The battle modes are not initially selectable, and must be unlocked by collecting keys hidden in each of the worlds. The game also features four battle modes which consist of two deathmatch maps, a capture-the-flag-style battle and a mode which involves opponents capturing eggs. In this mode, all of the balloons change colour to platinum and the tracks are inverted from left to right. 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". Each world contains four race tracks, an unlockable battle stage and a race against a boss character. The worlds are opened up by collecting balloons, except for Future Fun Land, which is a hidden world reached by accomplishing several secret objectives. Players begin on Timber's Island, which consists of five interconnected worlds Dino Domain, Snowflake Mountain, Sherbet Island, Dragon Forest, and Future Fun Land. In "Adventure Mode", players control the racer of their choice to progress through the story. If a racer gets hit, two bananas will be deducted. A maximum of ten bananas will improve the speed, but can also be obtained to prevent other players from gaining speed. Additionally, racetracks contain non-regenerating bananas that add to speed when they are picked up. A total of two upgrades are available for each balloon. If multiple balloons of the same colour are picked up, the power-up will be upgraded to a more powerful version. 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. There are five different types of balloons: red, blue, green, yellow, and rainbow. 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. The aeroplane is designed to access aerial areas it is good at acceleration and maneuvering however, it has the slowest speed. The hovercraft is designed for both sand and water areas, but lacks in acceleration and manoeuvrability. The car is an all-round vehicle however, it is the slowest on surfaces such as sand and water. 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. The interface displays the player's current position, number of laps, bananas, time, and a map of the track. In this screenshot, Timber the Tiger is racing in Fossil Canyon. An enhanced remake for the Nintendo DS titled Diddy Kong Racing DS was released worldwide in early 2007. A sequel named Donkey Kong Racing was in development for the GameCube, but was abandoned after Microsoft purchased Rare for £375 million in 2002. The game has sold 4.8 million copies since release and stands as the Nintendo 64's eighth best-selling game. The graphics, audio and gameplay were the most praised aspects of the game, with minor criticism directed at the game's repetition. Due to the delays of Banjo-Kazooie, Rare felt that they needed a stronger intellectual property 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.ĭiddy Kong Racing received critical acclaim upon release. As time progressed, the focus of development shifted from a Walt Disney World-influenced racing game to a unique title named Pro-Am 64, in which Nintendo had no involvement. Diddy Kong Racing features five worlds with four racetracks each, and the ability to drive a car, hovercraft, or pilot an airplane.ĭevelopment of the game began after the release of Killer Instinct 2, and was intended to be a real-time strategy game known as Wild Cartoon Kingdom in its early stages. The player can take control of any of the featured characters throughout the game.
DIDDY KONG RACING CONKER SERIES
The game is set on Timber's Island and revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends' attempt to defeat the intergalactic antagonist, a wizarding pig named Wizpig, through winning a series of races. Diddy Kong Racing is a 1997 racing video game developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64.