Diddy Kong Racing
From Freepedia
| Diddy Kong Racing | |
| Image:Diddykongracingntsc.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Rareware |
| Publisher(s) | Rareware /Nintendo |
| Release date(s) | November 24, 1997 |
| Genre | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, 2-4 Multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64 |
Diddy Kong Racing is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware. It was released in 1997 and 800,000 copies were ordered in the two weeks before Christmas 1997 according to Guinness Book of World Records.
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.
In Diddy Kong Racing, a player can choose to be in either a car, hovercraft, or plane. However certain levels have certain restrictions. For example, in the course Hot Top Volcano, a player can use a plane or a hovercraft, but not a car.
Contents |
Plot
The plot of the game centers around an evil intergalactic pig wizard named Wizpig who attempts to take over the peaceful Timber's Island.
Characters
Image:Diddy kong select screen.jpg
The playable characters who reappear in other games are:
- Diddy Kong the monkey from the Donkey Kong Country series (released in 1994).
- Banjo the bear from the Banjo-Kazooie series (released in 1998).
- Tiptup the turtle from the Banjo-Kazooie series.
- Conker the squirrel from Conker's Pocket Tales (released in 1999), Conker's Bad Fur Day (released in 2001), and Conker: Live & Reloaded (released in 2005).
- 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).
- Tricky the triceratops is a non-playable boss character whose origins are later explored in Star Fox Adventures (released in 2002).
The other playable characters were:
- Drumstick the rooster, a hidden character unlocked by running over a frog.
- Bumper the badger
- Timber the tiger
- Pipsy the mouse
- T.T. was the living stopwatch who helped organize Time Trials. If you beat the records of every track, he became a playable character.
Image:N64 Diddy Kong Racing taj.jpg
The other non-playable characters are:
- Bluey the walrus (a boss character)
- Bubbler the octopus (a boss character)
- Smokey the dragon (a boss character)
- Taj the genie (an ally character)
- Wizpig the alien genie (the final boss)
One additional character, known only as "the Yellow Dinosaur", appears only in the introductory cutscene and not in the actual game, and has become a minor in-joke due to this obscurity.
None of these characters 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.
Courses
There are 4 main courses 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
Image:N64 Diddy Kong Racing.jpg
- Ancient Lake
- Fossil Canyon
- Jungle Falls
- Hot Top Volcano
- Trophy Race
(Dino Domain Boss: Tricky)
Snowflake Mountain
- Everfrost Peak
- Walrus Cove
- Snowball Valley
- Frosty Village
- Trophy Race
(Snowflake Mountain Boss: Bluey)
Sherbet Island
Image:N64 Diddy Kong Racing Whale Bay.jpg
- Whale Bay
- Pirate Lagoon
- Crescent Island
- Treasure Caves
- Trophy Race
(Sherbet Island Boss: Blubber)
Dragon Forest
- Boulder Canyon
- Greenwood Village
- Windmill Plains
- Haunted Woods
- Trophy Race
(Dragon Forest Boss: Smokey)
Future Funland
- Spacedust Alley
- Darkmoon Caverns
- Star City
- Spaceport Alpha
- Trophy Race
Battle Stages
In addition, there are several battle stages, each of which must be unlocked by obtaining a hidden key from each world:
- Dino Domain: Fire Mountain
- Snowflake Mountain: Icicle Pyramid
- Sherbert Island: Darkwater Beach
- Dragon Forest: Smokey Castle
Future Funland does not have a battle stage.
If the player beats Wizpig in Future Funland 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 courses will be mirrored, meaning that they are flipped from left to right.
Legal ambiguities
The legalities of Diddy Kong Racing are now open for debate due to the situation involving Rare and Nintendo. Nintendo retained the rights to Diddy Kong and Krunch, while Rare owns Banjo, Conker, and Tiptup. The ownership of the other characters is unknown, although most assume Rare made off with them. Tricky is the biggest mystery, as his younger self became a character in Nintendo's Star Fox series, while the older version that was in DKR may belong to Rare. With the release of Star Fox: Assault, it appears that Tricky and all characters from Dinosaur Planet now belong to Nintendo, as the planet and a grown-up Tricky appear in that game.
See also
External links
| Donkey Kong Series |
|---|
| Arcade titles |
| DK | DK Jr. | DK 3 |
| Platforming titles |
| DK Country | DK Land | DK Country 2 | DK Land 2 DK Country 3 | DK Land III |DK64 | DK: Jungle Beat |
| Arcade Sequels |
| DK '94 | Mario vs. DK |
| Music titles |
| Donkey Konga | Donkey Konga 2 | Donkey Konga 3 |
| Other titles |
| Diddy Kong Racing | DK Jr. Math | DK: King of Swing |
Categories: Donkey Kong games | Racing computer games | Nintendo 64 games | Rareware games | 1997 computer and video games
