The game revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends' attempt to defeat the intergalactic antagonist, a wizard pig named Wizpig, through winning a series of races.

Diddy Kong Racing features five worlds with four racetracks each, and the ability to drive a car, hovercraft, or pilot an aeroplane.

Development began after the release of Killer Instinct 2 (1996), and was intended to be an adventure game known as Wild Cartoon Kingdom in its early stages.

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.

A sequel named Donkey Kong Racing was in development for the GameCube, but was abandoned in August 2002, one month before Microsoft purchased Rare for £375 million.

In Diddy Kong Racing, players can choose one of ten characters,[3] who have access to three different vehicles: car, hovercraft and aeroplane.

[4] 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.

[9] Timber the Tiger's parents go on holiday and leave their son in charge of the island they live on, prompting him and his friends to organise a race.

Their enjoyment is interrupted when a sinister intergalactic pig-wizard named Wizpig arrives at Timber's Island and attempts to take it over after having conquered his own planet.

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, hovercraft, and aeroplanes.

Shortly afterward, Drumstick is turned back into a rooster, and Wizpig leaves for his home planet, Future Fun Land.

[11][12] With Banjo-Kazooie being delayed until the summer of 1998, the team was adamant for a release of an AAA video game in time for 1997's Christmas season.

[10] In an October 2012 interview, Musgrave said 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.

[22] Voices were provided by Kevin Bayliss (Bubbler, Wizpig),[23][24][25][26] Johnni Christensen (Tiptup, Smokey),[27][24] Eveline Novakovic (Pipsy),[28][29] Keith Rabbette (Bluey),[24] Lee Ray (Drumstick, Taj),[24][30] Lee Schuneman (Bumper),[31][11][12] Chris Seavor (Conker),[32] Dean Smith (T.T.

[54] At the 1999 Milia festival in Cannes, it took home a "Gold" prize for revenues above €15 million in the European Union during the previous year.

[7] Doug Perry of IGN 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.

[7] Other critics, including Boyer's EGM co-reviewers, focused on Diddy Kong Racing's perceived superiority to Mario Kart 64.

[44][45][47][52] Dan Hsu of EGM said it "beats Mario Kart 64 in every department", particularly mentioning the superior balance and level designs.

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.

Sabreman Stampede was set for release on the Xbox 360, but was cancelled due to a lack of focus and Rare's unfamiliarity with the hardware.

Originally announced alongside Donkey Kong Racing at E3 2001, the game became Banjo-Pilot after Nintendo sold their share of Rare to Microsoft.

[65] The other, titled Diddy Kong Racing Adventure, was a rejected pitch made by Climax Studios for the Nintendo GameCube around 2004.

This version received enhanced visuals and framerate in addition to touchscreen functions and Rumble Pak support for force feedback.

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".

Although it had been used previously in various films and television shows, this sound effect has come to be commonly referred to as "the Diddy laugh" due to its association with the game.

[69] According to Kevin Bayliss, the team got the idea of including a laugh sound effect in the opening from Teletubbies, which had just begun airing at the time.