An Actual Story

Rather than assuming our favorite video game characters would randomly rendezvous to race around death-defying regions of the world -- you know, for the laughs -- "Diddy Kong Racing" offers a bit more than "Mario Kart 64." It offers a story mode, narrating the tale of how Diddy received a help message from his friend Timber, asking for help defeating the dastardly villain Wiz Pig through races.

Remember parents: never leave your children in charge of your family island while you go on vacation, or else an evil pig might take over in your absence.

Thus, Diddy called on his friends Banjo and Conker to help Timber out. Don't forget that this was also Banjo's first video game appearance -- even before his own series was released. New faces were another perk of the game.