* Diddy Kong Racing FAQ Part 1 * Author: Jdude84 E-Mail: Jdude84@Hotmail.com Version: 2.5 (Final) -------------------------------------------------------- Version History 1.0 First release of this FAQ. Mostly Secrets right now... 1.1 Added tips and tricks section, been too busy playing goldeneye, and other things to update this FAQ. Why goldeneye? of course...i'll be making a FAQ for that soon..who knows when this FAQ will be next updated... 2.0 Fairly large update, added part 2 to this FAQ, item list, secret balloons. November 10-12, 1999 2.5 Final version of part one. Just redid the headers, made it look a bit better. That's all. It's counterpart, part #2 has been updated as well. -------------------------------------------------------- -Contents- 1. Introduction 2. Characters 3. Vehicles 4. Secrets 5. T.T. 6. Drumstick 7. Dino Domain 8. Tips And Tricks -------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction -------------------------------------------------------- Diddy Kong Racing, is an extremly awesome game, the graphics are good, and the gameplay is probably the best i've ever seen in a racing game. The story and the ending is a little...childish...but that's the only thing i see wrong with the game. If you don't want to know all the secrets about DKR, DO NOT READ ON! But if you are stuck, or have beaten it allready, go ahead if you'd like. You definetly do not want to ruin this game, trust me! Oh yeah, the most updated version of this FAQ can be found at www.gamefaqs.com, Enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------- 2. Characters -------------------------------------------------------- There are a total of 8 normal characters, and 2 secret Characters, T.T. and Drumstick. Below is a listing of all the characters, their abilities, their weight class, and other useless info. ----------------- Normal Characters ----------------- -Tiptup- Top Speed: Average Acceleration: Excellent Steering: Excellent Weight Class: Lightweight Tiptup hasn't had his own game yet, and don't expect him too soon, however he made a apperance in Banjo-Kazooie, yet another game made by Rare. -Pipsy- Top Speed: Average(a bit slower) Acceleration: Excellent Steering: Excellent Weight Class: Lightweight This cute little mouse is a pretty good racer, but as a computer she's a pushover. Don't expect this mouse to be in any other game soon, starring, or supporting! -Conker- Top Speed: Average Acceleration: Average Steering: Average Weight Class: Middleweight As you can see conker is an all-around average racer, a good choice for "rookies". In this game he's just goofing off a bit before he goes off and has his own game, which should be a great one, but that's a whole different FAQ.... -Timber- Top Speed: Average Acceleration: Average Steering: Average Weight Class: Middleweight Well....he has the same stats as Conker, but man, this little tiger sucks, in my opinion, he is the main character in the plot. Even though Diddy is the main guy. A good choice for starters, after you get good you'll find yourself choosing another racer. -Krunch- Top Speed: Fast Acceleration: YUCK, talk about a SLOW starter Steering: Very Very Very Very Very BAD! Weight Class: HEAVYweight >From the bad side, to the good side, Krunch The Kremling has decided to help diddy and the gang. He is fast once he gets going, but i find he is not that useful on many courses. Try Drumstick instead of him... -Bumper- Top Speed: Average Acceleration: Average Steering: Average Weight Class: Heavyweight Yuck, don't like this badger, that's all i have to say...move along -Banjo- Top Speed: Average Acceleration: Slow Steering: Average(A Bit Better) Weight Class: Heavyweight The way they made Banjo look in this game is awful! but he is a good racer! In this game he's warming up for his huge adventure: Banjo-Kazooie and the soon to be released Banjo-Tooie. Not only is this honey bear good at getting jiggy's, he's a dang good racer! -Diddy- Top Speed: Average Acceleration: Average Steering: Average Weight Class: Middleweight Well you KNEW i was going to save him for last, of course! doesn't that make sense? anyway, he's an average racer...you'd think they'd make him a bit better seeing as it's his game.... ----------------- Secret Characters ----------------- -Drumstick- Top Speed: Fast Acceleration: Fast Steering: Bad Weight Class: Middleweight Nothing to say about this chicken, oh yah to access him read the section on how to get him, DUH! -T.T.- Top Speed: Very Fast Acceleration: Above Average Steering: Great! Weight Class: Middleweight What a speed demon! check out the T.T. section for more info. -------------------------------------------------------- 3. Vehicles -------------------------------------------------------- There are a total of 3 Vehicles in the game, Car, Plane, and Hovercraft, all have different abilities of course, and the effectiveness depends on which rider you choose. -Car- Steer: Control Stick Gas Pedal: A Brake: B Power Slide: R Best Rider: T.T. Your standard car, 4 wheels, etc. pretty simple! -Plane- Steer: Control Stick(Up is down, down is up) Gas Pedal: A Brake: B R+Left Or Right: Tight Turn R+R: Loop Best Rider: Conker Not really a new vehicle, but less common than your standard car, this is an awesome vehicle to drive! -Hovercraft- Steer: Control Stick Gas Pedal: A Brake: B R: Hop R+Left, Right: Quick 180 degree turn Best Character: T.T. He's fast and somewhat heavy This is a totally new vehicle, and boy is it fun! this vehicle is a pain for the lightweights, but for heavier riders, this is an awesome vehicle! Also, it can go on land just as fast as it can on the water! -------------------------------------------------------- 4. Secrets -------------------------------------------------------- Cheat Codes: Below are some useful cheat codes which will make winning much easier, and some codes will make your racing experience..different..have fun with these! BLABBERMOUTH: Horns change to character noises. BOMBSAWAY: All red balloons ROCKETFUEL: All blue balloons TOXICOFFENDER: All green balloons BODYARMOR: All purple balloons OPPOSITESATTRACT: All rainbow balloons ZAPTHEZIPPERS: All Zippers are gone, dang! FREEFRUIT: you and only you start with 10 bannanas! NOYELLOWSTUFF: Bananas are gone in multiplayer mode, crap! BYEBYEBALLOONS: Computer can't use weapons, haha suckers!!! JOINTVENTURE: Two player Adventure Mode, really cool! BOGUSBANANAS: Bananas decrease speed, what a bummer! VITAMINB: even after 10 bannanas, you increase speed! TIMETOLOSE: The code speaks for itself, the computer is awesome! FREEFORAL: collect 1 ballon and you get the max power of it, cool! OFFROAD: Four-Wheel drive, now were talking! JUKEBOX: Sound test is added to audio options. DOUBLEVISION: Two people can play as the same racer! can get confusing...heh heh ARNOLD: with this code even that shrimp pispy is huge!!!!! TEENYWEENIES: very small characters, it's hillarious to select pispy when you use this code! WHODIDTHIS: View credits, how boring! -------------------------------------------------------- 5. T.T. -------------------------------------------------------- T.T. is a hard character to get, but it is well worth going through the whole process to get him! Here is how to get him..... First of all select time trials, you must now beat the following times on EVERY course: Ancient Lake: 1:07.00 Fossil Canyon: 1:37.00 Jungle Falls: 1:08.00 Hot Top Volcano: 1:35.00 Everfrost Peak: 1:53.00 Walrus Cove: 2:10.00 Snowball Valley: 1:13.00 Frosty Village: 1:44.00 Whale Bay: 1:19.00 Crescent Island: 1:39.00 Pirate Lagoon: 1:34.00 Treasure Caves: 1:10.00 Windmill Plains: 2:22.00 Greenwood Village: 1:46.00 Boulder Canyon: 2:11.00 Haunted Woods: 1:22.00 Spacedust Alley: 2:12.00 Darkmoon Carverns: 2:20.00 Spaceport Alpha: 2:16.00 Star City: 2:07.00 Ok, once oyu've done that T.T. will appear on the tracks, now you must beat him on EVERY track! WHAT? you want the times for that too? you slave drivers....oh allright here they are! Ancient Lake: 1:01.28 Fossil Canyon: 1:30.18 Jungle Falls: 1:02.50 Hot Top Volcano: 1:30.71 Everfrost Peak: 1:48.00 Walrus Cove: 2:06.28 Snowball Valley: 1:06.41 Frosty Village: 1:39.40 Whale Bay: 1:13.11 Crescent Island: 1:33.16 Pirate Lagoon: 1:28.56 Treasure Caves: 1:05.63 Windmill Plains: 2:13.13 Greenwood Village: 1:40.61 Boulder Canyon: 2:02.35 Haunted Woods: 1:09.51 Spacedust Alley: 2:06.16 Darkmoon Carverns: 2:12.05 Spaceport Alpha: 2:09.03 Star City: 2:01.45 Ok, now you can use T.T. in any mode!!! he will now be at the character select screen, simply select him and race! have fun! -------------------------------------------------------- 6. Drumstick -------------------------------------------------------- Drumstick, is a difficult character to get, he is not as good as T.T. by far, but he does pretty well in the Hovercraft and Car. He is definetly not good in a plane, so don't even try to use him in a Plane. Below is the requirements to access Drumstick: All of the T.T. Amulet. All of the Wizpig Amulet. After you have all of these, go to the overworld, and find the group of frogs. Find one with a red feather and run over it! You will now be able to use drumstick, to use him select him from the driver select screen! -------------------------------------------------------- 7. Dino Domain -------------------------------------------------------- Dino Domain: 8 Balloons 1 Key 1/4 Wizpig Amulet 1/4 T.T. Amulet Wizpig Trophy 1 Balloon Needed To Enter Dino Domain in the first world in the adverture mode, to get there, from the start, you will need to go directly forward and up the ramp. You need 1 balloon to get in, luckily for you, there is one balloon on the ramp that your on! You now have one balloon, so your only choice is to race the ancient lake track, which you need 1 balloon to enter. you will also find the key in ancient lake, so let's get it! Ancient Lake: This course is easy, to start off, grab the key on the ramp, which is on the right. Then get back on the course, collect bannanas, and blue balloons. once you have collected 3 blue balloons in a row, you will have the best boost possible, if oyu are on a straightaway, activate it and you will rocket into first! just keep repeating this until you cross the finish line! Taj will now give you 1 more balloon! Also now a cinema showing the locked door being unlocked will appear, now you can play the bonus game for this world: Fire Mountain. But that's later.....now you have 2 balloons, obviously you need to go into the 2 balloon door, which is Fossil Canyon. Fossil Canyon: In this course all you need to do is race, simple enough. Collect either red or blue balloons, they are the only ones that will help you. And try to get 7-10 bannanas on he first lap, this will increase your speed greatly. If you are way behind or want to stay ahead of the pack there is a mini-shortcut accross the water you can use, just hit the zipper and you will rocket across the water, giving you a 3 0r 4 second edge. at the end of the lap, there are two paths - left, and right. Go right, you will be able to get a blue balloon, plus it's much easier to drive. The left way only has a red balloon and is hard to navigate. Once oyu get 1rst place, Taj will give you your 3rd balloon! Now you can enter the 3 Balloon door - Jungle Falls Jungle Falls: No need to collect bannanas in this course, here is a sure-fire way to get 1rst place everytime: Hit the first zipper on the left at the start, then collect the blue balloon up ahead on the right, and hit the zipper to fly across the bridge, just before you enter the tunnel, use the blue boost to zip through the tunnel, after you exit hit the zipper directly in front of you and power slide a bit to keep up your speed. While still sliding, go over the zipper arrow in the dino skull, you will now be at the end of the lap. repeat this 3 times and you should almost LAP everyone by the time you cross the finish line! Now Taj will give you another balloon, you will now have 4. But to enter the last level - Hot Top Volcano, you need 5 balloons. To get another balloon exit the world, and go talk to Taj. Have him change you into a Plane, and the head toards the ledge near wizpig's statue, there will be a balloon there, grab it! you will now have 5 balloons and be able to enter the Hot-Top-Volcano stage! Now fly, or change back to car if you'd like, to Dino Domain and enter the last stage of the world! Hot-Top-Volcano: This level is pretty straight-forward. All you need to do is get a good start, avoid the walls, and grab 3 blue balloons in a row. once you have them, use them at the end of the lap. your plane will rocket ahead and you should be well ahead by now. Do this on all 3 laps, as well as getting bannanas along the way. if you can, try and hit a few zippers too. Now, you shouldn't have much of a problem with this course. Once again Taj will give you a balloon once you've beaten the race, raising your total to 6. Also now the boss door will open, so you can race the boss. However, don't go in just yet, remember the loced door you opened with the key? now is the time to enter the door and beat the bonus level- Fire Mountain. Fire Mountain: The object of this level is to succesfully hatch 3 eggs in your characters nest, which is easier said thean done. Starting off, get an egg from the center and place it in your next, hopefully it will hatch. After that you need to take un- hatched eggs from your OPPONENTS nests, i would take eggs from the one that has the most so far. Keep doing this until you hatch 3 eggs. If another player is about to hatch their 3rd egg, make sure you go steal it, even if you need to protect your eggs. The key to beating this level is: Place egg in nest, protect egg with missles, steal opponents eggs, repeat! Have fun beating this one! after you beat the level you will get 1/4 of the T.T. Amulet! Now go enter the boss door! Dino Domain Boss: This guy is easy, he's just a fat triceratops who can't run, or do anything else, get a rocket start, then just grab blue balloons, only this time use just a single boost, not a powered up one. There is also a shortcut here, on the winding part of the mountain, there will be some bushes on the left, slide into them and you will enter a straight tunnel! this shaves off TONS of time, so make sure you take this shortcut. After that, just hug the wall so you don't fall off and you should have him beat easily! After winning, you won't get anything. However, the boss will tell you to beat the silver coin challenge, which is now accessible. The silver coin challenge is the same levels, only you must get all 8 silver coins, AND get 1rst! Now let's go back to Ancient Lake to start off the silver coin challenge! -------------------------------------------------------- 8. Tips And Tricks -------------------------------------------------------- 2X Speed Burst Whenever you hit a zipper of any kind, or use any Speed Burst item, let go of the Accelerate button before you use the item or hit the zipper. The boost should be twice as powerful. Submitted by Drew Ressler Adventure 2 To play the second adventure, make your way to Space World (see below) and beat Wizpig again. You'll now have a new option called ADVENTURE 2. In this mode you have to collect platinum balloons and all the adventure tracks will be reversed. Submitted by Bryan Meason Beating Wizpig To beat Wizpig the first time, make sure you're using Bumper and start the race. You have to hit every zipper on every lap; if you miss more than one you can't win. Remember to let off the gas right before you hit the zippers for added boost! If you hit all the zippers and get that extra boost you'll beat him with ease! Beating Wizpig the second time is actually easier than the first if you're using Diddy Kong. First, turbo start and immediately grab the first blue ballon, use it right away and stay low. (It is very important to make all the turns, without hitting the sides of the walls and caves.) Second, grab the first red ballon (low route) then the second, giving you a heat seeker. You should be close behind him, fire away and fly high. The high route gives you a turbo boost going into the caves; use it immediately (it is possible to pull into first going into the caves.) As soon as you're in the caves, get the first blue ballon on the left, use it and stay low, this should definately boost you in front of wizpig. Stay low and don't worry about any other ballons until you see the Shield ballon on the left. Make sure you get it, you will need it to make it through Wizpig's chamber. Use it as soon as the space ships start shooting. If done correctly, you will stay in front of wizpig the rest of the race. For the second and third laps, get only the blue ballons as before, avoid all red ballons, and make sure you get the shield ballon, he normally will never pass you once you pull ahead, as long as you don't hit walls. If he does pull ahead, you will only need one red ballon, then you should be able to pass once again. Submitted by The Game Dr and jkhardin@uncc.edu Different Sky in Star City Usually, the sky in Star City is red, but this trick makes it blue. First go to the magic code screen and enter the code "doublevision". Now (if you have two controllers) select the same character and start racing in Star City. The sky will be blue instead of red. Submitted by Scott Kusner (skusner@yahoo.com) Hidden Gold Balloon This works best with the hover car. In the lobby, go thru the waterfall to enter the snow-covered place. Continue down the river untill you go thru a small doorway. As soon as you go thru the doorway, head rihgt onto the grass. Keep going untill you get to a ramp. Go up the ramp and there should be a golden balloon. Submitted by MaxJerome33@hotmail.com Key Locations 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 between two 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. Sherbert Island key: This key is located in the track called "Crescent Island". When you start, take the left path. After the second zipper, lead 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. Power up your speed burst to level 3 (get three blue balloons). The 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 speed up the raising drawbridge and get the key. (Make sure its a 2x burst, and be sure to jump right when you reach the top of the bridge!) Submitted by Bryan Meason, Drew Ressler and The Game Dr Play as Drumstick To play as Drumstick, find all of the amulets, the WizPig and the TT amulets. Once you've done this, go to the main feild where you usually start and go over to the frogs by the water. Find the frog with a little red bird on it's head and run over it. Drumstick will appear and you can now race with him whenever you want. Submitted by Chris Cassaro Shortcuts 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 off-road. 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 power-ups 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 power-up and jump ahead of you foes. Pirate's Lagoon: Near the end, use the Zipper to jump the ramp and get a Turbo power-up. Windmill Plains: Go through the windmills at the beginning. Both of them contain a Zipper and a Magnet power-up. 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! Star City: Choose the Airplane, then go into Star City and look for the N64 railway train. Follow it for a shortcut. Note: Do NOT hit the train, or else it will go slower. Alternatively, continue going straight when your in the glass room. When you exit fly high. Look for the Rareware sign (the letter R) and go right through it. Submitted by Chris Evans and SP-115 (lguppy@qc.bell.ca) Space World To visit Space World, you must beat WizPig and get all of the Trophies and Amulets. Once you've done that, go to the sign by the lighthouse and honk at the sign near it. The lighthouse will transform into a rocket and into space. Submitted by The GameDr Turbo Boost After the announcer says "Get Ready" and the words start to disappear at the start of a race, press the A button. You will get a turbo boost. This helps dramatically in your racing success! Submitted by Chris Evans - Check Part Two For The Rest Of This FAQ! - ©1999 Jdude84