Diddy Kong Racing

"DKR" redirects here. For the canceled Nintendo GameCube follow-up starring Donkey Kong, see Donkey Kong Racing. For the Wii game referred to as "Donkey Kong Returns" in Japan, see Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Diddy Kong Racing
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer	Rareware
Publisher	Rareware (publication) Nintendo (distribution)
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64
Release date	Template:Release
Language(s)	English (United States) French (France) German Japanese
Genre	Racing, adventure
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Kids to Adults PEGI: - Three years and older
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Format	Nintendo 64: Game Pak
Input	Nintendo 64: Nintendo 64 Controller
Serial code(s)	NUS-NDYJ-JPN (Japan)

“A Wild Racing Adventure”

—Slogan

Diddy Kong Racing is a racing/adventure game developed and published by Rareware for the Nintendo 64. Featuring gameplay elements similar to the Mario Kart series, the game includes the use of airplanes, hovercrafts, and cars. The game features a story mode and a multiplayer mode. Most of the game's playable characters besides the titular Diddy Kong are original characters, though two characters who would go on to be the main characters of their own franchises, Banjo and Conker, first appeared in Diddy Kong Racing while their own games were still in development.

Diddy Kong Racing sold 4.5 million copies upon release and was recognized by Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling game of the time, with 800,000 copies sold before Christmas 1997. The game was even successful enough to become a Player's Choice title.

Two sequels were planned, but both were subsequently canceled in the aftermath of Microsoft's acquisition of Rare in 2002. These included Donkey Kong Racing for the Nintendo GameCube and Diddy Kong Pilot for the Game Boy Advance, the latter of which was eventually reworked into the Banjo-Kazooie game Banjo-Pilot. Around 2004, Climax pitched their own sequel idea to Nintendo, Diddy Kong Racing Adventure, but it was ultimately rejected. A remake of the game was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007, titled Diddy Kong Racing DS.

Story

Taj introduces himself to Diddy.

According to the instruction manual, the story begins with Diddy Kong sitting on the porch of his tree house opening a letter delivered by a carrier pigeon. The note reads, "Dear Diddy, Help!!!" The message is from his old friend, Timber, the son of the Kongs' guests, the Tigers. Diddy reads the note and invites his friends, Banjo and Conker to join him in the fight against Wizpig. Diddy calls Squawks to deliver the message to his friends. While Diddy is in the jungle, two Kremlings watch him from behind a boulder. One Kremling, Krunch, suggests they follow Diddy, but the other Kremling ignores him; Krunch eventually follows Diddy Kong.

Meanwhile, Timber is trying to calm Pipsy, where she exclaims that she had just seen Taj, who said he would help. TipTup, confused, protests that Taj has been missing for 50 years. Afterwards, the group thinks about the Wizpig face that was carved onto the mountainside overnight and the race courses that were magically sealed. The group knows they need to solve the problem before Timber's parents return. Bumper then concludes the conversation by telling his friend that everybody needs to start practicing. Agreeing with Bumper, Timber and his friends leave, hoping that Diddy Kong does not mention this to Timber's parents; this is where the story leads into the game's own opening, where Taj introduces himself to the player character and explains what they need to do to progress.

When the first four worlds are completed, the carving of Wizpig's head on the mountainside opens and allows one of the characters to race Wizpig. After beating him, the group has a party along the beach. However, Wizpig interferes in the party before a spaceship arrives and takes him into space. The lighthouse on the beach transforms into a rocket ship that takes them to Future Fun Land.

After the character completes all the tasks in that world and gets the whole T.T. amulet, Wizpig can be faced again, racing against him in their plane, while he rides a rocket. After winning, Wizpig's rocket short circuits and blasts him into an unknown planet. Once again, the characters celebrate their victory without Wizpig interfering and with the carving of Wizpig's head on the mountainside turned into a golden carving of Taj's head.

Right before the credits roll, one of Wizpig's spaceships appears, and Wizpig's laughter is heard, leaving the game on a cliffhanger.

Gameplay

One of Diddy Kong Racing's main mechanics is the use of different vehicles. For example, Diddy is riding a plane.

Diddy Kong Racing features ten playable characters—eight of which are available by default, and two unlockable—and three different types of vehicles for different terrain: cars for land, hovercrafts for water or land, and planes for air. Each character and vehicle has different strengths and weaknesses, sometimes in combination. For example, Krunch normally has low steering, but his steering is higher in a hovercraft due to that vehicle's emphasis on weight.

In the Adventure mode, the player is placed on Timber's Island and tasked with collecting Golden Balloons to access various challenges. There is a total of five worlds that can be accessed from the main Timber's Island hub, and each has four main racetracks, a trophy championship, a boss track, and—aside from the last one—a special battle minigame. Different vehicles are sometimes required for different tracks, and the player can change them at any time by speaking with Taj, located in the center of the Timber's Island map. Each of the smaller worlds, meanwhile, instead has T.T. walking around the hub, and he tells the player's progress when approached.

In races, bananas can be picked up to increase speed, while Weapon Balloons provide items to use in the race. The color of the Weapon Balloon determines what item it will be, and collecting multiple of the same color in sequence improves the item's effects by up to a total of three levels. Collecting a balloon of another color cancels it out and replaces it with the new item.

Golden Balloons can be found scattered on Timber's Island or won from races, either from tracks or from Taj on the island. All of the standard tracks have two Golden Balloons available: one from a standard race, and one from completing a Silver Coin collection challenge. The standard races must be completed first to race the world's boss, who then challenges the player to complete the Silver Coin races; after they are completed as well, the player can rematch the boss for a piece of the Wizpig amulet. The boss then challenges the player to complete the Trophy Race championship. Each of the first four worlds has a key hidden in one track that opens a gate to the respective world's battle minigame, which awards a piece of the T.T. amulet.

When all four pieces of the Wizpig amulet are gathered, the player is able to race Wizpig himself to banish him from the island. Upon losing, he throws a tantrum and retreats to his own planet (the final world), and the player must have all four trophies to reach it. To race him again, the player must complete all races and Silver Coin challenges in this last world (itself requiring every Golden Balloon in the game) and collect all four pieces of the T.T. amulet from the battle stages. The adventure is complete once Wizpig is defeated here.

The game also has a time trial mode, where the player needs to race to beat T.T.'s best times. This is optional in the main game, but it is required to unlock T.T. himself. Additionally, "magic codes" can be used to affect the game in various ways, with one being told to the player after they complete the adventure.

Characters

Playable characters

All of Diddy Kong Racing's playable characters unlocked

There are 10 playable characters in Diddy Kong Racing, with eight available from the start and two being unlockable. All of these characters except Diddy Kong debut in this game. Some characters have discrepancies depending on the vehicle they use; TipTup and Pipsy have the same speed as Diddy on a car when they have 4 to 10 bananas and have the same speed as Diddy on a hovercraft and a plane, while T.T. has the same speed and acceleration as Krunch on a plane. This is the first game to introduce Banjo, TipTup (later renamed Tiptup), and Conker, three characters who appear in other Rare games with Banjo being one of the main characters in Banjo-Kazooie and Tiptup appearing as a minor character, returning in the sequel Banjo-Tooie. Conker would appear in Conker's Pocket Tales and would've appeared in Twelve Tales: Conker 64 until it was reworked into the adult-oriented title, Conker's Bad Fur Day. Banjo and Conker would be removed in Diddy Kong Racing DS, replaced by Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong respectively. However, Tiptup still appears in both versions.

Default characters
Krunch Bio: "Seeing Diddy Kong rush off so suddenly makes the Kremlings very suspicious, so Krunch goes bounding after him to make sure there aren't any anti-Kremling plots in the works. Diddy Kong, Timber and company don't exactly trust him, but Krunch insists he's only there to lend a hand..." Weight group: Heavy Acceleration: 1/5 Turning: 1/5 Top speed: 4/5 Vehicle color: Orange	Diddy Kong Bio: "Regarded as a hero after all his adventures in Kong country, the young primate is a long-time friend of Timber and doesn't think twice about responding to his call for help. With his family tending to their guests, he even manages to sneak off without their interference." Weight group: Middle Acceleration: 3/5 Turning: 3/5 Top speed: 2.5/5 Vehicle color: Blue	Bumper Bio: "Unlike most of his kind, Bumper the badger prefers speed and thrills to a quiet nocturnal lifestyle. He gets even more worked up than his friends when he realizes how much racing and excitement will be involved in the crusade against Wizpig..." Weight group: Middle Acceleration: 2.5/5 Turning: 2.5/5 Top speed: 3/5 Vehicle color: Yellow	Banjo Bio: "Even before the start of his future partnership with Kazooie, Banjo isn't one to turn down the chance of an adventure. So when Squawks brings the message from his pal Diddy Kong, the Honey Bear stuffs a few things into his trusty backpack and takes to his heels." Weight group: Heavy Acceleration: 2/5 Turning: 2/5 Top speed: 3.5/5 Vehicle color: Teal	Conker Bio: "Another friend made by Diddy Kong on one of his endless adventures with Donkey Kong, Conker is also an exploration nut who'll jump at any chance to break free of a squirrel's less than exciting daily routine. He's eager to join up with Banjo as the bear passes through." Weight group: Middle Acceleration: 2.5/5 Turning: 2.5/5 Top speed: 3/5 Vehicle color: White	TipTup Bio: "TipTup the turtle is another member of the close group of animal friends, but because of his nervous (and maybe even slightly clumsy) nature, he's never been particularly fond of the racing that the others seem to like so much. Now, though, he doesn't seem to have much choice!" Weight group: Light Acceleration: 4.5/5 Turning: 4.5/5 Top speed: 1.5/5 Vehicle color: Cyan	Pipsy Bio: "Evicted from her mountain home by the wicked Wizpig, Pipsy the mouse turns to her friends for help and gives them yet another reason to want the intruder out. She might seem delicate, but take her on in a race and you'll find that she's a lot tougher than she looks!" Weight group: Light Acceleration: 5/5 Turning: 5/5 Top speed: 1/5 Vehicle color: Pink	Timber Bio: "A playful young tiger, Timber has been left in charge of the island while his parents visit their old friends over in Kong Country. Desperate to get Wizpig out and everything else back to normal before they return, Timber rallies his friends to join up with Taj's resistance!" Weight group: Middle Acceleration: 3/5 Turning: 2.5/5 Top speed: 3/5 Vehicle color: Green
Unlockable characters
Drumstick Bio: "The most experienced racer on the island, Drumstick was the animals' best hope for getting rid of the intruder. Unfortunately, something seems to have gone wrong and he hasn't been seen since he went off to make a stand. Could he have fallen afoul of one of Wizpig's spells?" Weight group: Heavy Acceleration: 2/5 Turning: 1.5/5 Top speed: 4.5/5 Vehicle color: Red To unlock: The player must get all four Grand Prix trophies, which reveals a frog with a rooster crest in Timber's Island hub. The racer must run over it to return Drumstick to normal.	T.T. Bio: "Like Taj, the overseer of the racetracks is less than impressed with Wizpig's behavior, but in T.T.'s case, it's because the bully has sealed off his beloved courses. He can't do much on his own, but he's certainly willing to give the animals any help he can in their mission." Weight group: Middle Acceleration: 5/5 Turning: 2.5/5 Top speed: 5/5 Vehicle color: Silver To unlock: Get good enough times around tracks in Time Trials mode to unlock T.T.'s ghost for each course, and then beat each.

Other important characters

Taj Bio: "Evicted from his mountain home and cut off from his lamp, this ancient Genie isn't exactly pleased with the despicable Wizpig. Now, he's in search of a champion racer to go up against the uninvited guest and hopefully teach him a lesson in manners!"

Wizpig Bio: "The big bad bully himself, a spiteful space traveler who hops from planet to planet looking for good places to drop in and cause havoc until there's nothing left there to amuse him. Nobody's ever managed to kick him out before he got bored, but there has to be a first time..."

Bosses

Diddy Kong Racing has five bosses, all of which are raced twice. The first four, the Island Guardians, have been enchanted by the final boss, Wizpig, into racing on his behalf. For the Island Guardians, the only difference between the first and second race is a slight increase in difficulty, though Wizpig's races are completely different from each other. Each boss cheats by beginning before the starting countdown ends, with this becoming more and more obvious the further into the game it happens.

Bosses
Island Guardians
Tricky Dino Domain - Car Tricky races the player character up a spiraling mountain. Beyond constantly charging forward and potentially flattening the player, he has no special behavior. Boulders occasionally travel down the mountain. In the second race, more boulders as well as falling pillars are added.	Bluey Snowflake Mountain - Hovercraft Bluey races on a jagged, icy, downhill ski slope full of trees to act as obstacles. As with Tricky, his only behavior is stampeding forward, though he does not squish the player character. In the second race, a few snowballs are added as further obstacles.	Bubbler Sherbet Island - Hovercraft Bubbler swims three laps circling the sea around a small island, tossing explosive mines around him. In the second race, he instead launches giant bubbles that can trap the player character.	Smokey Dragon Forest - Plane Smokey runs and flies three laps through a series of caves and fields. He attacks by spitting clouds of hot ash to be ran into. In the second race, he spits much more.
Wizpig
Wizpig - 1 Timber's Island - Car For Wizpig's first race, he runs and floats three laps through a stormy flooded canyon. He does not use any offensive abilities here, but moves extremely fast.	Wizpig - 2 Future Fun Land - Plane Wizpig's second race takes place on his homeworld, where he rides on a giant silver rocket three laps around his kingdom. Many obstacles appear here, such as floating asteroids, random laser blasts, attacking spaceships, and giant arcs of electricity.

Vehicles

There are three different vehicles:

Vehicle	Description
Car	The car is a simple-to-control vehicle, and it can drift. It is affected by off-road, however, and water slows it to a crawl.
Hovercraft	The hovercraft has slippery controls, requiring players to hop to turn. The hovercraft, however, is not affected by off-road, and it can ride on water and lava without losing speed.
Plane	Planes can fly over any terrain. They can turn the most sharply and players can perform stunts with them. If players are hit by items or bump into obstacles, however, the plane crashes into the ground, losing speed and altitude, making them more costly than hits on a car or hovercraft.

Modes

Adventure Mode

The overworld for adventure mode.

Adventure mode is the main mode of the game. While exploring Timber's Island, the players must find a number of golden balloons to defeat Wizpig. In order to find them, they must win races. After the players win all the races in one of the five worlds, they will race a boss. If the players beats the boss they will be given the challenge of collecting eight silver coins in each course of that world and then win simultaneously. When the challenge is complete, the player will face the boss again. After beating the boss again, the racer receives a piece of Wizpig amulet, and the player can participate in a world's Grand Prix mode, the Trophy Race, which the boss even suggests. The player obtains a gold trophy if they win first place, a silver one for second place, and a bronze one for third place.

Adventure Two Mode

Adventure Two is played the same as the standard Adventure Mode, but harder. The balloons are silver, the tracks are flipped (very similar to Mirror Mode in the Mario Kart series), and the locations of the silver coins are different, often in hard to reach places. It is unlocked by defeating Wizpig at Future Fun Land in Adventure Mode.

Tracks Mode

Players can freely play all the race tracks unlocked. Tracks with a Taj symbol are completed tracks, and players can choose any vehicle that is compatible with the track. Tracks with a Wizpig symbol have not been cleared, and players will be unable to play that track at all.

Trophy Races and Battle Stages are also accessible through Tracks mode, however players will always use each track's default vehicle, regardless if a Taj symbol is present.

Types of races and other challenges

Normal races

During standard races, eight characters travel three laps around the track in the same type of vehicle as each other. Each world has four standard race tracks, and a Golden Balloon is the prize for winning.

Boss races

Races against bosses are always one-on-one, and depending on the track layout may be three laps or a single end-to-end run. The four Island Guardians must be raced twice, once after each normal race and once after each Silver Coin challenge in their world is completed; winning the second race earns a piece of the amulet needed to reach the first Wizpig race. Both Wizpig races lead to endings when completed.

Silver Coin challenges

Silver Coin challenges are much like normal races, except that the eight Silver Coins scattered across the track must be collected before winning. For the first four worlds, they are recommended after the boss is defeated the first time and are necessary to rematch them. In Future Fun Land, they are simply done after all the normal races with no boss race in between. As with normal races, a Golden Balloon is earned by beating them.

Trophy races

Trophy Races are a grand prix-style challenge where the player goes through all four of a world's normal tracks back-to-back (sometimes in an order different from unlocking), trying to get a higher ranking than the opponents. Winning within the top three earns a different trophy for each placement. Collecting a trophy in each of the first four worlds is necessary to reach the final world.

Challenge Levels

A key unlocks a door leading to a Challenge Level

Challenge Levels are challenges that appear in each of the four main worlds. Each world has a single Challenge Level that matches the world's theme, and has a unique objective and layout. Each Challenge Level's door can be unlocked by a key located a specific course of that world. The player obtains a part of the T.T. amulet when they win at a challenge.

Fire Mountain

In Fire Mountain, the players, using planes, complete to be the first to gather three dinosaur eggs from the center of the arena into their respective nest.

Icicle Pyramid

In Icicle Pyramid, players, using cars, battle each other directly using items, with each player getting four hit points (represented by a total of eight bananas). It is functionally equivalent to the Balloon Battle from the Mario Kart games.

Darkwater Beach

The gameplay in Darkwater Beach is identical to Icicle Pyramid, but uses hovercrafts instead of cars.

Smokey Castle

In Smokey Castle, players, using cars, complete to gather ten bananas into their respective treasure chest, with only two at a time being able to be carried.

Taj's challenges

TipTup racing Taj in a plane

After the player collects enough Golden Balloons in Adventure Mode, Taj will appear and challenge the player to a race in a specific vehicle. The player has to race Taj, who rides a flying carpet. The racetrack is marked with red flags showing the Nintendo 64 logo and the player has to follow them. If they leave the set track by too far a margin, they will be disqualified. After Taj is beaten, he will reward the player with another Golden Balloon. There are three different challenges and each of them can be repeated at any time after they have been unlocked (the player will only obtain one Golden Balloon per challenge however).

Car Challenge is a relatively easy race done in a car. This race goes around a dirt road right in front of Dino Domain and reaches into a tunnel. This should be very easy for the player because of Taj's slow movement.

Hovercraft Challenge is the second of Taj's races and is somewhat more difficult than the Car Challenge. The track is mostly in water and begins next to the bridge which leads to Dino Domain. In the race the player will hover into a waterfall that is on the far east of the river. Here, they will be in a cave leading to Snowflake Mountain and eventually fall down two small waterfalls taking them to the ocean. Going east will take the player back on shore where they need to go through a small tunnel leading to the finish line.

Plane Challenge is considered to be the hardest of Taj's three races and a plane is used in it. This race begins at the same place where the Car Challenge begins. From the start the player must fly up to the tunnel leading to Snowflake Mountain and then move east, going over a long river. From there, the player must glide to the beach and go east again. After going through a small tunnel, the player should end up at the finish line.

Tracks and progression

Diddy Kong Racing contains twenty race tracks split between five worlds. In most races (marked with a check mark), racers are able to choose what type of vehicle to bring into the race, which can affect the paths in the course they are able to take. For some races, there are vehicles that are not able to be taken into it (marked with a red X). Every race also has a default vehicle type to use (marked with a D), which is usually the best type of vehicle to use for the race.

Timber's Island Areas
Dino Domain
A prehistoric area full of dinosaurs and pterodactyls. It is accessed across the bridge in the central part of Timber's Island and requires one balloon to enter.
#	Track	Map	Vehicles			Unlock requirements	Rewards
1	Ancient Lake					Default × 1	× 2, key
						Silver Coin Challenge × 6
2	Fossil Canyon					Default × 2	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 7
3	Jungle Falls					Default × 3	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 8
4	Hot Top Volcano					Default × 5	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 10
Boss	Tricky the Triceratops					First All four default races complete	Wizpig amulet piece
						Second All four Silver Coin Challenges complete
Challenge	Fire Mountain					Dino Domain key	T.T. amulet piece
Trophy Race	Ancient Lake, Fossil Canyon, Jungle Falls, Hot Top Volcano	N/A	N/A			2nd boss race complete	Trophy
Snowflake Mountain
A snowy, Christmas-themed area. It is accessed from the frosty northeast corner of Timber's Island and requires two balloons to enter.
#	Track	Map	Vehicles			Unlock requirements	Rewards
1	Everfrost Peak					Default × 2	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 10
2	Walrus Cove					Default × 3	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 11
3	Snowball Valley					Default × 6	× 2, key
						Silver Coin Challenge × 14
4	Frosty Village					Default × 9	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 16
Boss	Bluey the Walrus					First All four default races complete	Wizpig amulet piece
						Second All four Silver Coin Challenges complete
Challenge	Icicle Pyramid					Snowflake Mountain key	T.T. amulet piece
Trophy Race	Everfrost Peak, Walrus Cove, Snowball Valley, Frosty Village	N/A	N/A			2nd boss race complete	Trophy
Sherbet Island
An oceanside area extensively requiring the hovercraft. It is accessed from the small island to the east of Timber's Island and requires ten balloons to enter.
#	Track	Map	Vehicles			Unlock requirements	Rewards
1	Whale Bay					Default × 10	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 17
2	Crescent Island					Default × 11	× 2, key
						Silver Coin Challenge × 18
3	Pirate Lagoon					Default × 13	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 20
4	Treasure Caves					Default × 16	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 22
Boss	Bubbler the Octopus					First All four default races complete	Wizpig amulet piece
						Second All four Silver Coin Challenges complete
Challenge	Darkwater Beach					Sherbet Island key	T.T. amulet piece
Trophy Race	Whale Bay, Pirate Lagoon, Crescent Island, Treasure Caves	N/A	N/A			2nd boss race complete	Trophy
Dragon Forest
A medieval countryside. It is accessed from behind a waterfall in the central part of Timber's Island and requires sixteen balloons to enter.
#	Track	Map	Vehicles			Unlock requirements	Rewards
1	Windmill Plains					Default × 16	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 23
2	Greenwood Village					Default × 17	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 24
3	Boulder Canyon					Default × 20	× 2, key
						Silver Coin Challenge × 30
4	Haunted Woods					Default × 22	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 37
Boss	Smokey the Dragon					First All four default races complete	Wizpig amulet piece
						Second All four Silver Coin Challenges complete
Challenge	Smokey Castle					Dragon Forest key	T.T. amulet piece
Trophy Race	Boulder Canyon, Greenwood Village, Windmill Plains, Haunted Woods	N/A	N/A			2nd boss race complete	Trophy
Timber's Island
Once the player has obtained the full Wizpig amulet by beating all four Island Guardians twice, the giant Wizpig carving in the central part of Timber's Island opens, leading to the race against Wizpig himself.
#	Track	Map	Vehicles			Unlock requirements	Rewards
Boss	Wizpig's First Strike					All four pieces of the Wizpig amulet	Ending 1
Future Fun Land
Wizpig's homeworld, accessed from the lighthouse in the southeastern corner of Timber's Island. To reach it, the player needs to complete the four previous trophy races in a high enough position to earn a trophy in each, then approach the sign near the lighthouse after Wizpig's first race has been beaten.
#	Track	Map	Vehicles			Unlock requirements	Rewards
1	Spacedust Alley					Default × 39	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 43
2	Darkmoon Caverns					Default × 40	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 44
3	Spaceport Alpha					Default × 41	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 45
4	Star City					Default × 42	× 2
						Silver Coin Challenge × 46
Boss	Wizpig Strikes Back					All 4 pieces of the T.T. amulet and all four Silver Coin Challenges complete	Ending 2
Trophy Race	Spacedust Alley, Darkmoon Caverns, Star City, Spaceport Alpha	N/A	N/A			Boss race complete	Trophy

Items and objects

Item/object	Description
Banana	Bananas are scattered in every course. By collecting them, the player is able to increase the top-speed of his or her vehicle until the banana counter reaches ten (with the exception of the VITAMINB magic code that enables bananas to infinitely boost any character's top speed). After that, the bananas do not affect the vehicle any further. If players get hit (by a level 1-3 red balloon or level 2-3 green balloon), they lose some bananas. Additionally, bananas play a key role in the battle games of Icicle Pyramid and Darkwater Beach, where they act as the player's life gauge, and in Smokey Castle, where they need to be collected and stored in a treasure chest. If the BOGUSBANANAS magic code is in use, bananas will reduce speed rather than increase it.
Egg	Eggs only appear in the Fire Mountain battle course, where the goal is to gather and hatch three in one's own nest as quickly as possible.
Flag	Flags mark the path around Timber's Island during Taj's races.
Golden Balloon / Silver Balloon	Golden Balloons are the key items in the game. The player must collect a specified amount access each course and world. After the player's character wins at a race, Taj gives them a Golden Balloon. A total of 47 Golden Balloons appear in the game. In Adventure Two, they are replaced by Silver Balloons, which function identically in this Adventure, differing only in physical appearance.
Key	The game features four keys. One is hidden in a race course of each world. Their purpose is to unlock the door to the Challenge Level in the corresponding world's hub, where the racer can compete against CPUs or other players. A key appears in Ancient Lake of Dino Domain, Snowball Valley of Snowflake Mountain, Crescent Island of Sherbet Island, and lastly, Boulder Canyon of Dragon Forest.
Silver Coin	Eight Silver Coins appear in each standard race course for their Coin Challenges.
Zipper	Zippers can be used to give the player an extra speed boost. They are found in every track. Letting go of the button before hitting one will make the player go slightly faster. There are three Zipper variants, one for each vehicle: Cars, Hovercrafts, and Planes.

Weapon Balloons

During the challenges on the different race tracks throughout the game the player can find these Weapon Balloons on the track. Similar to the Item Boxes of the Mario Kart series, these objects will give the player an Item when they break them. There are five different types of Weapon Balloons, each with a unique color and a specific type of Item. A special feature of the Weapon Balloons is their ability to power up, meaning that the player will receive stronger items if they collect more balloons of one color. An item can be upgraded two times, making a total of three items obtainable from one type of balloon.

Type of Balloon	Number of Balloons
	1	2	3
Red Balloon Missiles	One forward-firing missile	One homing missile	One 10x multi-shot missile
Blue Balloon Speed boosts	A small speed boost. As with the Zippers, releasing the accelerator button gives a larger boost.	A larger speed boost	The most significant speed boost
Yellow Balloon Shield	A short-lasting shield which protects against hits. If the players run into opponents, the opponents spin out.	A longer-lasting shield which protects against hits. If the players run into opponents, the opponents spin out.	A long-lasting shield. If the players run into opponents, the opponents spin out.
Green Balloon Dropper	An oil slick or gas cloud	A land mine or floating mine	A snare bubble which delays enemies for a significant time
Rainbow Balloon Special	A weak pull toward the racer in front of the player, if in range	A magnet with a stronger pull and longer range	A powerful magnet that pulls opponents towards the player

Special rewards

Reward	Description
Trophy	Trophies can be gained by placing high enough in a world's Trophy Race, racing through the world's four tracks back-to-back to accumulate the most points. First place earns a golden Wizpig trophy, second place earns a silver Taj trophy, and third place earns a bronze T.T. trophy. Four trophies are needed to access Future Fun Land.
Wizpig amulet	One fourth of this magical amulet is held by each of the four Island Guardians. Each must be beaten twice to collect them all, leading to Wizpig's First Strike.
T.T. amulet	One fourth of the T.T. amulet can be found by beating each of the four Challenge Levels around the island. Collecting them all is needed to open Wizpig Strikes Back.

Magic Codes

The Magic Codes menu.

Magic Codes are game cheats, always accessible in the options menu. These cheats mostly alter only the tracks mode rather than the Adventure mode, while some others do miscellaneous tasks such as allowing players to listen to music in the game. At the end of the game credits, a random magic code is given to players.

Code	Description
ARNOLD	Large players
BLABBERMOUTH	Changes horn sounds into character sounds
BODYARMOR	All balloons are yellow
BOGUSBANANAS	Bananas slow players down
BOMBSAWAY	All balloons are red
BYEBYEBALLOONS	Balloons are disabled
DODGYROMMER	Displays ROM Checksum
DOUBLEVISION	Multiple players can be the same character
EOLAOBFENRLONE	Free balloon
EPC	EPC lockup display
FREEFORALL	Fully powered-up balloons
FREEFRUIT	Players start with ten bananas
JOINTVENTURE	A second player joins Adventure mode. Players take turns racing bosses.
JUKEBOX	Adds Music Test to audio menu
NOYELLOWSTUFF	No bananas in Tracks mode.
OFFROAD	Four-wheel drive
OPPOSITESATTRACT	All balloons are rainbows
ROCKETFUEL	All balloons are blue
TEENYWEENIES	Small players
TIMETOLOSE	CPUs are harder
TOXICOFFENDER	All balloons are green
VITAMINB	Unlimited bananas
WHODIDTHIS	Players can view credits
ZAPTHEZIPPERS	Disables Zippers

Regional differences

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International

Japan

The Japanese version of Diddy Kong Racing redesigned the font for the English text. One example is the start-up screen for the Rareware logo, which uses a different and larger font for the copyright information.

International

Japan

The English letters of the yellow-green font were redesigned in the Japanese version.

Development

A mammoth character repurposed from the RTS build.

Diddy Kong Racing found its root in a short-lived prototype. According to Lead Designer Lee Schuneman, a team of four at Rareware was developing a caveman/time travel-themed real time strategy game for the Nintendo 64; however, the idea was quickly abandoned and the developers decided to create a "fun" racing game named Wild Cartoon Kingdom using assets from the canceled RTS (3D artist Lee Musgrave denies, however, that the two projects were ever related).

The racing aspect was heavily inspired by Super Mario Kart while the concept of an "adventure" mode was inspired by Disney World according to Schumenam. The initial concept featured a hub world based on theme parks. Development was initially slow until a larger team was brought in to help accelerate the project, and the game was renamed to Adventure Racers.

The project was renamed Pro Am 64 (in reference to Rare's NES hit R.C. Pro-AM) later in development and briefly featured the characters using three-wheeled trike-like vehicles. The game was demoed to Shigeru Miyamoto in June 1997, who approved of it and suggested that it should feature Diddy Kong. The development team initially hated the idea, but eventually agreed with Miyamoto's suggestion as featuring Diddy Kong brought stronger marketing from Nintendo and greater visibility to the game due to the popularity of the Donkey Kong brand.

Pre-release and unused content

Main article: List of Diddy Kong Racing pre-release and unused content

All objects are assigned a name according to the files. One unfinished track remains in the game, Horseshoe Gulch. It can be accessed with cheats.

• 

  No animation. Adventure Two doesn't work right.

• 

  Only available vehicle is a car.

• 

  The first part of the unfinished track.

• 

  Driving through the only curve in the track.

• 

  The other end of the track.

Reception

Reviews
Release	Reviewer, Publication	Score	Comment
N64	Doug Perry, IGN	8.4/10	"In the end, Diddy Kong Racing is a calculated, copy of a game that Nintendo, not Rare, originated. But as is the case with Rare, the company has that amazing knack for taking an idea and crafting it into something beautiful. Diddy Kong Racing is a deep, colorful game with an overly kiddy feel and look. But after a few minutes, you'll be compelled with subtle details, blissful gameplay and graphics, and the full, rich world that makes Diddy Kong Racing an even better game than Mario Kart."
N64	Jeff Gerstmann, GameSpot	6.6/10	"Diddy Kong Racing is a game that shouldn't have been released for at least another six months. The foul taste left behind by Mario Kart 64 is still too fresh in my mind to accept a game as similar as this, even though this is a much better game than Kart 64 ever was. Also, the game could have used a few more worlds and more tracks, as the repetitiveness of DKR is what ultimately kills it.'"
Aggregators
Compiler		Platform / Score
Metacritic		88
GameRankings		88.65%

Canceled sequels

Owing to the game's success, numerous attempts at sequels were made. However, each ended up canceled due to Rare's sale to Microsoft in 2002, among other reasons.

Game	Description
Diddy Kong Pilot	Rare planned to make a Diddy Kong Pilot, based solely around the plane. It was intended to release on the Game Boy Advance, and several Kongs, as well as King K. Rool and Krunch, were set to be playable in the original 2001 iteration, including Dixie, Donkey, Cranky and Candy Kong. The second iteration in 2003 is based around the rivalry between the Kong family and the Kremlings, but ended up reworked into Banjo-Pilot, an indirect sequel to Diddy Kong Racing.
Donkey Kong Racing	Rare and Nintendo also planned to make Donkey Kong Racing for the Nintendo GameCube. However, this game was also canceled along with Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers in August 2002, one month before Rare's move to Microsoft. Very little had been revealed about it, but Animal Buddies (including some that are normally enemies) would have replaced the mechanical vehicles, and Taj and Kiddy Kong were supposed to reappear.
Diddy Kong Racing Adventure	The Climax Group planned a different GameCube sequel, featuring new vehicle types and the ability to switch between them during races. The plot was to involve saving Donkey Kong Island and the Kong family from a team-up of Wizpig and King K. Rool. The pitch ended up rejected, in part due to the ambiguities over who held the rights to most of the Diddy Kong Racing-original characters.

While no sequel ended up happening, a remake for the Nintendo DS was released: Diddy Kong Racing DS. Although a remake, it featured more characters, tracks, and some different challenges. Some music had also changed. Eventually, another Donkey Kong-themed racing game was released, the unrelated Donkey Kong Barrel Blast for the Wii.

Gallery

Main article: Gallery:Diddy Kong Racing

• 

  Diddy Kong

• 

  Banjo

• 

  Conker

• 

  Timber

• 

  TipTup

• 

  Taj

Quotes

Main article: List of Diddy Kong Racing quotes

Media

It has been requested that more audio and/or video files related to this section be uploaded. Specific(s): More music samples Please upload all related music, sound effects, voice clips, or any videos for this section. See the help page for information on how to get started.

For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Diddy Kong Racing media.

Diddy Kong's theme

File infoMedia:DK (Diddy Kong Racing).oga ​

Help:Media • Having trouble playing?

References to other games

• Donkey Kong Country: The introduction to the story found in the instruction booklet has an opening on Donkey Kong Island, the setting of this game. In addition, Squawks is mentioned. Diddy's character select theme is an arrangement of DK Island Swing.

References in later games

• Donkey Kong 64: The Kritters in this game are physically similar to Krunch.
• Diddy Kong Pilot: Krunch's sound effects were reused, as was Diddy's. T.T.'s voice is also used.
• Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Advance): Krunch's sound effects were reused at a different pitch for Kritter, as was Diddy's.
• Donkey Kong Country 2 (Game Boy Advance): Krunch's sound effects were reused for Kannon, as was Diddy's.
• Donkey Kong Country 3 (Game Boy Advance): Krunch's sound effects were reused for Rekoil, as was Diddy's.
• DK: King of Swing: Diddy's sound effects were reused.

Staff

Main article: List of Diddy Kong Racing staff

Software director:

• Robert Harrison

Software engineers:

• Paul Mountain
• John Pegg
• Richard Gale

Art director:

• Kevin Bayliss

3D artists:

• Lee Musgrave
• Keith Rabbette
• Dean Smith
• Johnni Christensen
• Brian Smyth
• Paul Cunningham

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ディディーコングレーシング[?] Didī Kongu Rēshingu	Diddy Kong Racing

External links

• Japanese site
• Nintendo UK site
• North American site (Archived)