Diddy Kong Racing

Diddy Kong Racing is like Mario Kart but with more interesting tracks and a long unskippable intro.

Sound Test
A sound test is accessible by the cheat code "JUKEBOX".

Unused Song
Sound test track 12 ("sea_2b" internally) is unused - it was created for Crescent Island but was cut in favor of a different song.

Unused Player-Select Theme


The character-select music changes its lead instrument depending on the character highlighted by the player. Within the track, there is a MIDI channel for a sitar lead which cannot be triggered under normal circumstances. This may point to Taj the genie being playable at some point in development as the track shares its sitar with his other in-game themes.

Unused Cheats
There are some unused/debug cheat codes in the game. Some are still enterable, others have been changed to a string of numbers, rendering them unenterable due to the convenient lack of numbers on the cheat code entry keyboard.
 * High Speed Racing (code 1234567890): According to Nintendo Power(?) this would have increased everyone's top speed or maybe just done the same thing as the "No Limit To Bananas" code. It's listed in the official strategy guide, which helpfully doesn't give you the actual codes. It doesn't appear to do anything if enabled. Presumably it would have been an ordinary cheat code that could actually be entered at one point.
 * Print Coords (code 8846325012): Displays player 1's coordinates in the upper left corner of the screen.
 * ROM Checksum (code DODGYROMMER): Displays a checksum of the ROM when you return from the cheat list. (Appears to freeze for a few seconds.)
 * Free Balloon (code EOLAOBFENRLONE): Exactly what it says on the tin: Every time you start Adventure Mode with this cheat active, there will be another golden balloon floating around the overworld. This cheat can be entered normally but is never given in the credits. (Anagram of "ONEFREEBALLOON".)
 * EPC Lock Up Display (code EPC): If the game crashes, next time it's powered up it will display a crash report screen, which isn't very usable as it flashes through several pages quickly.
 * Control TT (code 1058732594) and Control Drumstick (code 8649305321): Actually implemented as cheats. When you unlock these characters, these cheats show up in the menu and can be toggled on and off.
 * Mirrored Tracks (code 0986754321): Appears to do the same thing as Adventure 2, but my emulator isn't handling it well.

GameShark code unlocks all cheats.

Unused Graphics


A logo for Pro AM 64, likely from an early version of Diddy Kong Racing before Diddy was in the game.



A small, earlier version of the Diddy Kong Racing logo. The palette here is guessed, as one couldn't be found in the ROM.



A series of icons used for an early version of the character selection menu. Note that icons for Diddy and T.T. do not exist. These likely came from a period when the game was called Pro AM 64.



Crudely-drawn placeholders for the signs in the lobby of Sherbet Island.



A sign for Twilight City which matches those found in the Future Fun Land lobby. The sound effect for when T.T. says "Star City" is internally named TWILIGHTCITY, so this is likely an early name for that track.



An early T.T. Challenge door.



2D image digits, , and are unused HUD maps. Unused tracks that match the first two maps have not been found, but the third map matches the first unfinished track in the second video below.



Presents hanging from red and blue balloons.



A torch with googly eyes.



A traffic light.



Possible debug-related signs and symbols.



A golden Rare coin.



Individual letters of "RARE".

Unfinished Tracks
An unfinished track, called "Horseshoe Gulch", exists in the game. Use GameShark code to select it on the Tracks menu. It looks like an ordinary track, but isn't circular. The AI racers (including Wizpig!?) just drive around seemingly randomly. One of the arches is untextured. This appears to have been primarily added for the title screen intro.

hLAHZXj3Ol8 Along with Horseshoe Gulch, 5 unfinished tracks (One map, Snow Mountain, is so large that it cannot be reached even by plane.) exist that currently cannot be reach by GameShark. The only way to view the tracks is swap the hub's level model while using the ID.

Two maps seem to be a early version of Hot-Top Volcano and One used in battle mode.

The cube test map also exists in Mickey's Speedway USA and Jet Force Gemini.

Early Objects
OSIDVpAOW7M

Extra Localizations
Aside from the English and French options in the menu in the USA version, there are German and Japanese options, though the latter is not quite finished as it replaces much of the text in the game with placeholders.

Code replaces French with German in the menu;  replaces with Japanese.

Revisional Differences
Some revisional differences exist, most of them are to make Spaceport Alpha slightly easier.


 * After defeating Trickytops or Bluey for the first time, Taj tells you a gameplay tip. In 1.0, Taj speaks the instant he appears on screen. In 1.1, he delays for a bit before speaking.


 * The infamous "wrong warp" glitch from Hot Top Volcano works differently between versions. In 1.0, the game crashes once you go through the loading zone, but in 1.1, it warps you to the adventure mode hub, loading the data from file 1. This glitch can be heavily abused to beat the game in under an hour.


 * A couple of graphics in Star City were removed in 1.1, these include a neon sign of sun which was replaced with the N64 logo and the Killer Instinct logo which was removed entirely. Also, the space ship graphic doesn't animate in 1.1.


 * The vent's graphics were changed to a somewhat glitchy blue texture.


 * A wall was added near the vent to prevent players from going the wrong way.


 * The hole directly behind the starting line was removed likely so that it wouldn't confuse players.