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.

Race courses
When playing as Team Krem, differently titled reverse variants are used instead. All can be accessed by any character for time trial.

Boss courses
After placing in the top three positions in a cup, the player gets to dogfight the boss, which is the character the cup is named for. Each take place above the clouds over a course. The fights alternate between having the player shoot at the boss from behind while avoiding their weapons, and having the player in front of the boss while avoiding their bullets. In both segments, item barrels appear and can be used by the player. Each cup's boss in the order they appear in the menu is more powerful and aggressive than the previous one, with four named difficulty levels shared by each team; however, the Kong bosses fought while playing as Team Krem are in general more dangerous than when the Kremlings are faced while playing as Team Krem, and when fighting the Kremlings as Team Cranky, they have their original behavior, but are much more durable.

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.

Cutscene

 * "Before we start, lets [sic] get a few things straight... you are racing for the pride of Team Kong, don't let us down... I did not suffer those interminable amounts of monotonous gameplay for you to blow it all now. Each cup is made up of four races... If you win that then you need to go head to head against a Kremling to show them who is boss.. Look out for the Target Balloons... shoot them and a secret boost will appear... fly through it and something special will happen.. Think you can handle it? I very much doubt it."
 * ''"C'mon, that was terrible, you're letting the whole team down...You need to finish in the top four places if you are going to qualify for the next race..
 * "Pah! That was awful... Shameful... you can't let them get the better of you... Get back out there and show them what you're made of"
 * "That wasn't too difficult was it? Get on and race the rest of them, nothing is going to happen until you beat all four..."
 * "See how easy this is? Just two more to go and we will put paid to those stupid Kremlings..."
 * "This is it, we are nearly there. When I first saw you I thought you were a terrible Pilot... You Know [sic] what? I was right, it's just that these dumb Kremlings are even worse!.. One more to go.."
 * "Four out of four? Well, look at you... thinking you're a fancy pilot. Frankly that was just too easy... If you want a real challenge, try racing as those dumb Kremlings... Then we will see how good you really are.."
 * "What's going on? This is a disgrace! This is a Kong game, not a Kremling game... I don't see your name on the title page. My boys will put a stop to this insolence.."
 * "What! How did that happen? That must have been a fluke... You Kremlings are all the same... Let's see you try that again..."
 * "Pah! That's enough of that! My boys are going to start taking it seriously now... Enough of this impudence..."
 * "Three out of four? How did it come to this... Don't think it will be so easy next time..."
 * "Aaaargh! That wasn't supposed to happen! I never thought it would come to this... this is serious you know... Whatever team beats all four bosses last, gets to claim the name of the game.. Next time you see the title page you are going to be in for a bit of a surprise.."
 * "Let's see how good you are. I've left six coins on each track and you need to collect them all and still beat me in a race... Think you are up to it? You don't stand a chance"
 * "Bah! How did that happen? There must be something wrong with my plane... Try another track, you won't beat me again..."
 * "Well thank you... I think you have just gone and proved what we knew all along, I am the best flier... You could change the title page back by racing as one of the other teams but why would you need too [sic] 'Cranky Kong Pilot'?.. It seems like the end of an era Things [sic] may never be the same again.."

Gameplay

 * "What the?"
 * "Serves you right."
 * "Not a problem."
 * "Next time I WILL try!"
 * "New competition..."
 * "Move it!"
 * "Too easy!"

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."
 * "Go, Kritter!"

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

 * A spelling error appears when the player loses at a boss fight: the text reads "YOU LOOSE" instead of "YOU LOSE".
 * All playable characters have voiced dialogue. Klump notably sounds like his cartoon counterpart.
 * 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.