Diddy Kong Racing

Characters

The playable characters who appear in other games are: * Diddy Kong the monkey from the Donkey Kong Country series (first released in 1994). * Banjo the bear from the Banjo-Kazooie series (first released in 1998). * Tiptup the turtle from the Banjo-Kazooie series. * Conker the squirrel later appeared in various games. * Krunch is a Kremling, who are the antagonists of the Donkey Kong Country series. His clothing style was carried over to several of these enemies in Donkey Kong 64 (released in 1999).

Tricky the triceratops is a non-playable boss character whose origins are later explored in Star Fox Adventures (released in 2002).

Cut content

In Space Port Alpha, just before the finish line, there's a small alcove in the wall that the player can drive into and appears to have no use. Initially, this was going to hide the key for Future Fun Land's T.T. Challenge / Multiplayer Level. However, the level was removed for whatever reason, so the key was no longer needed.

Development

In its very early stages, Diddy Kong Racing was going to be a next-generation update to the popular RC Pro AM series which appeared on the NES, Game Boy and Genesis.

Legal issues

The legalities of Diddy Kong Racing were open for debate when Rare was bought by Microsoft in 2002. In 2007, Diddy Kong Racing DS was released. It appears that Rare owns Banjo and Conker, who were replaced with Dixie Kong and Tiny Kong. All other characters seem to have gone to Nintendo, even Tiptup although he appeared in Banjo-Kazooie.

Awards

• Electronic Gaming Monthly
  • December 1997 (Issue 101) - Game of the Month
  • March 1998 (Issue 104) - Racing Game of the Year
  • March 1998 (Issue 104) - Game of the Year Runner-Up (Readers' Choice)
  • March 1998 (Issue 104) - N64 Game of the Year Runner-Up (Readers' Choice)
  • March 1998 (Issue 104) - Racing Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
  • March 1998 (Issue 104) - Multiplayer Game of the Year Runner-Up (Readers' Choice)

Information also contributed by Ben K, gamewarrior and MegaMegaMan.