.: 5 February 2007.: 19 April 2007.: 20 April 2007Mode(s),Diddy Kong Racing is a developed and published by for the. It was released on 21 November 1997 in Europe and 24 November 1997 in North America. The game is set on Timber's Island and revolves around and his friends' attempt to defeat the intergalactic antagonist, a wizarding pig named Wizpig, through winning a series of races.
The player can take control of any of the featured characters throughout the game. Diddy Kong Racing features five worlds with four racetracks each, and the ability to drive a, or pilot an.Development of the game began after the release of, and was intended to be a game known as Wild Cartoon Kingdom in its early stages. As time progressed, the focus of development shifted from a -influenced racing game to a unique title named Pro-Am 64, in which Nintendo had no involvement. Due to the delays of, Rare felt that they needed a stronger to attract a wider audience for a game scheduled to release before Christmas 1997, thus making the decision to base a game on the character of Diddy Kong.Diddy Kong Racing received critical acclaim upon release.
The graphics, audio and gameplay were the most praised aspects of the game, with minor criticism directed at the game's repetition. The game has sold 4.8 million copies since release and stands as the Nintendo 64's. A sequel named Donkey Kong Racing was in development for the but was abandoned after purchased Rare for £375 million in 2002. An for the titled Diddy Kong Racing DS was released worldwide in 2007. In this screenshot, Timber the Tiger is racing in Fossil Canyon, the 2nd track in the game, in a car. The interface displays the player's current position, number of laps, bananas, time, and a map of the track.In Diddy Kong Racing, players can choose one of ten characters, two of which must be unlocked, who have access to three different vehicles: car, hovercraft and aeroplane.
Diddy Kong Racing games have been produced since 1997 with Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64. It features Diddy Kong and an all-star cast competing in a racing game. It is very similar to the Mario Kart series but features only Donkey Kong franchise characters. Diddy Kong Racing Diddy Kong Racing series. Full-game Leaderboard Level Leaderboard View all Ancient Lake (car) Ancient Lake (hover) Ancient Lake (plane) Fossil Canyon (car) Fossil Canyon (hover) Fossil Canyon (plane) Jungle Falls (car) Jungle Falls (hover) Jungle Falls (plane) Hot Top Volcano (hover).
The car is an all-round vehicle, however it is the slowest on surfaces such as sand and water. The hovercraft is designed for both sand and water areas but lacks in acceleration and maneuverability. The aeroplane is designed to access aerial areas; it is good at acceleration and maneuvering, however it has the slowest speed.
Each racetrack has a set of boosters known as 'zippers' that temporarily boost the player's speed, as well as featuring regenerating balloons of various colours that provide power-ups. There are five different types of balloons: red, blue, green, yellow, and rainbow. Red balloons grant missiles to attack racers ahead, blue balloons grant a speed boost, yellow balloons grant shields to protect the player from attacks, green balloons grant deployable traps to delay other racers, and rainbow balloons grant a magnet ability that brings the player closer to the nearest racer. If multiple balloons of the same colour are picked up, the power-up will be upgraded to a more powerful version.
A total of two upgrades are available for each balloon. Additionally, racetracks contain non-regenerating bananas that add to speed when they are picked up. A maximum of ten bananas will improve the speed but can also be obtained to prevent other players from gaining speed. If a racer gets hit, two bananas will be deducted.In 'Adventure Mode', players control the racer of their choice to progress through the story.
Players begin on Timber's Island, which consists of five interconnected worlds; Dino Domain, Snowflake Mountain, Sherbet Island, Dragon Forest, and Future Fun Land. The worlds are opened up by collecting balloons, except for Future Fun Land, which is a hidden world reached by accomplishing several secret objectives. Each world contains four race tracks, an unlockable battle stage and a race against a character. If the player defeats Wizpig in Future Fun Land, obtains all amulet pieces and collect 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 change colour to platinum and the tracks are inverted from left to right. The game also features four battle modes which consist of two maps, a -style battle and a mode which involves opponents capturing eggs.
The battle modes are not initially selectable, and must be unlocked by collecting keys hidden in each of the worlds. Plot Timber the Tiger's parents go on and leave their son in charge of the island they live on, leaving him and his friends to organize a race. Their enjoyment is derailed when an evil pig- named Wizpig arrives at Timber's Island and attempts to take it over after having conquered his own planet's racetracks. He turns the island's four guardians (Tricky the Triceratops, Bluey the Walrus, Bubbler the Octopus 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 involve cars, hovercrafts, and aeroplanes. Drumstick the Rooster, the best racer on the island, fails this challenge and is transformed into a frog by Wizpig's.Timber recruits a team of eight racers:, the first recruit; and, recruited by Diddy; Krunch the Kremling, Diddy's enemy who follows after him; and Tiptup the Turtle, T.T.
The Stopwatch, Pipsy the Mouse, and Bumper the Badger, inhabitants of Timber's island. Aided by Taj, an -like genie residing on the island, they eventually complete all of Wizpig's challenges and confront Wizpig himself to a race and defeat him. Shortly afterwards, Drumstick is turned back into a rooster, and 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 launches him to the moon. However, an additional cutscene reveals Wizpig's spaceship flying through the sky, unscathed. Development.
Nintendo enjoyed the fact that we chose over; I think that it was us trying to build on the fact that Diddy was ours, and DK was theirs.Lee Musgrave in an interview with, February 2014Development of the game began after the release of, in which a team was split into making for the and a new racing game for that console. At its first stage of development, Diddy Kong Racing was conceived as a game with a caveman/time-travel theme worked on by a team of four Rare members; Chris Stamper, Lee Musgrave, Rob Harrison and Lee Schuneman. During later stages of development, the game became influenced by and soon evolved into an adventure game called Wild Cartoon Kingdom, with which Nintendo had no involvement. In June 1997, the game was altered to Pro-Am 64, an unrelated follow-up to the NES racing game. According to Schuneman, the Pro Am 64 project featured three-wheeled trikes in contrast to.Due to being delayed until the summer of 1998, the team was adamant for a release of an in time for Christmas 1997. Rare felt that Pro Am 64 did not have a strong enough to capture the attention of consumers, and thus changed the licence to feature. According to Musgrave, the decision to choose Diddy Kong rather than was based on their own choice, a decision which Nintendo 'enjoyed'.
Once the intellectual property was changed, the team were left to adapt the visual aesthetics of the game and packaging before it could be released. Musgrave stated that the ultimate goal of the game was to make it 'run as fast' as, which proved difficult during development as the latter game utilized sprites of characters whereas Diddy Kong Racing used fully 3D models.
Musgrave later attributed the success of the overall project due to the 'small team' of 14 people who worked on it. In an October 2012 interview, Musgrave stated that Timber the Tiger would have been the main character of Pro Am 64 had the intellectual property for Diddy Kong Racing not been conceived. Two of the characters who featured in Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo the Bear and, starred in games ( and, respectively) which were unveiled to the public before Diddy Kong Racing, at the June 1997 (E3), but ultimately not released until after Diddy Kong Racing. Rare stated that they chose not to exhibit Diddy Kong Racing at E3 because of the proprietary animation technology used in the game. Soundtrack The music for the game was composed.
The soundtrack was first released in Japan on 1 April 1998, with 42 tracks, while a German version of the album was released in Europe with the same number of tracks. For its United States release only 16 tracks were featured. The disc itself was specially shaped in the form of Diddy Kong's head, which was unplayable in certain CD players. Release Due to most of the Nintendo 64's planned 1997 Christmas season lineup being delayed until 1998, Diddy Kong Racing became the main Nintendo 64 release for the holiday shopping season, and a majority of Nintendo's $200 million advertising budget for the entire year was allocated to promoting the game. Diddy Kong Racing also held the distinction of being the only game in the North American Christmas season lineup for which development was contracted by Nintendo; the other two first-party Nintendo 64 games in the lineup, and, were both licensed from Japanese third-party publishers. Reception ReceptionAggregate scoresAggregatorScore89% (N64)67% (DS)88/100 (N64)63/100 (DS)Review scoresPublicationScore9/10 (N64)9/10 (N64)6.6/10 (N64)8.4/10 (N64)(N64)8/10 (N64)The game received critical acclaim upon release. The Nintendo 64 version holds an aggregate score of 89% at based on 20 reviews and 88 at based on 15 reviews, whereas the remake received a score of 67% at GameRankings based on 42 reviews and a score of 63 at Metacritic, based on 39 reviews.
Diddy Kong Racing sold approximately 4.5 million copies worldwide; which included 3.78 million copies sold in the United States and PAL regions, and 653,928 copies in Japan. At the 1999 Milia festival in, it took home a 'Gold' prize for revenues above €15 million in the during the previous year.
It stands as the Nintendo 64's, and broke one million units sold in the United States within three weeks of its release.The graphics and gameplay were the most praised aspects of the game. Some critics noted how it minimized without resorting to the use of. Of disputed this, saying that the game has both pop-up and distance fog in amounts comparable to the average Nintendo 64 game.
He nonetheless stated that the game was a 'pleasure to look at' and praised the detail of the tracks. Doug Perry of heralded the visuals as the most 'spectacular of its kind', and praised Rare's ability to master dynamic animation through enabling polygons to span larger surfaces without loss of framerate. Furthermore, Perry stated that the game's technical achievements were enough to leave 'even the most critical Japanese gamer to look upon with smiling eyes'.Although Crispin Boyer opened his review of the game for (EGM) with the warning 'Don't dismiss this out-of-the-blue racer as a Mario Kart 64 clone', most reviews compared the two games. Gerstmann suspected Nintendo of rushing Diddy Kong Racing to market in order to fill a quarter left vacant by delays of other Nintendo games, and argued it was much too soon after Mario Kart 64 's debut to release such a similar game. Other critics, including Boyer's EGM co-reviewers, focused on Diddy Kong Racing 's perceived superiority to Mario Kart 64. Dan Hsu of EGM said it 'beats Mario Kart 64 in every department', particularly mentioning the superior balance and level designs.
Praised the adventure and progression aspect of the game, stating that the game's single-player mode is 'everything Mario Kart 64 should have been.' The character designs met with a variety of opinions. EGM 's Shawn Smith praised the characters as 'hilarious'., by contrast, said the character designs are 'pathetic and obvious, molded from the same cookie cutter as Banjo-Kazooie and Conker', noting the formulaic use of anthropomorphic animal characters and the simplistic application of each animal's characteristics to gameplay. Perry felt that the vocals of characters in the game were 'heartwarming' and 'comical', while also stating that 'some of the characters are just too damn cute and are certain to annoy older gamers.' Overall assessments of the game were mostly positive. Gave it a 4.5 out of 5 for sound and a perfect 5.0 in control, graphics, and fun factor, calling it 'a feverishly fun Nintendo 64 racer that combines elements of Mario Kart 64, and into one spectacular game.' EGM named it 'Game of the Month', with its four reviewers lauding the challenging gameplay and numerous objectives to tackle.
Gerstmann instead counted the latter as the game's greatest weakness, arguing that having to repeatedly play through the same courses with slightly different objectives makes the game excessively repetitive. He concluded that the game is far better than Mario Kart 64, but the repetitiveness 'ultimately kills it.'
Next Generation fell more in line with the majority, remarking that the combination of racing and adventure elements works well, and that ' Diddy Kong Racing shows Rare's pure craftmanship, displaying keen subtleties that eventually win players over.' In a retrospective review, Andrew Donaldson of stated that the game was visually 'incredibly vibrant' and 'captivating' for a game of the early Nintendo 64 era. Scott McCall of acknowledged its only shortcoming was its 'excessive' amount of, although he admitted it was not 'unbearable'.
He praised the wide range of audio in the game, including its voice acting and soundtrack; he heralded the music as 'interesting' and 'fitting' to its race tracks, also considering it superior to that of Mario Kart 64. Donaldson criticized game's presentation as too 'cutesy', especially in terms of the characters' voices. However, he praised the 'upbeat' and 'catchy' soundtrack, saying that each track had its own unique tune to suit the distinct environment.Diddy Kong Racing won the Console Racing Game of the Year at the in 1998, beating Mario Kart 64,. Legacy Sequels After the release of Diddy Kong Racing, Rare began development on a sequel named Donkey Kong Racing for the, which featured Donkey Kong as the titular character.
A pre-rendered CG video of the game was shown at E3 2001, which displayed a parody of the speederbike scene from. According to Lee Musgrave, the game featured a unique which involved riding on animals rather than driving vehicles, in which the player could switch between different types of animals mid-race; larger animals could destroy obstacles whereas smaller ones allowed more maneuverability. Development of Donkey Kong Racing was cancelled when Nintendo turned down the opportunity to purchase its remaining 51 percent stake in Rare, and the British developer was eventually bought out by Microsoft for $375 million in 2002.After the cancellation of Donkey Kong Racing, Rare created a prototype for the which expanded into an similar to the original setup of Diddy Kong Racing. Musgrave stated that the concept was 'built from scratch' and featured a limited multiplayer version at one point. The unnamed concept was in development over 18 months and evolved from being an animal-orientated racing game to an with -style features, in which nurturing animals was a 'key mechanic'. During this time, the original concept for Donkey Kong Racing was reworked into Sabreman Stampede, which was eventually cancelled.Aside from Donkey Kong Racing, another sequel to Diddy Kong Racing named Diddy Kong Pilot, with planes as the only vehicle, was planned for a release on the. Originally announced alongside Donkey Kong Racing at E3 2001, the game eventually became after Microsoft's acquisition of Rare.
At the time of its announcement, the game featured the ability to play using a tilt function as well as a D-pad, and contained at least five available tracks. Remake Diddy Kong Racing DS is a remake of Diddy Kong Racing. Developed by Rare and published by Nintendo, it was released on 5 February 2007 in North America, and on 20 April 2007 in Europe. This version received enhanced visuals and framerate in addition to touchscreen functions. Four new racetracks were included in the remake, along with new playable characters Taj and Wizpig, while Banjo and Conker were replaced.
The DS version also features new modes which allow the player to create their own racetracks, customize their characters through recording voices and an online multiplayer function. The game was met with mixed reviews upon release, with critics asserting that the new additions were 'gimmicky' and the touchscreen controls felt 'horribly sensitive'. References.
^ Thomas, Aaron (2 February 2007). Retrieved 3 March 2016. ^ Swan, Leslie, ed. Diddy Kong Racing Official Nintendo Player's Guide for Nintendo 64 Paperback. 'N64 Games Delayed Again'.
November 1997. P. 24. ^ Boyer, Crispin (December 1997). 'Diddy Kong Racing: Is it Really Mario Kart 64 Done Right?' Pp. 178–184. ^ (19 November 1997).
Retrieved 1 March 2016. ^. Retrieved 23 February 2012. ^ Didd Kong Racing manual. Pp. 3–5. ^ Watts, Martin (23 February 2014).
Nintendo Life. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
^ Mark Mazzei (29 March 2009). Archived from on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
Rogers, Emily (1 October 2012). Archived from on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2012. Fahey, Mike (10 March 2015).
Retrieved 3 March 2016. ^ Boyer, Crispin (December 1997). 'Rarein' to Go'. P. 184. ^ Elston, Brett (21 December 2010). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
Square Enix Music. Retrieved 4 June 2012. Video Game Music database. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
'Big Buzz for an X-Mas Boom'. December 1997. P. 26. 'In Nintendo News.' December 1997.
Archived from on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2016. ^. Archived from on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
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Retrieved 1 March 2016. ^ McCall, Scott (13 April 2007). Archived from on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2016. ^ 'Diddy Kong Racing'.
Christmas 1997. Pp. 84–85. ^ 'Review Crew: Diddy Kong Racing'. December 1997.
P. 191. ^ Perry, Doug (24 November 1997). Retrieved 1 March 2016. ^ Donaldson, Andrew (25 June 2011). Nintendo Life. Retrieved 1 March 2016. ^ 'Cute in Overdrive'.
January 1998. 30 November 1999. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
^. Japan Game Charts.
10 April 2008. Archived from on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2008.
Staff (12 February 1999). Archived from on 30 August 1999.
Retrieved 25 July 2019. Johnston, Chris (22 December 1997). Archived from on 5 March 2000. ^ Johnny Ballgame (December 1997). 'Nintendo 64 ProReview: Diddy Kong Racing'. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
^ Watts, Martin (28 February 2014). Nintendo Life. Retrieved 1 March 2016. ^ Devore, Jordon (28 February 2014). Retrieved 1 March 2016. Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
Yeung, Karlie (1 September 2011). Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 1 March 2016. ^ Harris, Craig (5 February 2007). Retrieved 1 March 2016.Further reading.
Full mapDino Domain is the first world of and and an area of. Racers are required to have at least one to enter. Dino Domain is set in a dry, prehistoric area with dinosaurs and pterodactyls. Most of the courses are in a canyon landscape, which features small lakes and some plant life, specifically grass and pine trees.
One of the stages is set in an entirely volcanic region, along with its. Is the boss of Dino Domain.The world's hub is located to the right of 's rock-carved head on Timber Island. To enter Dino Domain, the racer drives up a small bridge leading into a tunnel carved in a hill.
A large door to the hub is located at the end. A rainbow is positioned just outside the tunnel, likely resulting from the waterfalls on each side. The Challenge Door is located on the right side, with a small pond just outside it.Like its subsequent worlds, Dino Domain has a that the player can enter after they win against Tricky again. Also like the other worlds, walks around the center of Dino Domain's hub, and the player can bump into him to review their game progress. Courses CourseUnlock requirementVehiclesDescription× 1 (race)× 6 (Silver Coin/Balloon Pop Challenge)Car, Hovercraft, PlaneAncient Lake is set in a canyon. It has a rocky, gray road with grass patches and trees on the side. The second half of the level features a river and a wandering dinosaur.
It occasionally cross the road and may trample over racers. Ancient Lake has the world's, which is needed to unlock the world's Challenge Level, Fire Mountain.× 2 (race)× 7 (Silver Coin/Balloon Pop Challenge)Car, Hovercraft, PlaneFossil Canyon is a sandy, dusty, and rugged area. Its race takes place during sunset. Another dinosaur appears in the stage, but it remains in the background and does not interfere with the race. Racers drive through a cave at one point, which can either be entered from the usual curved path or from a to shortcut across a lake just outside of the cave.× 3 (race)× 8 (Silver Coin/Balloon Pop Challenge)Car, Hovercraft, PlaneJungle Falls is set in another rocky, rugged area. The course starts out relatively bumpy from large dinosaur footprints in the road. The path leads to a ditch, with two small waterfalls forming a lake into it.
Racers can drive across the ditch from a bridge and some empty ruins just ahead. Racers encounter a large dinosaur skull shortly after they exit the ruins. They can use a Zipper below it to quickly reach the finish line. Jungle Falls is considered the shortest race track of the game.× 5 (race)× 10 (Silver Coin/Balloon Pop Challenge)Hovercraft, PlaneHot-Top Volcano takes place inside a volcanic cavern. It is the first course where racers use and cannot use Cars.
They have to pilot through a cave and even past a large dinosaur from the first two courses. Hot Top Volcano is filled with, but it does not effect the racers.Boss race:First match:× 6 + every track completedRematch:× 11 + every track completedCarThe player races against the world boss on a racetrack that spirals up a mountain and ends on its summit. The race features rolling boulders, and Tricky may knock over stone pillars that block part of the path. The racer must avoid these pillars or being trampled over by Tricky, both of which slow them down. Tricky provides the racer with part of the after he loses at the rematch.Challenge Level:N64: Ancient Lake's Wish KeyDS: 30PlaneThe player can access this Challenge Level after they obtain the in Ancient Lake. It takes place in a volcanic area like Hot Top Volcano. There are four racers, each of whom compete to hatch three eggs first.
Racers must attempt to guard their nest, because their opponents attempt to steal an Egg before it hatches. The player receives part of the if they win.In the DS remake, Fire Mountain was replaced with a short against in the Adventure Mode, being playable only in multiplayer.Gallery Diddy Kong Racing.
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