Description
It's an island takeover when the evil space wizard, Wizpig, discovers Tiger Island! After the islands prized racetracks become sealed up, Timber Tiger contacts his friend Diddy Kong to help him reclaim the racetracks and save the island before his parents return. Along for the ride are the Kremling spy Krunch, Bumper Badger, Banjo (prior to meeting Kazooie in
Banjo-Kazooie), pre-sweary
Conker, Tiptup Turtle, and Pipsy Mouse.
Diddy Kong Racing is a racing game with similarities to
Mario Kart 64, in that you race with a variety of cheery racers while using weapons. However, the similarities end there. DKR includes an adventure mode, which features bosses, an overworld to explore,
many hidden secrets, the addition of hovercrafts and planes, and a unique way of racing called the "Silver Coin Challenge". In this mode, in addition to coming first, you must also find the eight Silver Coins deviously hidden throughout the courses (some in alternate paths).
The game also features a strategic method of using weapons. Each colored balloon on the track matches a specific weapon, and collecting the same type of balloon multiple times in a row powers it up (to a maximum of three times). This gives the player the choice of snatching every balloon available and using it immediately, or storing the existing weapon, and using a more powerful version of it later.
Up to four players can compete in the races, but in order to play new tracks, they must first be unlocked in the single player game. There are also four battle modes of play - two standard deathmatch maps, a capture-the-flag style battle where you must nab eggs and hatch three of them in your home nest, and another where you must be the first to return ten bananas to your treasure chest (with the limitation of only being able to hold two at any one time).
Alternate Titles
- "RC Pro-Am 64" -- Working Title
- "ディディーコングレーシング" -- Japanese spelling
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Trivia
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.
Information also contributed by
Ben K,
gamewarrior and
MegaMegaMan.This entry to the MobyGames database was contributed by
Chris Martin 
(1112) on Mar 29, 2001.
