Diddy Kong Racing

Diddy Kong Racing is a video game developed by Rareware and released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. Although it is not of the Banjo-Kazooie series, Diddy Kong Racing is the first game to include Banjo, which was done to familiarize players with him before receiving his own debut title, Banjo-Kazooie. Tiptup also makes his first appearance in the game.

Playable Characters

 * Diddy Kong is the game's namesake and all-around in terms of stats. He is a monkey from the Donkey Kong series.
 * Banjo is a honey bear that premiered in Diddy Kong Racing, 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 Conker's Pocket Tales. He acts as a middleweight racer.
 * Krunch is a Kremling from the Donkey Kong series. He acts as the fastes heavyweight, but the least agile racer.
 * Tiptup is a lightweight character that would later appear in both Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.
 * Timber 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.
 * T.T. (unlockable)
 * Drumstick (unlockable)

Trivia

 * Banjo mentions racing a genie and a giant pig at some point in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. This is a reference to Diddy Kong Racing with Wizpig being the pig and Taj being the genie.
 * Although Banjo wears the blue backpack which Kazooie uses in the Banjo-Kazooie series, Kazooie is never mentioned nor seen in the game. She is, however, mentioned in the game's instruction manual, and music related to Banjo includes both a Banjo and a Kazoo-like instrument.
 * Diddy Kong, who lives on Donkey Kong Isle, contacts Banjo and Conker from their respective lands using Squawks the Parrot, to help Timber on Timber Island. Because of this, it can be assumed that the Isle o' Hags, along with Conker's homeland (Panther Kingdom), Donkey Kong Isle, Timber's Island, and the Mushroom Kingdom (due to Donkey Kong and the rest of the Kongs making appearances in many Mario games) all exist on the same planet, or "Game World".
 * Trophy Thomas's initials may be a reference to T.T., as both characters set Time Trials.