Diddy Kong Racing

Diddy Kong Racing is a 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.

A few 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 recognize them when these games were released. These games include Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Conker's Pocket Tales. This game later had a remake for the Nintendo DS known as Diddy Kong Racing DS in 2007.

Plot
Timber 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.

Starting Racers

 * Diddy Kong is the game's namesake and all-around in terms of stats, much like Mario is in the Mario Kart series.
 * Banjo premiered in DKR, a year before his own series kicked off in Banjo-Kazooie. He is the second-heaviest racer.
 * Conker is a squirrel that makes his first appearance in this game; his first appearance in his own franchise would be in Conker's Pocket Tales. He acts as a middleweight racer.
 * Krunch is a Kremling. He acts as the heaviest, fastest, and least agile racer.
 * Tiptup is a lightweight character that would go on to appear in both Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.
 * Timber the tiger is the son of the owners of the island Wizpig attacks. He acts as a middleweight racer.
 * Bumper is a badger that is a semi-heavyweight, but otherwise has no traits as a character.
 * Pipsy the mouse is the lightest racer, but also has no characterization and has never appeared in any other game.

Secret Racers

 * Drumstick is a rooster that was captured by Wizpig; he can be rescued after a period of time by running over a distinct frog. He acts as a heavyweight racer.
 * T.T. is the stopwatch that runs Time Trials. After beating T.T's record on every course, he becomes playable, and has the best stats of any racer.

Non-Playable Characters

 * Wizpig is the antagonist. He takes over the island and challenges someone to beat him in order to reclaim it.
 * Taj the Genie is the genie that hands out Golden Balloons as races are won. He himself can be challenged three times in each of the three vehicles in races around the island; he also allows the player to change which vehicle they are currently controlling in the overworld.
 * Tricky the Triceratops is the triceratops boss of Dino Domain, where he challenges the player to a race up a spiral mountain. He later appears in the Star Fox series in Star Fox Adventures, and is featured and/or mentioned in future games of the series.
 * Bluey the Walrus is the walrus boss of Snowflake Valley, where he challenges the player to a race down a mountain.
 * Bubbler the Octopus is the octopus boss of Sherbet Island, where he challenges the player to a race around an island track while laying traps.
 * Smokey the Dragon is the dragon boss of Sherwood Forest, where he challenges the player to a race around a grassy valley while shooting fireballs.

Dino Domain

 * Ancient Lake
 * Fossil Canyon
 * Jungle Falls
 * Hot Top Volcano
 * Fire Mountain (T.T. Trial)

Snowflake Mountain

 * Everfrost Peak
 * Walrus Cove
 * Snowball Valley
 * Frosty Village
 * Icicle Pyramid (T.T. Trial)

Sherbet Island

 * Whale Bay
 * Crescent Island
 * Pirate Lagoon
 * Treasure Caves
 * Darkwater Beach (T.T. Trial)

Dragon Forest

 * Windmill Plains
 * Greenwood Village
 * Boulder Canyon
 * Haunted Woods
 * Smokey Castle (T.T. Trial)

Future Fun Land

 * Spacedust Alley
 * Darkmoon Caverns
 * Spaceport Alpha
 * Star City

Trivia

 * In the North American version of the Nintendo 64 original, players could toggle between languages English and French. In the DS remake, the game remains in English regardless of the console's language settings.

Diddy Kong Racing