| Diddy Kong Racing |
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| | Developer(s) | Rareware | | Publisher(s) | Rareware | | Platform(s) | Nintendo 64 | | Release date | JPN November 21, 1997
EU November 21, 1997
NA November 24, 1997 | | Genre(s) | Racing game | | Mode(s) | Single player, 2-4 multiplayer | | Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults)
OFLC (AU): G | | Media | 96Mb (12MB) Nintendo 64 cartridge | | Input methods | Gamepad |
Diddy Kong Racing is a 1997 racing game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware. 800,000 copies were ordered in the two weeks before Christmas 1997, making it the fastest selling video game at the time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. An enhanced remake of this game for the Nintendo DS titled Diddy Kong Racing DS was released February 6, 2007. A racing game like Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing also has a distinctive adventure mode. Some of the playable characters would later appear in their own franchise titles. The game was partially intended to introduce these future franchise characters so that gamers would recognise them when these games were released. In Diddy Kong Racing, a player can choose to drive a car, hovercraft, or airplane. However, certain levels have restrictions on vehicle choice.
PlotTimber the Tiger's parents go on vacation and leave their son in charge of the island they live on, leaving him and his friends to race for fun. Their enjoyment is derailed when an evil, intergalactic, pig wizard named Wizpig arrives at peaceful Timber's Island and attempts to take over after he conquered his own planet's racetracks. He turns the four island's guardians: Tricky the Triceratops, Bubbler the Octopus, Bluey the Walrus and Smokey the Dragon into his henchmen. The only solution available to the island's inhabitants is to defeat Wizpig in an elaborate series of races that involves cars, hovercrafts, and airplanes. Drumstick, the best racer on the island, failed this challenge and was transformed into a frog by Wizpig's black magic. Timber sends a letter to his friend Diddy Kong to call for help and Diddy in turn recruits his friends Banjo the bear and Conker the squirrel while Timber gathers the remaining inhabitants of the island to help. They eventually complete all of Wizpig's challenges and confront Wizpig himself to a race and defeat him. Shortly afterwards, Wizpig leaves for his home planet, Future Fun Land. Fearing that Wizpig would again attempt to invade Timber's Island, the islanders travel to Future Fun Land for a second challenge. When Wizpig loses the second race, the rocket he rides on malfunctions and blasts him to a distant planet and peace returns to Timber Island for good.
CharactersThe playable characters who reappear in other games are: - Diddy Kong is a male monkey from the Donkey Kong Country series (released in 1994). Diddy Kong appears on his own in the Nintendo 64 version of this game, without his Kong brethren.
- Banjo the male bear from the Banjo-Kazooie series (released in 1998). This is the first appearance of Banjo in any game, before the creation of even the Banjo-Kazooie series (this is due to delays in that game's release date). Banjo's partner, Kazooie is not seen in this game, but she is mentioned in the instruction manual and can also be heard yelling after Banjo's vehicle collides with an object.
- Conker the male squirrel from Conker's Pocket Tales (released in 1999). Conker wears a blue vest with a yellow cape, and blue and yellow sneakers. Conker is much more innocent in this game than he is in his later games, Conker's Bad Fur Day and Conker: Live & Reloaded.
- Krunch is a male 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 the Kremling enemies in Donkey Kong 64 (released in 1999).
- Tiptup the male turtle has a high acceleration, a low top speed, and good handling. He also makes cameo appearances in the games Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.
The other playable characters are: - Timber the orange and black-striped male tiger. His parents leave on vacation and leave him to watch Timber Island. Wizpig invades and Timber gets all his friends to help him out.
- Bumper the black male badger.
- Pipsy the yellow female mouse. In this version of the game, she is the only female character, and in the Nintendo DS remake, Dixie Kong and Tiny Kong are the two additional females that replaced Banjo and Conker, who were excluded from the remake due to Rare, the company that created them, being bought by Microsoft.
- Drumstick the male rooster, one of the greatest racers on Timber's Island. After Wizpig invaded the island, Drumstick was the first to confront him and was subsequently turned into a frog by a magic spell.
- T.T. is a living stopwatch who helped organize Time Trials. If players beat his records on every track, he becomes a playable character.
The other non-playable characters are: - Wizpig the alien pig wizard is the antagonist and final boss.
- Taj the elephant genie is an ally character who changes the vehicle in which the player travels around the island.
- Tricky the Triceratops is the boss of Dino Domain.
- Bluey the walrus is the boss of Snowflake Mountain.
- Bubbler the octopus is the boss of Sherbert Island.
- Smokey the dragon is the boss of Dragon Forest.
None of these characters have appeared in any other Rare or Nintendo games to date, (except for the remake, Diddy Kong Racing DS) although Taj was scheduled to appear in a GameCube sequel, Donkey Kong Racing. The game was aborted when Rare was acquired by Microsoft in 2002, although it was 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. Taj and Wizpig appear in the DS remake as playable characters, as well as in their normal roles.
GameplayEach world contains several race tracks, an unlockable battle stage and a race against a boss character. Depending on the race track, players may have a choice of using a car, hovercraft or plane; this choice is restricted on some tracks. Each race track contains Zipper devices that give a short-term speed boost to racers that cross them, and balloons of various colours that provide powerups to racers. If the player beats Wizpig in Future Fun Land 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 are silver and the tracks are flipped from left to right. The silver coins are in different locations in each track, often in harder to reach places.
VehiclesThere are three different vehicles in the game. The car and/or plane are not used for some tracks. - Car - The Car is the standard vehicle of the game. You can powerslide by holding the R Button. You will spin out if you hold the R Button too long, touch an oil slick, or get touched by an opponent with invincibility. It is the slowest vehicle to get around in the water. The only Zipper for the Car is the Chevron Zipper. Where available, the Car is the default vehicle on most tracks. The Car cannot be used in a completely aquatic level or on tracks that are unsuitable for the vehicle.
- Hovercraft - The Hovercraft is a vehicle that has a blower in the rear end, and looks like it's inflatable. You can hop by pressing the R Button. If you hold R down, you will be able to make sharper turns while maintaining a high speed. You can also turn different directions without accelerating. This vehicle is basically used for in the water. The Hover is available in every track. Whale Bay, Pirate Lagoon, and Boulder Canyon are the Hover-Only tracks.
- Plane - The Plane is used to fly. Tilt the Control Stick forward to descend, and backward to climb. Press the R Button twice repeatedly to loop-the-loop when you're going straight, or to perform a roll when you are turning left or right. On some tracks, the Plane is the default vehicle, eg. Hot Top Volcano, Everfrost Peak, Windmill Plains, Spaceport Alpha. The Plane is the fastest vehicle in the game.
Battle StagesThere are several battle stages, each of which must be unlocked by obtaining a hidden key from each world: - Dino Domain: Fire Mountain - The objective is to hatch three dinosaur eggs. Players take eggs from the volcano in the center of the arena to their nest, which is identified by a picture of their character. When an egg is dropped in a nest, it will eventually hatch. Unhatched eggs in other player's nests can be stolen. As such, players have to defend their nests as well.
- Snowflake Mountain: Icicle Pyramid - The objective is to survive. Collecting red balloons will give the player missiles, which can be shot at opponents. Each player gets 8 bananas, and each shot takes 2 away; players are knocked out when they lose all 8, with the last remaining player the winner. There are also yellow balloons, which provide a shield, as well as the green balloons which drop obstacles that will also take away 2 bananas if hit.
- Sherbet Island: Darkwater Beach - The same objective as Icicle Pyramid, but on the water and small areas of land.
- Dragon Forest: Smokey Castle - Similar to Fire Mountain, players must take bananas to their chest, which is identified by a picture of their character. Players can only carry 2 bananas at a time, and must put them into the chest by passing near it. Players can steal bananas from their adversaries by shooting them. Once bananas have been placed on a chest, they cannot be stolen.
MusicThe music for the game was composed by David Wise, one of Rare's in-house composers. Using the Nintendo 64's cartridge format, the music in the game could change mood across the overworld or midway through a racetrack (retaining the same tune and tempo but using different instruments) without being hampered by load times. This was the first Rare game to use this technique, with it later being used in Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64.
Reception
AwardsDiddy Kong Racing won the Console Racing Award at the 1998 Interactive Achievement Awards
Other titlesOriginally, two sequels to DKR were planned; Diddy Kong Pilot and Donkey Kong Racing. Diddy Kong Pilot eventually became Banjo Pilot, a game based on Rare's Banjo-Kazooie. Donkey Kong Racing was scrapped, although rumours have surfaced that the cancelled Sabreman Stampede, a game believed to be based on Donkey Kong Racing, is to be released on the Xbox 360.
Diddy Kong Racing DSDiddy Kong Racing DS is a racing game developed by Rare for the Nintendo DS. It is Rare's first Nintendo DS game, and was released on February 5, 2007 in North America, April 20, 2007 in Europe and April 19, 2007 in Australia. It is a remake of the critically acclaimed Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64. Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong have replaced Conker the Squirrel and Banjo the Bear. Diddy Kong Racing DS makes use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, as well as the microphone for various features in the game, and the touch screen to create race tracks.
Differences in the two gamesThere is a variety of changes from the 64 version to the DS version. On the Nintendo DS, the dinosaurs in the first world you will visit "Dino Domain" walk slower than in the Nintendo 64. Although there is some minor changes in the tracks, they are exact duplicates from the Nintendo 64 version. Also, it is much easier to steer the cart and the plane on the DS than it is on the Nintendo 64, but steering the hovercraft on the DS seems to be more frusterating than fun since it is so hard to control. Vehicle Upgrades: New on the Nintendo DS you may now collect coins around tracks and use them to upgrade your vehicle so it can either have a higher top speed, better accelleration, better handling, or you can just get a custom look. You can also change the color. Boosts: Also new on the Nintendo DS at the beginning of each race, you can boost yourself by either swiping your stylus across the screen for the cart, twirling the stylis in circles for the plane, or blowing into the mic for the hovercraft. The fast you spin or the longer you blow, the faster the boost at the beginning.
Diddy Kong Racing DS received an average score of 67/100 at Game Rankings. It has received a lower average of 63/100 at Metacritic, based on 37 reviews.
NGamer, an unofficial Nintendo magazine based in the UK, praised Diddy Kong Racing DS for the amount of variety in the different races, as well as the massively enjoyable online mode, but also criticized the game for the poor quality of the touch screen-specific sections, particularly the balloon-popping game on Taj's carpet and the third boss battle. Official Nintendo Magazine also criticized the game for the fact that the tracks created in the track editor were all set in a rather bland cloud setting, and also randomly generated hills and chicanes. These aspects therefore led to the final score of 80%. GameSpot gave the game a 6.7/10, praising the number of activities, customization features and online multiplayer, while criticized parts of the game for being tedious as well as criticizing some of the touch screen controls. As of July 25, 2007, Diddy Kong Racing DS has sold 1.04 million copies worldwide.
See also- Banjo-Pilot
- Diddy Kong Racing DS
- Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
- Donkey Kong Racing
References- ^ Diddy Kong Racing DS Reviews
- ^ Diddy Kong Racing (ds: 2007): Reviews
- ^ Diddy Kong Racing DS for DS Review - DS Diddy Kong Racing DS Review
- ^ Matt Casamassina (2007-07-25). Nintendo Sales Update. IGN. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
External links- Donkey Kong Racing screenshots and videos on GameSpot
- Diddy Kong Racing at GameFAQs
- Diddy Kong Racing at MobyGames
- Diddy Kong Racing guide at StrategyWiki
- DKR World
- DKR HQ
| Diddy Kong games |
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| | Diddy Kong Racing games | Diddy Kong Racing · Diddy Kong Pilot · Diddy Kong Racing DS | | | Other games | Diddy's Kong Quest · Donkey Kong Land 2 |
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| Donkey Kong series |
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| | Main series | Donkey Kong • Junior • Jr. Math • 3 • Donkey Kong (GB) • Donkey Kong Country • Country 2 • Country 3 • 64 • Jungle Beat • Wii | | | Land sub-series | Donkey Kong Land • 2 • III | | | Racing series | Diddy Kong Racing • Donkey Kong Racing • Diddy Kong Pilot • Diddy Kong Racing DS • Donkey Kong Barrel Blast | | | Donkey Konga series | Donkey Konga • 2 • 3 | | | Other games | By genre • By year | | | Characters • TV series |
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| Banjo-Kazooie series |
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| | Main series | Banjo-Kazooie • Tooie • Grunty's Revenge • Nuts & Bolts | | | Spinoffs/Related games | Diddy Kong Racing • Banjo-Pilot | | | Universe | Characters • Locations |
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| Conker series |
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| | Conker the Squirrel • Other Characters | | Diddy Kong Racing • Pocket Tales • Bad Fur Day • Live & Reloaded |
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| Rare video games |
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| | Game series | Banjo-Kazooie • Battletoads • Conker • Donkey Kong • Perfect Dark • Killer Instinct • Sabreman • Jetpac • Viva Piñata • R.C. Pro-Am • Wizards & Warriors | | | Single games | Blast Corps • GoldenEye 007 • Mickey's Racing Adventure • Mickey's Speedway USA • Jet Force Gemini • Star Fox Adventures • Grabbed by the Ghoulies • Kameo: Elements of Power • It's Mr. Pants • Cobra Triangle • Snake Rattle 'n' Roll |
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