Diddy Kong Racing
| Diddy Kong Racing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Rareware |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64 |
| Release |  November 21, 1997 November 24, 1997 November 27, 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, 2-4 multiplayer |
Diddy Kong Racing is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware. It was released in 1997. 800,000 copies were ordered in the two weeks before Christmas 1997, making it the fastest selling video game at the time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. An enhanced remake of this game for the Nintendo DS was announced at Nintendo's press conference on May 9, 2006. It will be called Diddy Kong Racing DS.
A karting game like Mario Kart 64, DKR also has a distinctive adventure mode. The game features characters from Rare games, some of which had yet to be released at the time of this game's release. Diddy Kong Racing was partially intended to help introduce some of Rare's future franchise characters at an early time, so gamers would recognize them when they appeared in future titles later on. For example, Banjo appeared in this game, but would not appear in his own franchise until later in Banjo-Kazooie.
In Diddy Kong Racing, a player can choose to be in either a car, hovercraft, or airplane. However, certain levels have certain restrictions. For example, in the course "Hot Top Volcano", a player can use an airplane or a hovercraft, but not a car.
Plot
An evil, intergalactic, pig wizard named Wizpig arrives at peaceful Timber's Island and attempts to take it over. The only recourse available to the island's inhabitants is to race Wizpig in an elaborate race that involves cars, hovercrafts, and airplanes. Drumstick, the best racer on the island, failed this challenge and was transformed into a frog by Wizpig's black magic. Other creatures on the island, including Diddy Kong, eventually challenge Wizpig to a race and defeat him. Shortly afterwards, Wizpig left for his home planet, Future Funland. Fearing that Wizpig would again attempt to invade Timber's Island, the islanders travel to Future Funland for a second challenge. As Wizpig loses the second race the rocket he is riding on malfunctions and blasts him to the moon.
Characters
The playable characters who reappear in other games are:
- Diddy Kong the monkey from the Donkey Kong Country series (released in 1994). His abilities are all equal, and he has no advantages nor disadvantages.
- Banjo the bear from the Banjo-Kazooie series (released in 1998). He has low acceleration, and high top speed and is the second fastest racer that is initially available, although he cannot turn very well. This is the first appearance of Banjo in any game, before the creation of even the Banjo-Kazooie series (this is due to delays in that games release date).[citation needed] Kazooie is not in this game, but she is mentioned in the instruction manual.
- Conker the squirrel from Conker's Pocket Tales (released in 1999). Conker has a low acceleration, and a high top speed, but his turning is slightly below average. Conker is much more innocent in this game than he is in his later games, Conker's Bad Fur Day and Conker: Live & Reloaded.
- Tiptup the turtle has a high acceleration, a low top speed, and good handling. He also makes cameo appearances in the games Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.
- Krunch is a Kremling (the antagonists of the Donkey Kong Country series) who ends up wrapped up in the effort to kick Wizpig off the island. His clothing style was carried over to several of these enemies in Donkey Kong 64 (released in 1999). He has the worst acceleration and the worst handling, but has a very high top speed and is the 3rd fastest racer.
The other playable characters are:
- Drumstick the rooster, one of the greatest racers on Timber's Island. After Wizpig invaded the island, Drumstick was the first to confront him and was subsequently turned into a frog by a magic spell. Drumstick is a hidden character unlocked by running over a frog with a red crest on its head after getting 4 gold trophies, and 39 gold balloons. He is the 2nd fastest character, and the fastest in the plane.
- Bumper the black male badger. He has a high acceleration, an average top speed, he turns fairly well and is arguably one of the better all-around choices.
- Timber the orange and black-striped male tiger. He has a low acceleration and a slightly above average top speed, but his turning is slightly below average. His parents leave on vacation and leave him to watch Timber Island.
- Pipsy the yellow mouse. She has a high acceleration, and a low top speed, but she is easy to handle for beginners and professionals alike. In this version of the game, she is the only female character, and in the Nintendo DS remake, Dixie Kong and Tiny Kong are the two additional females that replaced Banjo and Conker.
- T.T. is a living stopwatch who helped organize Time Trials. If players beat his records of every track, he becomes a playable character. T.T. is the fastest character in the car and hovercraft, and 2nd fastest in the plane. His initials most likely stand for "Time Trial", "Tick Tock" or "Tick Tick".
The other non-playable characters are:
- Tricky the triceratops (a boss character, boss of Dino Domain). A styracosaurus called Tricky appears in Star Fox Adventures. It is possible this is the same Tricky, since this was the case when Star Fox Adventures was Dinosaur Planet and is made by Rare.
- Taj the elephant genie is an ally character who changes the vehicle in which you travel around the island.
None of these characters (except Tricky) have appeared in any other Rare or Nintendo games to date, although Taj was scheduled to appear in a GameCube sequel, Donkey Kong Racing. The game was aborted when Rare was bought by Microsoft in 2002, although it is rumored to reappear as an Xbox title called Sabreman Stampede. A portable sequel to the franchise, Diddy Kong Pilot, was also in development, which would have seen the return of Krunch. It too was redesigned following Rare's buyout as Banjo Pilot, which only stars Banjo and characters from his franchise.
Tracks
There are 4 main tracks in each of the 5 worlds, plus a trophy race, in which players race through all 4 tracks, earning points depending on how well they place.
Dino Domain
- Ancient Lake
- Fossil Canyon
- Jungle Falls
- Hot Top Volcano
- Tricky the Triceratops
- Ancient Lake: Silver Coin Challenge
- Fossil Canyon: Silver Coin Challenge
- Jungle Falls: Silver Coin Challenge
- Hot Top Volcano: Silver Coin Challenge
- Tricky the Triceratops: Rematch
- Battle Stage: Fire Mountain
- Trophy Race
Snowflake Mountain
- Everfrost Peak
- Walrus Cove
- Snowball Valley
- Frosty Village
- Bluey the Walrus
- Everfrost Peak: Silver Coin Challenge
- Walrus Cove: Silver Coin Challenge
- Snowball Valley: Silver Coin Challenge
- Frosty Village: Silver Coin Challenge
- Bluey the Walrus: Rematch
- Battle Stage: Icicle Pyramid
- Trophy Race
Sherbet Island
- Whale Bay
- Pirate Lagoon
- Crescent Island
- Treasure Caves
- Bubbler the Octopus
- Whale Bay: Silver Coin Challenge
- Pirate Lagoon: Silver Coin Challenge
- Crescent Island: Silver Coin Challenge
- Treasure Caves: Silver Coin Challenge
- Bubbler the Octopus: Rematch
- Battle Stage: Darkwater Beach
- Trophy Race
Dragon Forest
- Boulder Canyon
- Greenwood Village
- Windmill Plains
- Haunted Woods
- Smokey the Dragon
- Boulder Canyon: Silver Coin Challenge
- Greenwood Village: Silver Coin Challenge
- Windmill Plains: Silver Coin Challenge
- Haunted Woods: Silver Coin Challenge
- Smokey the Dragon: Rematch
- Battle Stage: Smokey Castle
- Trophy Race
Future Fun Land
- Spacedust Alley
- Darkmoon Caverns
- Star City
- Spaceport Alpha
- Spacedust Alley: Silver Coin Challenge
- Darkmoon Caverns: Silver Coin Challenge
- Star City: Silver Coin Challenge
- Spaceport Alpha: Silver Coin Challenge
- Wizpig
- Trophy Race
Battle Stages
There are several battle stages, each of which must be unlocked by obtaining a hidden key from each world:
- Dino Domain: Fire Mountain - The objective is to hatch three dinosaur eggs. Players take eggs from the volcano in the center of the arena to their nest, which is identified by a picture of their character. When an egg is dropped in a nest, it will eventually hatch. Unhatched eggs in other player's nests can be stolen. As such, players have to defend their nests as well. The hidden key is in Ancient Lake.
- Snowflake Mountain: Icicle Pyramid - The objective is to survive. Collecting red balloons will give the player missiles, which can be shot at opponents. Each player gets 8 bananas, and each shot takes 2 away; players are knocked out when they lose all 8, with the last remaining player the winner. There are also yellow balloons, which provide a shield, as well as the green balloons which drop obstacles that will also take away 2 bananas if hit. The hidden key is in Snowball Valley.
- Sherbert Island: Darkwater Beach - The same objective as Icicle Pyramid, but on the water and small areas of land. The hidden key is in Crescent Island.
- Dragon Forest: Smokey Castle - Similar to Fire Mountain, players must take bananas to their chest, which is identified by a picture of their character. Players can only carry 2 bananas at a time, and must put them into the chest by passing near it. Players can steal bananas from their adversaries by shooting them, but they can be shot too. Once bananas have been placed on a chest, they cannot be stolen. The hidden key is in Boulder Canyon. To get the key, you must ring the bell to slope up the bridge, and you'll make it if you're fast enough.
- Future Fun Land does not have a battle stage.
If the player beats Wizpig in Future Fun Land and obtains the amulet pieces and gets all of the gold medals, the player will be able to play in a mode called Adventure 2. In this mode, all of the balloons will be silver and the tracks will be mirrored, meaning that they are flipped from left to right. The silver coins are in different locations in each track.
Weapon balloons
Throughout the courses, players can find balloons. There are five different kind of balloons, each containing different weapons or items. When a balloon is collected, the item can be used immediately, or the player can wait for another balloon with the same colour. When they pick up a second balloon of the same colour, the item will be upgraded. A third balloon of the same colour will upgrade the item to its maximum level (with the exception of the battle stages which allow only the 2nd upgrade; subsequent balloons will do nothing, in some courses with the green balloon only the 2nd upgrade mine will appear). Below is a listing of items and the upgrades.
- Red Balloons: Missiles - These are offensive weapons that can be shot at opponents. The 2nd upgrade gives the player a homing missile, and the third upgrade gives 10 regular missiles that can be replenished with one balloon if not all used up.
- Green Balloons: Dropper- Obstacles that can be dropped behind the player to obstruct opponents. The default green balloon is an oil slick (or cloud of green dust in the air), the 2nd upgrade is a spiked mine, and the third is a bubble which will stop the player for several seconds.
- Blue Balloons: Speed Boost - These give the player a speed boost just like a Zipper. Upgrades simply give the boost more power. Using these ballons without holding the acceleration button also increases the effectiveness of these balloons. The first upgrade is the Boost, the second upgrade is the Fast Boost, and the third upgrade is the Super-Fast Boost.
- Yellow Balloons: Shield - These will give the player shields to protect them from missiles or droppers. Upgrades make the shield last longer.
- Rainbow Balloons: Special - A magnet attack, which will attract the player towards the targeted opponent or pull him back in the case of the third upgrade.
Zippers
There are three types of Zippers that appear on different tracks. You will boost when you touch them.
- Pointed Zipper - This is the standard Zipper of the game. It is on the ground. Any vehicle can be used on this Zipper.
- Octagon Zipper - This Zipper is off the ground. Only the Hover and Plane can be used for this Zipper. This Zipper is also used to straighten your direction, and you will turn around when you hit this Zipper if you go the wrong way.
- House-Shaped Zipper - This Zipper only appears on Hover-Only tracks. This Zipper is also used to straighten your direction, and you will turn around when you hit this Zipper if you go the wrong way.
Vehicles
There are three different vehicles in the game. The Car and/or Plane are not used for some tracks.
- Car - The Car is the standard vehicle of the game. You can powerslide by holding the R Button. You will spin out if you hold the R Button too long, touch an oil slick, or get touched by your invincible opponent. It is the slowest vehicle to get around in the water. The only Zipper for the Car is the Pointed Zipper. The Car is the default vehicle on most tracks where you can select this vehicle. The Car cannot be used in a completely aquatic or track that is not suitable for this vehicle.
- Hover - The Hover is a vehicle that has a blower in the rear end, and looks like it's inflatable. You can hop by pressing the R Button. You can also turn different directions without accelerating. This vehicle is basically used for in the water. The Hover is available in every track. Whale Bay, Pirate Lagoon, and Boulder Canyon are the Hover-Only tracks.
- Plane - The Plane is used to fly. Tilt the Control Stick down to ascend. Tilt the Control Stick up to descend. Press the R Button repeatedly to flip when you're going straight. Press the R Button repeatedly to roll when you are turning left or right. On some tracks, the Plane is the default vehicle, eg. Hot Top Volacno, Everfrost Peak, Windmill Plains. The Plane cannot used on tracks that exclude the Octagon Zipper. The Plane is the fastest vehicle in the game.
Sequels
Originally, two sequels to DKR had been planned; Diddy Kong Pilot and Donkey Kong Racing. Diddy Kong Pilot eventually became Banjo Pilot, a game based on Rare's Banjo-Kazooie. Donkey Kong Racing was scrapped, although rumors have surfaced that the cancelled Sabreman Stampede, a game believed to be based on Donkey Kong Racing, is to be released on the Xbox 360.
At E3 2006, Rareware announced they were developing an enhanced port of Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo DS, entitled Diddy Kong Racing DS. [1] Another racing game, DK Bongo Blast for the Wii, is also being developed, however, that game is being developed by Japanese developer Paon.
Trivia
- This video game is one of the few in which Diddy Kong appears on his own, without his Kong brethren.
- In the manual, there was an error; characters that were listed as having a low top-speed actually had a medium top-speed.[citation needed]
See-also
External links
- Donkey Kong Racing screenshots and videos on GameSpot
- Template:GameFAQs
- Diddy Kong Racing at MobyGames
- DKR World
- DKR HQ
- Diddy Kong Racing Hotel Resort
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