Diddy Kong Racing
Overworld Introduction
Like Super Mario 64, Diddy Kong
is made up of an Overworld containing many secrets, as many as 24
courses, and hopefully some surprises.
There are four basic Worlds, Dino Domain, Snowflake Mountain, Sherbet Island, and Dragon Forest, and following these is a race against Wizpig, which if won, will help to unlock a fifth World, Future Funland. After beating Wizpig, the big game boss, a second time in World 5, you'll unlock Adventure 2, which is all of the courses of the first game mirrored.
Taj the Giant Elephant
He's no Barbara Eden! He's Taj,
the goofy elephant genie who is your island helper. Use him to
change vehicles and gain three balloons by beating him in
Overworld races. When you beat Wizpig the second time, Taj's face
appears where Wizpig's once did in an obvious symbol of restored
order.
Courses
1. Dino Domain Courses
2. Snowflake Mountain Courses
3. Sherbet Island Courses
4. Dragon Forest Courses
* Wizpig (first race)
5. Space Level: Future Funland Courses
*Wizpig (second race)
Power-ups
Bananas
They're good, they're good! Pick them up! Unlike Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing's bananas help you, b y increasing your speed. You can pick up as many as you want, but speed will stop increasing once you collect 10. Although not necessary to win, bananas are a skilled Kart racer's friend. Practice picking them up during the regular races so that you know where they are in the harder trophy races.
Balloons
Picking up more than one balloon of the same color increases the power of that balloon.
Blue Balloon: Regular Turbo: A short-lived turbo boost lasting around two seconds. Blue-white Turbo: This medium power-up is double the power of the first. Super-purple Turbo: The baddest of the bunch, this is by far the fastest item in the game.
Red Balloon: Missile: A short-range weapon that must be perfectly aimed at an opponent while racing. H-Missile: Very effective in all races. This is a Homing-missile that zeroes in on the opponent in front of you. 10-Pack: A solid, long-lasting weapon, the 10-pack is great for spraying a pack of enemies ahead of you.
Green Balloon: Oil Slick: The old-fashioned oil slick takes your adversary for a short spin. Decent effectiveness. Mines: by obtaining two green balloons your oil slick turns into a spiked mine. It's only more effective than the oil slick because it stops your enemy for longer. Bubble: This is a killer! Although its appearance is friendly, don't hit one of these. Bubbles will slow you down for about four seconds. They are very effective in a neck-and-neck race.
Yellow Balloon: Atomic Symbol: One will make you invulnerable. Star Symbol: This lasts longer and is more powerful than the atomic symbol. Lightning Bolt: Stronger and longer lasting than the others, the triple balloon enables you to attack others!
Rainbow Balloon: Yellow Magnet: A short-range magnet that pulls you up to the nearest opponent. Red Magnet: A medium-range magnet that pulls you up to an opponent. Green Magnet: The green magnet pulls you closer to an opponent but has the extra benefit of pulling them backward!
Character Profiles
After having played the game all the
way through, and having used all of the annoying charaters, only
a few of the characters are really worth playing. The rest are
amazingly incompetent. It seems that these characters are less
balanced than those found in Mario Kart 64. Note: This character
guide is to help you beat the Adventure part (one or two) of the
game. When it comes to battle modes, these characters choices
aren't necessarily as accurate.
The Two Best Characters
The Two Best Characters is made
up of a very small, elite group of racers who dominate the game
in almost every aspect. These are definitely subjective picks,
but you'll find both of them not only easy to control, but
light-weight, and built with fast acceleration and superb
control. These two rule when it comes to winning races.
1. Tip-Tup the Turtle: Basically, this is my favorite character to drive. I used him to beat the entire game, and he's nearly unbeatable in the single-player Adventure section of the game. He's fast, can accelerate super-quick, and his control is superb. In fact, even though he's light-weight, Tip-Tup seems to be slightly heavier than Pipsy, who is my other favorite racer. Remember, I'm not talking about character design here, I'm talking about racing attributes.
2. Pipsy: Pipsy is the first character with whom I beat Wizpig. Once you get over her squeaky voice and annoying look (young girls, however, will probably love her), you'll find she's an excellent racer. She's lighter than Tip-Tup and more likely to be knocked around. However, she recovers faster than he. Nintendo describes her as having high acceleration, light weight, excellent handling, and medium top speed. If you can ignore her looks, than in the more difficult Silver Coin Challenges, she's remarkably efficient in winning.
Bench-Warmers
The other racers were all good, but
I never really enjoyed them as much as I did these top two.
Listed below are the others whom I've rated briefly from runners
up to straight-out lousy.
3. Diddy: Good at everything, but not the best. Diddy actually wins a lot in the trophy races when comupter controlled.
4. Drumstick: Harder to handle than any of the above characters, but has a good top speed and controls well at high speeds.
5. Timber, 6. Bumper, 7. Conker: They're all the same to me, average. Snore. Although if one had to be picked, Bumper would be it.
Avoid like the Plague
8. Banjo and 9. Krunch:
Slow, difficult to control, but have remarkably high top speeds.
Why choose a character that's hard to control? Skip these guys
every time.
Amulets
Two kinds of amulets are awarded in this game, the TT Amulet and
the Wizpig Amulet. To earn the Wizpig Amulet you need to beat a
boss who reigns over a particular world. To earn a TT Amulet
piece, you need to find a key in a one of the courses in each of
the four worlds. When all of the Wizpig Amulets pieces are put
together, you can then race Wizpig in the first race. When all of
the TT amulet pieces are found, then you will be able to open up
the TT door in the fifth level, Future Funland.
Trophy races
By taking first in the Trophy Races, you will receive a
nasty-looking, golden Wizpig trophy. To open up the fifth level,
you must earn golds in each of the races. There is one trophy
race per world. Trophy races are similar to those races in Mario
Kart 64, they're sequential races in which you must earn points
for each win. First place is nine points, second is seven, third
is five, fourth is three, and fifth is one point. You don't
necessarily have to earn first in every race to get the gold, but
it still should be your goal.
Keys to the Castle (TT Keys)
Ancient Lake, Dino Domain: After passing over the Starting
line, drive about 50 feet (Diddy feet, that is) and look to your
right, where you'll see a small rock arch and a medium-size rock.
Use the rock as a ramp to get the key, which opens up Fire
Mountain.
Snowball Valley, Snowflake Mountain:Located in a secret little cove near the starting line, the second key is hidden much better then the first. On the starting line, take a direct left and you'll find the cove.
Crescent Island, Sherbet Island: After you pass the first Zipper on the left branch, take off into the water. Pass the Zipper and float out into the water. Swing right to find the third key hidden in a little inlet.
Boulder Canyon, Dragon Forest: After passing over the drawbridge, grab a Turbo boost and turn around. Line up with bell (you'll hear a chime) and then drive underneath it. The drawbridge will lift and you'll need to hit your Turbo to help you grab the key at the bridge's top.
Beat the Bosses
All of the bosses present
an easy first challenge and then a much trickier second race.
Forming a strategy is pertinent for the second race.
Triceratops
First & Second Race The keys to beating this guy are
to stay as close to the left-hand wall as possible (barring
obstacles), to use the Turbo and Missile balloons often, avoiding
the more difficult to ones, and -- if you use the shortcut -- to
hit the Zipper. Mastery of the Turbo Start is mandatory. Watch
out for the trees he knocks over and his increased speed in the
second race. Stay ahead of, or beside, him from the start to get
the win.
Walrus
First & Second Race This is a straight race with no
short-cuts. To master this race, you need to stay close to the
center of the course. Use the Sharp Turn Technique (A, B, R) to
keep from crawling the walls to high. The only exception to these
rules is to grab Blue and Red Balloons peppered along the
course's sides. In the second race, you'll need to blast the
walrus once and use one Turbo to stay ahead.
Octopus
First & Second Race The sucker seems impossible at
first, but we've learned several lethal tricks to beating him.
Just after the starting line pull to his right, avoiding the
mines and bubbles he'll lay (mines in the first race, bubbles in
the second). Avoiding his discharges requires you to swerve left
and right. Stay a few lengths behind him until you've picked up
two Red Balloons and then use that Homing Missile to slow him
down in the last leg of the race just after the long tunnel
(there is also one Red Balloon on each of two small islands in
this area). Then use Blue Turbos to get close. To pass him, take
the inside route in the tunnel and hover over the low, left
slopes. you will actually move faster on the left hand shoulders.
Then use Blue Balloons to stay ahead for the rest of the .
Dragon
First & Second Race To beat this heavy-smoking Dragon,
dodging his green cloudy spouts is mandatory. But getting the
beat on him takes a little practice. As with bosses in all other
races, this one will take the lead in the beginning. Not to
worry. In the first leg of the race, stay behind him (duh) and
dodge the patches (double duh). Do this by swinging through
narrow stalactites inside the tunnels. Get the homing missile
before leaving the tunnel and stay relatively close to this puffy
fool. Now, to pass him, reach the outside area with a single
windmill. Attack him with the homing missile and then use the
Turbo underneath the windmill to pass him for good. Use turbos to
stay ahead the rest of the way. Once passed, just make sure not
to make too many mistakes.
Wizpig Race 1
Tricky, tricky, tricky. Wizpig races you on foot in an unseen
part of the Overworld, and he's no slacker. But he's beatable.
Although not absolutely necessary, knowing the track and hitting
every single Zipper are the major keys to beating the big ham.
Each Zipper is key to hit, but the place to pass Wizpig is on the
third, fourth, and fifth Zippers (there are six in total). The
third is couched on a narrow slant of rock on the far left (after
the first two zippers, of course). It's also angled oddly, and
will slam you into a rock if you don't angle your vehicle
properly. The fourth is found just after, on the right side, and
the fifth is located on the left at the very end of the thin rock
strip. This last one is key because it'll power you past Wizpig
for good. And of course, the final Zipper is also important to
give yourself a clear lead. Beat him and you'll help to open up
Future Funland. For best results, pick Pipsy or Tip-Tup and hit
every single Zipper. One last thing, if you're so far behind
Wizpig that you can barely see him, just give up and start again.
To beat him, staying close to him is of the utmost importance.
Wizpig Race 2
That fat pig ain't playing games any more. Now you're in his
world, baby. In the beginning, stay left and use the R button to
stay high and to the far left. Stay left of the two stalactites.
Manage to avoid the laser shots by timing your passage underneath
the following rock arches. Pick up a Red Balloon under one of
them. Crashing once or twice is OK, any more than that wields you
worthless (and you'll need to start over). Outside, stay to the
left and zoom low to grab a single red balloon. You also will
avoid all enemy fire this way. Before Wizpig enters into the next
tunnel, peg him with your Homing Missile and then when you enter
that tunnel, grab the Blue turbo on the far left. Stay close to
Wizpig by using red and blue balloons in this tunnel, and watch
as he takes heat thanks to the electronic blue wires. To avoid
being shot into sheer misery in the chaos room (the next room),
lift high above the rest of the crowd. You won't lose too much
speed, and even better, you won't get hit at all. Beat him and
you'll open up Adventure 2. Wizpig will stay close to you for
most of the race, and after a few times, you'll beat him. As said
before, the best place to pass him is at the front of the tunnel
and in side it.
Dino Domain Key:
This key is located in the track called "Ancient Lake." When you start, go straight. Look straight ahead, you can see the key located on a ramp right in front of you, in between 2 Stonehenge-like monuments.
Snowflake Mountain
Key:
This key is located in the track called "Snowball
Valley." When you start, don't go. Just make an immediate
left and go through the path in the mountains. Then take another
right and you should see the key in an alcove in the side of the
mountain.
Sherbet Island Key:
This key is located in the track called "Crescent
Island." When you start, take the left path. After the
second zipper, head left even more, into the water. Go and look
at the side of the mountain straight ahead. There should be an
alcove with the key in it.
Dragon Forest Key:
This key is located in the track called "Boulder
Canyon." Get to the part of the track where you see a bell
hanging from the ceiling. Get three blue balloons. Then turn
around and face the bell from the "wrong way" then hit
the bell. The drawbridge in front of you should raise. Use your
Level 3 speedburst and race up the raising drawbridge and get the
key. (Make sure it is a 3x burst, and be sure to jump right when
you reach the top of the bridge.)
When going through a speed ring (in a plane), a speed pyramid (in a hovercraft or plane), or over a zipper (in a car, hovercraft, or grounded plane), let your finger off of the accelerator before you hit it and you will get a green boost, which is better than the normal purple. The same rule applies when using a single, double, or triple turbo balloon; let off the accelerator. Also, when the announcer says "Get Ready", depending on when you press the accelerator button, you will get a red (weak), blue (strong), or no turbo boost.
TT the clock is a playable character! To play as him you must beat him in time trials on EVERY race. He is considered the BEST playable character in the game!
Fossil Canyon: This one is obvious. At the fork in the road, take a left. It's a bit shorter and safer.
Dino Domain Boss: This shortcut is on the boss of Dino Domain(the triceratops). About halfway up the mountain, after the place where you go past a large pillar on the right with two balloons, you should see some bushes on the right. Behind them is a tunnel that will almost assure that you'll win.
Frosty Village 1: In the part where you go past several large pillars, go either left or right offroad. You must make use of the three Zippers of both paths.
Frosty Village 2: You must use the hovercraft to take this shortcut without losing speed. Near the end, you'll see a large outcropping with three ledges on it on the right, surrounded by a lake. Underneath it is a tunnel. Go through it.
Snowball Valley 1: Like Fossil Canyon, take the left path at the fork. It's faster.
Snowball Valley 2: The other shortcut is not really a shortcut. Instead, you must grab one of the shield powerups before the snowball area. Use it to sail right through the snowballs and gain some ground over your snowball-dodging opponents.
Crescent Island 1: Right before the tunnel at the beginning, you'll see a path on the left. Follow it to get a magnet balloon and get ahead.
Crescent Island 2: Using the hovercraft, go left around the pirate ship to find a shorter tunnel.
Crescent Island 3: Or, you can go on the ship and go on the right path next to the tunnel. Then hop right to go through the hole.
Crescent Island 4: The last shortcut here is found after the pirate ship. On the final turn before the end, make a powerslide/hop right to go around the pillar on the right. It's a great way to win at the last second(and it contains a Silver Coin).
Whale Bay: Use the whale near the beginning to jump over the pirate's ship and get a magnet powerup and jump ahead of you foes. Pirate's Lagoon: Near the end, use the Zipper to jump the ramp and get a Turbo powerup.
Windmill Plains: Go through the windmills at the beginning. Both of them contain a Zipper and a Magnet powerup.
Boulder Canyon: In the area after the indoor waterfall, you will see a red balloon on the left and a green one on the right, leading to the rest of the track. But grab the red one and you'll find a hidden tunnel behind it. It contains two coins and is shorter.
Greenwood Village: Near the beginning, you'll go through a village area. You should see a well. Hit the brakes as you approach it and drive over it. You should fall down to a tunnel with a Zipper in it. This is the shortcut.
Haunted Woods: At the fountain in the village area, take a right. It looks longer, but it gets you to the tunnel a bit faster(and it contains a Silver Coin).
Sherbet Island Boss/Boulder Canyon: In both of these races, you should gain some speed if you hop over the logs with the hovercraft at the right angle. Be careful, if you go at the wrong angle, you'll crash into the log and lose speed!
Ancient Lake 1/Any Course- If you have the Plane/Hovercraft try going off the Course along the sides, Sometimes you can gain a place or two jus t by doing this!!
Ancient lake 2- When you get to the first Zipper hit it and head right across the grass to gain a Blue Balloon then you should be able to head straight to get another Blue Balloon and then use them to Zoom right underneath the huge green Dinosaur
Fossil Canyon 1-Use the Boost on the left before the Bridge, this makes it easy for you to get a Silver coin and you'll gain some placege. Also if you hit it perfect your headed right for the Tunnel!!!
Jungle Falls-If you have the Plane do this: After the Bridge go up high to go into a small tunnel containing a Rainbow Balloon then keep up and look down by the bones to find another Rainbow balloon!
Hot top Volcano- When you get to the spot where there is a left/right Tunnel go right and stay right! But remember there is a Silver coin in the left side of the tunnel Split!!
EverFrost Peak- If your in the Plane watch for mounds of snow along the side of the track. Some have Banana's and 1 has a Rainbow Balloon!!
Walrus cove 1-After the third tunnel go up the mounds of snow to get alot of Bananas and one has a red Balloon. The first one is on the right then the next is on the left.
Walrus cove 2-When you go across the part of the track where ice is running through it (Near the end) look to the left, there's a small trail there. Take it and be sure to get the boost to race Ahead of other Racers.
Fossil Canyon 2: About halfway down the track, where that dinosaur is crossing the road, you'll notice a lake and a Zipper. Build up your speed and hit the Zipper to jump across the lake!
Treasure Caves 1: If you're racing in a plane, this large tunnel on the cliffside is an obvious shortcut. You'll see it just a bit past the starting line.
Treasure Caves 2: Using your turbo powerups, boost across the toxic gases inside the cave. You not only gain some ground, you'll also hit a couple Zippers easily.
Boulder Canyon 2: Using Geno55's technique to get the key, hit the bell but don't turn around for the key. Doing this knocks other racers into the moat(unless you're in 8th....)!
Greenwood Village Longcut! Although the tunnel to the left in the area halfway through the track looks shorter, it isn't. However, it contains a neccesary Silver Coin. It's a good way to confuse racers. Nice try, Nintendo.
To peice togeather the Whole wizpig amulet you must race and beat each world boss twice plus collect all of the silver coins!!
To Get a Full T.T. Amulet you have to collect the keys to the challenge levels in all of the 4 worlds. The 1st one is in Ancient lake. Then the 2nd is in Snowball valley. Then the 3rd is in Crescent Island. The 4th is in Boulder canyon. Once you have found and completed the T.T. Challenge levels you can race Wizpig in the Fifth world.
After completing the entire first quest (getting all balloons, amulets, trophies; beating all worlds, levels and challenges, including hidden ones; etc.), "Adventure Two" will appear as an option on the main menu. Some of the changes in Adventure Two are that the Golden Balloons are now Silver Balloons, all of the tracks are mirrored, and the computer opponents are at least two times more difficult.
To get to Space World, which is the hidden fifth world in the game, you must get all trophies and all amulets. Then go to the sign by the lighthouse and honk at it. The lighthouse will transform into a rocket and take you into space.
Activate "Drumstick" Character
Once you get all of the trophies and amulets, go to the Central Area. The Central Area is the place from which all other zones are accessed. In this area, you should notice a bunch of little frogs hopping around near the edge of the water. Take your vehicle and drive over to them. Look at them carefully. One of them will have rooster head feathers. If you carefully touch that frog, Drumstick will pop out! Apparently he had been turned into a frog by Wizpig.
At the enter cheat menu, enter the following codes. Then go to Code List to toggle them on or off.
BLABBERMOUTH -
Horn will play a voice character instead of the regular horn
JOINTVENTURE - Two players can play the Adventure Mode
BODYARMOR - Ballons are yellow
OPPOSITESATTRACT - Ballons are rainbow
BOMBSAWAY - Balloons will be red
BYEBYEBALLOONS - Weapons disabled for the computer
BOGUSBANANAS - Bananas reduced speed instead of increase
NOYELLOWSTUFF - Bananas a worthless
ZAPTHEZIPPERS - Zippers will disappear
VITAMINB - No limit to bananas
TOXICOFFENDER - All balloons are green
TIMETOLOSE - Greatly increases the intelligence of the
computer ROCKETFUEL - All balloons will be blue
FREEFORALL - Any time you pick up a balloon in any game
mode, it will give you the level three (most powerful) item.
FREEFRUIT - Start each race with 10 bananas.
WHODIDTHIS - See credits
ARNOLD - Big Characters
DOUBLEVISION - 2 players can select the same character
OFFROAD - 4 wheel drive
TEENYWEENIES - Racers are about half their normal size
JUKEBOX - Go to "Audio Options" menu to access
the Music Test.
After the announcer says "Get Ready" and the words start to dissapear at the start of a race, press the A button. You will get a turbo boost. This helps dramatically in your racing success!