Editing Diddy Kong Pilot (2001)

{{italic title|''Diddy Kong Pilot'' (2001)}}
{{Infobox
|title=Diddy Kong Pilot
|image=[[File:Diddypilot.jpg|280px]]
|developer=[[Rare Ltd.|Rareware]]
|publisher=N/A
|platforms=[[Game Boy Advance]]
|released='''Japan:''' Canceled<br>(planned for February 2002<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhIOGuHbAeA SpaceWorld 2001 trailer (YouTube)]</ref>)<br>'''USA:''' Canceled<br>(planned for March 4, 2002<ref name="nwr">[http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/6577/ Nintendo's New Release Dates - Nintendo World Report]</ref>)
|genre=Racing
|modes=Single player, Multiplayer
|ratings=Unknown
}}
'''''Diddy Kong Pilot''''' is a canceled follow-up title of ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]'' for the [[Game Boy Advance]], which was developed by [[Rare, Ltd.|Rareware]]. [[Diddy Kong]] was the main and titular character of the game. The game involves ''[[Donkey Kong (series)|Donkey Kong]]'' characters racing in [[Plane]]s on {{wp|Mode 7}}-rendered courses. In 2005, the game was finalized as the ''{{wp|Banjo-Kazooie (series)|Banjo-Kazooie}}'' title, ''{{wp|Banjo-Pilot}}''. The reason for its change was from {{wp|Microsoft Corporation|Microsoft}}'s acquisition of Rare in 2002. In 2002-2003, before the decision was made to design it into a ''Banjo-Kazooie'' title, ''Diddy Kong Pilot'' was already being redeveloped into an entirely [[Diddy Kong Pilot (2003)|different game]].

== History ==
The game was first shown at [[Wikipedia:Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3 2001]], and was also shown a few months later at [[Wikipedia:Nintendo Space World|Spaceworld 2001]].

One of the characters, tentatively named Redneck Kong,<ref name="DK Vine"/>, or "Crappy Kong"<ref>http://nintendoeverything.com/diddy-kong-pilot-screenshots-videos-details-and-more/</ref> was "killed off" early in the game's development, according to Jens Christian Restemeier, one of the game's developers.<ref>[https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,182799/ Jens Christian Restemeier - MobyGames profile]</ref> [[Candy Kong]] would subsequently appear in the background for character selection menus.<ref>[http://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/07/diddy-kong-pilot-banjo-pilot-beta Unseen64]</ref>

One of the builds, said to be presented at a Spaceworld, consisted of a cast featuring both ''[[Donkey Kong Country (series)|Donkey Kong Country]]'' and ''[[Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' characters, which would have been a first for a ''Donkey Kong'' series spinoff. This version allowed players to select between six ''Donkey Kong'' characters ([[Diddy Kong]], [[Cranky Kong]], [[Donkey Kong]], [[King K. Rool]], [[Funky Kong]], and [[Dixie Kong]]) and six ''Mario'' characters ([[Princess Peach]], [[Mario]], [[Yoshi]] [sitting atop a [[Lakitu's Cloud]]], [[Wario]] [piloting a red biplane similar to the [[Bulldog]]], [[Bowser]] and [[Toad]]). Not much information is known regarding this build or its history.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DRAqj__5eA "Diddy Kong Pilot - Very Early Beta Spaceworld" on YouTube]</ref>

In 2002, [[Nintendo]] refused to publish ''Diddy Kong Pilot'', as they found the game "substandard". One of their criticisms was "There's no point in flying up and down on flat levels")<ref name="DK Vine">[http://www.dkvine.com/?p=1082 DK Vine]</ref> Some Rare employees believed the company was prejudiced since it occurred in a time period just before the Microsoft acquisition. ''Diddy Kong Pilot'' was not presented at E3 2002.

On September 15, 2011, after ten years of no new information regarding the game, a former Rare employee, under the pseudonym of Transparentjinjo, posted gameplay footage of the game on YouTube.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEE1si5bxEM YouTube video]{{dead link}}</ref> According to the video's title, the build was dated "September 7, 2001".<ref>[https://www.neogaf.com/threads/new-diddy-kong-pilot-footage-appears.447203/ NeoGAF thread]</ref>

==Gameplay==
''Diddy Kong Pilot'' featured six modes: Racing, Stories, Dog Fights, Battle, Clock Race, and Options. The build is largely unfinished as most of the stages are nearly empty, some only having a backdrop and a few assets laid out on the stage. Many of the modes, such as Dog Fights, are non-functional. The gameplay essentially only consists of flying around on a course. Some features were never implemented such as plane customization,<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20010709053857/http://www.rareware.com:80/the_site/e3/dk_pilot.html Rareware.com (Wayback Machine)]</ref> or unlockable characters, stories, and stages.<ref name="np">[[Media:NP 06 2001 Rareware page.jpg|''Nintendo Power'' #145, page 15]]</ref>

===Debug menu===
[[File:DKP debug menu.png|thumb|The debug menu]]
Upon starting up the game, the player is instantly led onto a debug menu, and it has three options: Level, Player, and Blend. The first option allows them to choose a course, and the second one allows them to select a character (Cranky). The "level" options include:

{| class="dktable-brown" style="text-align:
|Beach 00
|Beach 01
|Beach 02
|Beach 03
|-
|Lava 00
|Lava 01
|Lava 02
|-
|Snow 00
|Snow 01
|Snow 02
|Snow 03
|-
|Keep 00
|Keep 01
|Keep 02
|Keep 03
|-
|Lake 00
|Lake 01
|Lake 02
|Lake 03
|-
|Farm 00
|Farm 01
|Farm 02
|Farm 03
|Farm 04
|-
|Haunted 00
|Haunted 01
|Haunted 02
|Haunted 03
|-
|Jungle 00
|Jungle 01
|Jungle 02
|Jungle 03
|-
|Swamp 00
|Swamp 01
|Swamp 02
|Swamp 03
|-
|Desert 00
|Desert 01
|Desert 02
|Desert 03
|}

The second option, "Player" has six numerical values, labeled 0-5. Each of them represent a playable character:

*0 and 5: Cranky Kong
*1: Diddy Kong
*2: Kritter
*3: K. Rool
*4: Dixie Kong

The final option, Blend, does not appear to have a function. It has four options: Off, Alpha, Up, and Down.

===Modes===
[[File:Bounty Beach DKP2001 screenshot.png|thumb|Diddy Kong racing in the first course, Bounty Beach]]
The player can exiting to the main menu by opening the pause menu. It has three options which are self-explanatory: Continue, Restart, and Quit. Few of the further developed courses also redirect the player to the main menu after they complete all three laps.

The main menu has six modes: Racing, Stories, Dog Fights, Battle, Clock Race, and Options. It is also the only part of the game to have a music track.

[[File:Character Select 2001 - Diddy Kong Pilot.png|thumb|left|The character selection screen]]
Before starting a mode, the player must select a character. The selection menu is very buggy, and choosing a character causes a different one to be playable, except for [[Cranky Kong]]. For instance, selecting [[Diddy Kong]] causes [[Kritter]] to be playable instead. The sound that each character makes when highlighted does not correspond to the correct character as well. When a character is highlighted, they are not aligned with their sepia shadow; additionally, the sepia backdrop has Candy Kong but highlighting her shows Redneck Kong instead. The following "Select World" menu shows the character that will actually be played as, with the exception of when Dixie is selected. In this case, a glitchy black rectangle taking up the entirety of the character sprites' parameters will be shown, and playing will result in Cranky appearing. As such, the rectangle is likely the remains of Redneck Kong's data, with Cranky acting as a placeholder here and in the debug menu.

The Racing mode allows the player to select a world, each with an associated level difficulty. Unlike its predecessor, ''Diddy Kong Pilot'' only features four characters racing on a course at a time; the main goal remains the same: racing three laps around a course and getting first place. Many of the core features are similar to ''Diddy Kong Racing'', for instance how the player can collect [[banana]]s and pick up an item from item balloons appearing around the course. [[Zipper]]s also return in the courses, and they give racers a speed boost.

The Stories mode has three different stories: King of Kongs, Back to the Light, and K. Rool's Gold. This mode is almost entirely nonfunctional, but it was intended to have a unique story for a certain character and a final boss at the end.<ref>[http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/6322 New Tidbits on Various Rare Titles - Nintendo World Report]</ref>

The Dogfight mode features players fighting against each other. There are four options and none can be accessed: Classic Dogfight, a Dawn Duel, a Classic Variation, or a Focal Feud.
[[File:Hatch Match DKP 2001 screenshot.png|thumb|Gameplay of Hatch Match, a game of Battle mode]]
The Battle mode was planned to be a multiplayer mode, and its icon shows a crate containing miscellaneous objects. Another version has a different icon showing four original Game Boy Advance units hooked to each other via a Link Cable.

The Clock Race mode was presumably planned as the Time Trials mode. It has little to no difference from the Racing mode, but it allows the player to easily select a stage, similar to the debug menu. Unlike the debug menu, most of the stages crash in this option.

Options only gives the option to use either D-Pad or tilt control to steer the plane.

==Controls==
*{{button|GBA|Pad}} or {{button|GBA|tilt}}: Move in the desired direction.
*{{button|GBA|A}}: Acceleration
*{{button|GBA|B}}: Use weapon
*{{button|GBA|L}} or {{button|GBA|R}}: Tilt at a sharper angle
*{{button|GBA|L}} or {{button|GBA|R}} (twice): aerial roll
*{{button|GBA|R}} and {{button|GBA|Pad}} Down (twice while accelerating): U-turn
*{{button|GBA|Start}}: Pause the game

==Playable characters==
The character selection menu is highly incomplete, as highlighting a character would trigger a sound effect from an unrelated character. Selecting a character causes the game to choose an entirely different character instead. Redneck Kong was playable in earlier builds, such as E3 2001, and the character selection screen from later build suggests he was busy being replaced with [[Candy Kong]].

*[[Diddy Kong]]
*[[Dixie Kong]]
*[[Donkey Kong]] (only by using cheats<ref name="dkcatlas">[http://www.dkc-atlas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1329#p32980 DKC Atlas thread]</ref>)
*[[Cranky Kong]]
*[[Kritter]]
*[[King K. Rool]]

==Items==
Most of the items reappeared from ''Diddy Kong Pilot'' except for peanuts, watermelons, and eggs. The player can carry up to a few items at a time. Most of the items can be obtained from sky blue-colored item balloons with a yellow question mark on them. Item balloons also have a green and DK variant, and both have unfinished functionality. Both provide an item, either with an icon of Cranky or Diddy, and neither are functional.

{|class="dktable-brown" width=25%
|-style="background:#bb8855;"
!Image !! Name !! Description
|-
|[[File:Rocket DKP 2001 green.png]] [[File:Rocket DKP 2001 red.png]]
|Rockets
|These items can lock on to a nearby opponent and temporarily slow them down.
|-
|[[File:Rocket boost DKP 2001 green.png]][[File:Rocket boost DKP 2001 red.png]]
|Rocket boost
|Like zippers, these give a speed boost to the racers. The red rocket boost provides a higher speed boost.
|-
|[[File:Magnet DKP 2001 green.png]][[File:Magnet DKP 2001 red.png]]
|Magnet
|When used, the player is magnetized to another nearby racer. The red magnets are stronger than the green ones. 
|-
|[[File:Peanuts DKP 2001 five.png]][[File:Peanuts DKP 2001 ten.png]]
|Peanuts
|Peanuts can be fired at other opponents; based on the count, the player can either shoot out five or ten at a time. Unlike rockets, these items do not have lock-on capabilites.
|-
|[[File:Watermelon DKP 2001.png]]
|Watermelon
|This item drops behind a watermelon. When a racer crashes into the item, it splatters and temporarily slows them down.
|-
|[[File:Egg DKP 2001.png]]
|Egg
|The egg functions similarly to the watermelon except that it also moves around in a circular pattern.
|}

==Courses==
===Sleepy Shores===
*Bounty Beach: A race track taking place on the beach as the name states. It has palm trees in the background along with the shore. 
*Farm Attract
*Jet Set Jungle
*Beach Race: The player races Donkey Kong in this area. 

===Kongo Kingdom===
*Swoop Swamp
*Jungle Race
*Magma Mainland: A volcanic area with rising lava obstacles that boost racers upward. 
*Haunted Race: 

===Western Wastes===
*Lake Race
*Lava Race
*Swamp Race
*Crackpot Keep

===Island of Eggs===
*Vulture Valley
*Keep Race
*Lake Race
*Chicken Chase: This race takes place in the farmlands; there are flapping chickens for obstacles during one part. 

===Polar Plateau===
*Frosty Lake
*Farm Race
*Desert Race
*Snow Race

== Stories ==
=== King of Kongs ===
* Beach Barricade
* Hair Raising Rescue
* Peaceful Passage
* Cranky Panky

=== Back to the Light ===
* Grub Grab
* Farm Feud
* Swamp Swoop
* Dark Tower

=== K.Rool's Gold ===
* Classic Dogfight
* Fly Like The Wind
* Snowball Snapshot
* Flawed Genie'us

== Battle stages ==
* Hatch Match
* Ghost Grasp
* Swamp Showdown
* Wasteland Wipe Out

==Gallery==
{{main-gallery|Diddy Kong Pilot (2001)}}

<gallery>
Diddy Kong Pilot logo.jpg|Logo
DKP Title screen.png|Title screen
DKP3.jpg|K. Rool and Redneck Kong racing in Magma Mainland
Diddy Model - Diddy Kong Pilot 2001.png|Diddy Kong sprite
Bounty Beach DKP 2001 preview.png|Bounty Beach preview image
</gallery>

==Names in other languages==
{{foreign names
|Jap=ディディーコングパイロット（仮称）
|JapM=''Diddy Kong Pilot'' (tentative)
}}

==Trivia==
*The background of the Stories menu has two photographs resembling [[:File:DKRScene3.jpg|official]] [[:File:Wizpig and Diddy DKR art.jpg|artwork]] from ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]''.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20010523044647/e3.nintendo.com/gallery/dkpilot/index.html Official American E3 2001 page (Internet Archive)]
*[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/event/sw2001/softlist/gba/diddy/index.html Official Japanese SpaceWorld 2001 page]
*[[tcrf:Proto:Banjo-Pilot/Diddy Kong Pilot 2001|TCRF article]]

{{DKGames}}
{{UnreleasedMedia}}
{{GBA}}
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Canceled Games]]
[[Category:Game Boy Advance Games]]
[[Category:Racing Games]]