encounter: Beach-themed

K. Rool Cup/Donkey Kong Cup

 * Lava Dispute: Lava-themed
 * Frantic Beach: Beach-themed
 * Prairie Dash: Prairie-themed
 * Icy Passage: Ice-themed

Glitches
Diddy Kong Pilot went considerably far in development, although it remains somewhat unpolished. The most notable bug is the continuous loop of a loud sound effect, which occurs when the player goes through a zipper just before a Buzz crashes into them. Another bug always shows a "22" in the top-left corner of the Options menu.

Dixie Kong

 * "I'm the best!"

Funky Kong

 * "Sorry, dude!"
 * "C'mon, dude!"

Kritter

 * "I can do better!"
 * "See ya!"
 * "Hey you!"
 * "That's bad."
 * "Take that, ape!"
 * "Watch it, monkey!"
 * "Sorry partner."
 * "C'mon, partner!!"
 * "Yahoo!"
 * "Whoa!!"
 * "Whee!!"
 * "Shake it."
 * "Bah."
 * 'Let's get it on."

Klaptrap

 * "Yeah yeah, hehehehe!"
 * "No no no!"
 * "I rock, hehehehe!"
 * "Stupid dumb lad!"
 * "Take that ape! Hehehehe!"
 * "Oh dear!"
 * "Watch it, ape!"
 * "WATCH IT!"
 * "Whee!"
 * "Whoa!!"
 * "Hey!!"
 * "Oh yeah!!"
 * "Oh no!!"
 * "Let's do this, hehehehe!!"

Klump

 * "Yes, siree!"
 * "No, sir!"
 * "Sorry, soldier!"

King K. Rool

 * "Okay, then!"
 * "Wrong choice!"
 * "Get outta here!"

Trivia

 * The options menu of Cranky Kong Pilot title screen shows construction girders from the Donkey Kong arcade game.
 * A spelling error appears when the player loses at a boss fight: the text reads "YOU LOOSE" instead of "YOU LOSE".
 * All playable characters had voiced dialogue, including Klap Trap.
 * The generic Kritter in the game bears far more resemblance to Krunch than a typical Kritter. He also speaks in a Southern accent.
 * In the Cups mode, the point spread matches those of the first three Mario Kart games; Mario Kart: Super Circuit was the most recent Mario Kart game as of the prototype build. In Banjo-Pilot, the point spread was changed to match that of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, which was released after the Diddy Kong Pilot prototype, and was the most recent Mario Kart game as of the final release.