Diddy Kong Racing (series)

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
Revision as of 11:00, May 18, 2021 by PorpleBot (talk | contribs) (Text replacement - "{{(I|i)talic title\|''[^(}\n]+'' \([^)}\n]+\)}}" to "{{italic title}}")
Jump to navigationJump to search

Template:Series-infobox Diddy Kong Racing games have been produced since 1997 with Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64. It features Diddy Kong and an all-star cast competing in a racing game. It is very similar to the Mario Kart series but features only Donkey Kong franchise characters.

Since its first generation on the Nintendo 64, a long hiatus was caused by Rare's buy-out by Microsoft, and two Diddy Kong Racing games that had been in production had to be canceled. In 2007, a remake of Diddy Kong Racing was eventually released on the Nintendo DS.

List of games

Title
Cover, original release, and system Synopsis
Diddy Kong Racing
North American boxart for Diddy Kong Racing
Template:ReleasedNintendo 64
Featuring ten playable characters (two of which, Banjo and Conker, would later star in their own series) and 25 different racecourses, Diddy Kong Racing was a success receiving the Player's Choice title. The plot of the game's adventure mode involves an evil alien pig named Wizpig taking over Timber's Island. Diddy Kong (upon request from his friend Timber) and his friends go to the island to restore peace and drive Wizpig away.
Diddy Kong Racing DS
The North American front box art for Diddy Kong Racing DS
Template:ReleasedNintendo DS
Years later, after Microsoft bought out Rare, two planned Diddy Kong Racing games had to be canceled. Nintendo and Rare teamed up again to create Diddy Kong Racing DS, a remake of the original with many notable differences, including Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong replacing Banjo and Conker due to copyright issues, and Wi-Fi matches. The remake additionally adds Taj and Wizpig as playable characters.

Canceled games

Title
Image, original unveiling, and system Synopsis
Diddy Kong Pilot
Artwork of Diddy Kong Pilot showing Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, and the game logo.
Originally unveiled at E3 2001.
Game Boy Advance
Diddy Kong Pilot was the planned follow-up to Diddy Kong Racing, but instead focusing only on flying and nothing else. Due to Rare being acquired by Microsoft, Rare was already far at work into the game and instead of scrapping it altogether, the game was removed of all Donkey Kong references and was turned into Banjo-Pilot.
Donkey Kong Racing
English logo for Donkey Kong Racing
Originally unveiled at E3 2001.
Nintendo GameCube
Donkey Kong Racing is another canceled game, this one focusing on Donkey Kong instead of Diddy Kong. It would feature new Animal Friends such as a gigantic Rambi and a purple Enguarde. It was seen at E3 2001. After the buyout of Rare, the game was soon reworked into Sabreman Stampede for the Xbox 360 but, this iteration of the installment was also canceled.
Diddy Kong Racing Adventure
Diddy Kong Racing Adventure title screen
2004
Nintendo GameCube
Diddy Kong Racing Adventure is a rejected pitch made by the Climax Group for a Diddy Kong Racing sequel around 2004.[1] The project was never announced to the public in any capacity and only became known after an amateur video game archivist acquired the prototype and published a video about it in November 2016.[1] Only the demo for their pitch was developed, in around April 2004, running on Xbox hardware as the tools had already been developed at the time.[1]

Major characters

Protagonists

Character Brief biography
Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong is the titular character of the Diddy Kong Racing series and one of the main protagonists. Upon receiving an urgent letter from his friend Timber, Diddy Kong goes to Timber's Island to help in taking it back from Wizpig. In both released games, Diddy Kong has balanced stats, although he has poor speed in Diddy Kong Racing DS.
Timber

Artwork of Timber from Diddy Kong Racing DS

Timber is a tiger and friend of Diddy Kong. After his parents left him in charge of their island, Wizpig appeared and took over. In Diddy Kong Racing DS, Timber, after gathering his friends Tiptup, Pipsy, and Bumper, sends a letter requesting help to Diddy Kong through Squawks. Timber is a balanced character much like Diddy Kong in both released games.
Taj the Genie

Taj

Taj is a benevolent blue elephant genie and an ally of Diddy Kong and his friends in the series. He helps the heroes in Diddy Kong Racing and its remake by allowing them to change their current vehicle and giving them Gold Balloons at certain points (such as at the conclusion of a race).

While Taj can be raced during Adventure Mode in both games, he additionally appears as an unlockable playable character in the remake, where he has exceptional speed, but very poor acceleration and handling. These stats are the same as Wizpig's.

Antagonists

Character Brief biography
Wizpig

Wizpig

Wizpig is an evil alien pig and the main antagonist of the Diddy Kong Racing series. Wizpig is known to have successfully conquered his home planet, transforming it into Future Fun Land. Eventually growing bored with this, Wizpig left his planet to look for a thrilling activity to do on another inhabited planet. He eventually found enjoyment in racing, and it, alongside causing chaos, became one of his favorite things to do.

Wizpig eventually found Timber's Island and took it over. When the skilled racer Drumstick challenged him, Wizpig turned the chicken into a frog. In addition, Wizpig hypnotized Tricky the Triceratops, Bluey the Walrus, Bubbler the Octopus, and Smokey the Dragon into becoming his servants. Ultimately, due to the efforts of Diddy Kong and his friends, Wizpig was driven away from the island and ended up on a desolate planet.

In Diddy Kong Racing DS, Wizpig retains his antagonistic role, but also appears as an unlockable playable character. He has the same stats as Taj; exceptional speed, but abysmal acceleration and handling.

Playable characters

With four Diddy Kong Racing titles, the list of characters that can be found from within these games is quite large. Below is a list of all the characters found in each game.

Character Diddy Kong Racing Diddy Kong Pilot Donkey Kong Racing Diddy Kong Racing DS
Banjo Check mark.svg X mark.svg Question.svg X mark.svg
Bowser X mark.svg Check mark.svg1 X mark.svg X mark.svg
Bumper Check mark.svg X mark.svg Question.svg Check mark.svg
Candy Kong X mark.svg Check mark.svg2 Question.svg X mark.svg
Conker Check mark.svg X mark.svg Question.svg X mark.svg
Cranky Kong X mark.svg Check mark.svg Check mark.svg X mark.svg
Diddy Kong Check mark.svg Check mark.svg Check mark.svg Check mark.svg
Dixie Kong X mark.svg Check mark.svg Check mark.svg Check mark.svg
Donkey Kong X mark.svg Check mark.svg Check mark.svg X mark.svg
Drumstick Check mark.svg X mark.svg Question.svg Check mark.svg
Funky Kong X mark.svg Check mark.svg13 Check mark.svg X mark.svg
Kiddy Kong X mark.svg X mark.svg Check mark.svg X mark.svg
King K. Rool X mark.svg Check mark.svg Check mark.svg X mark.svg
Klaptrap X mark.svg Check mark.svg3 Question.svg X mark.svg
Klump X mark.svg Check mark.svg3 Question.svg X mark.svg
Krunch/Kritter Check mark.svg Check mark.svg23 Check mark.svg Check mark.svg
Mario X mark.svg Check mark.svg1 X mark.svg X mark.svg
Peach X mark.svg Check mark.svg1 X mark.svg X mark.svg
Pipsy Check mark.svg X mark.svg Question.svg Check mark.svg
T.T. Check mark.svg X mark.svg Question.svg Check mark.svg
Taj X mark.svg X mark.svg Check mark.svg Check mark.svg
Timber Check mark.svg X mark.svg Question.svg Check mark.svg
Tiny Kong X mark.svg X mark.svg Check mark.svg Check mark.svg
Tiptup Check mark.svg X mark.svg Question.svg Check mark.svg
Toad X mark.svg Check mark.svg1 X mark.svg X mark.svg
Wario X mark.svg Check mark.svg1 X mark.svg X mark.svg
Wizpig X mark.svg X mark.svg Question.svg Check mark.svg
Yoshi X mark.svg Check mark.svg1 X mark.svg X mark.svg

1 - Early Alpha only
2 - Beta only
3 - Current only

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c PtoPOnline (November 9, 2016). Diddy Kong Racing Adventure : The Undeveloped Gamecube Racer. YouTube. Retrieved November 11, 2016.

Template:DKGames