Diddy Kong Racing DS

Diddy Kong Racing DS is the Nintendo DS remake of the Nintendo 64 game, Diddy Kong Racing. Diddy Kong Racing DS is Rare's first Nintendo DS game. This game uses Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, unlike the original. Due to Rare's move to Microsoft, Banjo and Conker were replaced by Dixie Kong and Tiny Kong. Although developed by Rare, the original game is almost entirely owned by Nintendo save for everything relating to Banjo and Conker, thereby allowing the game to be re-released (alongside Microsoft not currently participating in the handheld gaming market).

Story
When his parents go on vacation, Timber is left to care for the family island, Timber's Island. Unfortunately, an evil pig wizard, named Wizpig, invades the island and brainwashes Tricky, Bluey, Bubbler, and Smokey to be his lieutenants. Wizpig and his lieutenants begin to take over the island and Diddy and the crew must stop Wizpig and free the control of his lieutenants.

The island's fastest racer, Drumstick, challenges Wizpig to a race, only to disappear without a trace after doing so. In desperation, Timber sends a letter to his friend Diddy Kong on which Squawks brings the letter to Diddy, asking for help. Accepting Timber's plea, Diddy, who calls his girlfriend, Dixie Kong, Tiny Kong, Tiptup, Bumper. Krunch, a Kremling Krew spy sent by King K. Rool, sets off to Timber's Island to take-down Wizpig.

With help from Taj and T.T., Diddy, Timber and co. manage to beat Tricky, Bluey, Bubbler and Smokey in races and snap them out-of Wizpig's brainwashing. Drumstick, who had been turned into a frog by Wizpig, is also returned to normal.

After Wizpig's reluctant minions become defeated, Wizpig is next challenged by Diddy Kong and his friends. After a race, Wizpig is defeated and a victory celebration is held. Unfortunately, Wizpig crashes the party.

Following Wizpig to his home planet, Future Fun Land, Diddy Kong and his friends manage to get past all of Wizpig's challenges and get a rematch with the rocket-riding Wizpig. After another race, Wizpig is beaten and his rocket malfunctions and crashes into a deserted planet and becomes stranded. He also mentions that he shall return sometime.

Returning to Timber's Island, another celebration is held, Wizpig having been beaten with his hold-over on the island gone.

Taj's Wishes Menu
Taj the Genie is the caretaker of the island and provides assistance to Diddy and his friends. Taj appears every time the player gains ten Golden Balloons and challenges them. He also takes care of rewards and unlockables. Taj allows the player to paint their vehicle for free, but he has a few items in his tent on the center courtyard. He calls it his "Wishes Menu":

Balloons
Colored balloons await the racers in normal racing levels. They consist of weapons. Once a player gets up to three, they increase in strength.

Power-Up Tokens are also scattered in every single race track. The player must collect one and can upgrade their balloon strength with just one balloon and set it to maximum power.

Car
The car is the most basic vehicle with four wheels and a seat. It has simplest handling, but it can only stay on the ground, being slowed down slightly when driving off road, and goes extremely slow when used in the water. It is limited to only use zippers on the ground. The car is a beginners vehicle. It can be used in eighteen out of twenty four race tracks. In Adventure Mode, it is used the most, being used on twelve of the tracks. It is used against Tricky and Wizpig, during their first matches.

Plane
The plane is slightly trickier to control than the car. However, the plane isn't restricted to having to use the road, which enables it to cut corners inaccessible to cars such as the pathway to Snowflake Mountain. There are also many tracks which have paths only usable by the plane, many of which are slightly harder to access with some sort of reward, such as a balloon or a Power-up Token. The plane is not restricted to any zipper, being the only vehicle able to use all three types, and the only vehicle which can use airborne zippers. It can be used in fifteen out of twenty four race tracks. In Adventure Mode, it is used in five races, and against Smokey and Wizpig in his second race.

Hovercraft
The hovercraft has possibly the trickiest to control. However, it isn't hindered by driving off road or in water, although it can skid on roads. Its ability to drive over water enables it to use shortcuts on some tracks. The boat can use zippers on the ground, or in the water, making it more versatile than the car, but less versatile than the plane. It can be used in all twenty-four race tracks. Despite this, in Adventure Mode it is only used on the three tracks being Whale Bay, Pirate Lagoon, and Boulder Canyon. It is used against Bluey and Bubbler when raced against.

Zippers
Zippers help vehicles Turbo Boost around corners on race tracks. They have red and yellow stripes and stand out from whatever track the racer is playing. By letting go of the gas while driving over/through a zipper, the racer can get an even larger boost.

Types of Zippers

 * The Car Zipper is flat on the ground and is fairly simple to get a good boost from.
 * The Plane Zipper is found in the air and is a circle shape. The plane is the only vehicle that can access it. If racers attempts to get the boost at an angle, the boost lags and becomes a big time consumer.
 * The Hovercraft Zipper is found in water and is a triangle shape vertex that allows easy boosting and weapon advantage strategy making. Planes can also get a boost on it.

Taj's races and challenges
Taj races and trains the racer in many areas aside from selling the player unlockables and helping them customize their car. He usually rides his Magic Carpet or stands in awe as the racer fulfills Taj's own wish. In return for the racers success in the challenge he gives them a Golden Balloon.

Taj Challenges

 * Car Race - Once the racer starts their game, they race Taj around in a circle with the car, following the black and white tokens. This is an act of training and racers receive their first Golden Balloon.
 * Hovercraft Race - Before the racer goes to beat Tricky again, Taj races the racer with the hovercraft around the island while following the tokens.
 * Plane Race - After Dino Domain is completed, the racer races Taj in planes around the island following the tokens in a similar pattern to the Hovercraft race.
 * Blowing out the Torches challenge - After Bubbler is defeated, Taj orders the racer to blow out nine torches on the island in sixty seconds or a single minute.
 * Taj Token Tussle - The racer races Taj around the island for ten Taj Tokens by following the arrows to their temporary locations. The first to ten tokens wins.

Balloon Pop Challenge
After the area's major boss is defeated (except Future Fun Land's), the boss orders the racer to get at least a Bronze Balloon in each of their four tracks. By using the Stylus, racers can pop the Golden Balloons scattered over each track. Fifty Gold Balloons are in each, and after popping them can gain the rank Bronze, Silver, or Gold.

Once the racer gets the bronze ranking or higher, the racer receives a Golden Balloon for their first win at the challenge.

Rank amounts

 * Dino Domain
 * Bronze - 25 balloons
 * Silver - 35 balloons
 * Gold - 50 balloons


 * Snowflake Mountain
 * Bronze - 35 balloons
 * Silver - 40 balloons
 * Gold - 50 balloons


 * Sherbet Island/Dragon Forest/Future Fun Land
 * Bronze - 40 balloons
 * Silver - 45 balloons
 * Gold - 50 balloons

Trophy Race
Trophy Races are Grand-Prix races where racers race each other in the area's four tracks in order, in an attempt to win the most amount of points. The racer must jostle with the computer racers' places in the races, which vary in each track, so winning one or two races secures the racer a gold trophy.

Each Trophy varies in appearance to the area it's associated to. By winning trophies the sign by the lighthouse near Sherbet Island fills up Wizpig's face. Once all four Wizpig Amulets are accounted for, the racer can blast to Future Fun Land after they defeat Wizpig in his first race. The fifth and final trophy race must be completed before Wizpig can be defeated, this is the only time a trophy race must be completed before the boss is defeated.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Mode
Diddy Kong Racing DS has six player maximum online racing challenges. If the racer unlocked the various online options from Taj, they have the ability to do as follows:

Single Race
Single race allows two, four, or six racers to compete in one track at a time. A track is selected by each racer, and a randomizer randomizes the vehicle and track the racers use and play on. Then to the left of their usernames is a colored circle, which indicates their mark on the track. Their character icon is kept hidden from online activity.

Trophy Race
Trophy Races of the four main areas are available and a trophy Race of Jungle Japes with the four new tracks. In a Grand Prix styled event, the racers race through the four tracks in sequence, and whoever gains most points wins.

Battle Tracks
When battled at least once, a Battle Track is unlocked, two-four racers can battle on the four tracks of the original Nintendo 64 version.

Multi-Game Racing
If at least two Diddy Kong Racing DS games are owned, the racers can race with every Multiplayer option available. Their icons are also visible.

Download Play
The entire basis is based on the racer who owns the game and the other racers who do not own the game must do whatever the one with the game wants. Options aren't limited, but the paint of the racer's vehicle is set to the default color of yellow and so are the gameless racers. Also, the icons aren't visible.

Differences between versions
Along with its several new features Diddy Kong Racing DS has several notable differences between it and the original Nintendo 64 version. These differences include:

T.T.'s Wish Tracks
T.T. is the major host of the adventure (second to Taj). T.T. is imprisoned in a locked door in every area, due to Wizpig kidnapping him. In order for the player to open the doors, they must find hidden keys (one in every area) to unlock the door and race T.T. on a custom track. If the racer defeats T.T., a piece of the T.T. Amulet is won and T.T. wanders the lobby. During these custom races, T.T. guides the racer in the first three. However, it's really his custom track. For the final one, the racer makes their own, short or long. Once the racer gets all the T.T. Amulets, T.T. is freed to walk around the lobbies like in the original game and announces he's a playable character if the racer can beat his staff ghost in single race trials.

T.T. Keys Track Locations

 * Dino Domain
 * Ancient Lake


 * Snowflake Mountain
 * Snowball Valley


 * Sherbet Island
 * Crescent Island


 * Dragon Forest
 * Boulder Canyon

Once all four amulet pieces are won, the player can compete in the second race against Wizpig, providing they have also won every race, boss challenge and trophy.

Music
A couple of levels have different musical scores than their Nintendo 64 counterparts:


 * Ancient Lake - A bit less heavy metal and a bit more jungle-like.
 * Jungle Falls - A new score with its name sung into it "jungggggle, a-jungle falls". (Sounds like "diddyah, diddy-a-kong".) The old music from Jungle Falls was moved to the credits.
 * Hot Top Volcano - The refrain is slightly less danger-type and slightly more ground-pounding.
 * Snowball Valley - Instead of sharing its music with Everfrost Peak, the DS version has more jolly music.
 * Pirate Lagoon - A more tropical background tone than the hip pirate-like music in the original.
 * Treasure Caves - Less ground-pounding than the original's music, and a more tropical feel.
 * Windmill Plains - Instead of sharing its music with Greenwood Village, the DS version has more country-style music.
 * Darkmoon Caverns - A pinch less of a danger-type music and a pinch more space-type.
 * Spaceport Alpha - More space-type music quality.
 * Spacedust Alley- Has the old Spaceport Alpha music. In the original, it shared its music with Star City.

Reception
The game received average reviews,Game Rankings gave it a 67/100 and Metacritic gave it a 63/100.

References to Other Games

 * Diddy Kong Racing - It is simply a remake of this game.
 * Donkey Kong Country - The tracks Thunder Cove, Meandering Mount, Splashdown Pass and Strangled Shrine seem to be based off the jungle levels in this game.
 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - In the track Boulder Canyon, when inside the castle the music from Castle Crush plays.