Dragon Forest
| Dragon Forest | |
|---|---|
| Dragon Forest lobby DKR.png | |
| First appearance | Diddy Kong Racing |
| Latest appearance | Diddy Kong Racing DS |
| Greater location | Timber's Island |
| Ruler | Smokey the Dragon |
Dragon Forest is the fourth world of Diddy Kong Racing and its remake, Diddy Kong Racing DS and an area of Timber's Island. Dragon Forest is a medieval-themed area featuring castles, villages, and windmills. The minimum requirement for entering the world is 16 Golden Balloons. The active character can access the world by going through the second waterfall left of Wizpig's head statue. Smokey the Dragon is the boss of Dragon Forest.
In Dragon Forest's lobby, each course door is on a village house, Smokey's door is on a castle and the challenge level is hidden within a tree. The character uses a car to drive around Dragon Forest's lobby.
Courses
For courses where two or all three vehicles can be used, vehicles listed in bold print are the mandated vehicle during Adventure Mode and the Trophy Race, and other vehicles can only be used in a Time Trial or after the course is completed.
| Course | Unlock requirement | Vehicles | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 Windmill Plains |
 × 16 (race) × 23 (Silver Coin/Balloon Pop Challenge)
|
Car, Hovercraft, Plane | Windmill Plains is a race track built in an agrarian landscape with many hills and tunnels. The default vehicle for this track is the plane. Along with hay bales and a lake with a small rocky path, this track features a couple of windmills, which give the track its name. Inside the windmills are usually Item Balloons and Zippers. |
 Greenwood Village |
× 17 (race) × 24 (Silver Coin/Balloon Pop Challenge)
|
Car, Hovercraft | Greenwood Village is divided into two segments: A part set in a medieval town with frame houses, stone walls and a well, and the other part set in a forest with uneven paths. The segments alternate through log tunnels. The race itself starts on a bridge decorated with flags and the default vehicle is the car. The player should watch out, because some of this track's Zippers might send them right into an obstacle. |
 Boulder Canyon |
× 20 (race) × 30 (Silver Coin/Balloon Pop Challenge)
|
Hovercraft | Boulder Canyon is traversed by hovercrafts. The racers start off by racing down a river filled with rotating logs, which slows down the racers. The setting then changes to that of a medieval castle. A bell that is found here can be rung which will cause the drawbridge to be risen. This is also necessary to find the key to Smokey Castle. The castle segment then leads to a canal filled with sewage water, until it restarts again at the river. |
 Haunted Woods |
× 22 (race) × 37 (Silver Coin/Balloon Pop Challenge)
|
Car, Hovercraft | The Haunted Woods course resembles Greenwood Village, except that it adds dungeon-like tunnels to the village and forest settings. The village part features a large fountain in the center, in which racers easily can fall if they do not pay attention. This course is prominent for the ghostly Wizpig phantoms appearing throughout the forest and dungeon, hence the name "Haunted Woods". |
 Boss race: Smokey's Course |
First match: × 23 + every track completed Rematch: × 38 + every track completed
|
Plane | The player's character must beat Smokey the Dragon in a race to obtain a piece of the Wizpig amulet. Like the previous bosses, Smokey has to be raced twice, the first time after completing all the race tracks, and a second time after completing the Silver Coin challenges. The race takes place in a mountain range landscape filled with twisting caves. Stone pillars inside the caves and trees outside the caves might impede the players progress. In addition, Smokey breathes fireballs which will cause the player's plane to crash-land upon contact. Smokey will double the amount of fireballs during the second race. |
 Challenge Level: Smokey Castle |
N64: Boulder Canyon's Wish Key DS: 30 coins |
Car | Smokey castle is a battle minigame in Dragon Forest and will become accessible after the player collects the golden key in Boulder Canyon. It takes place in a square-shaped castle. Inside the castle are four treasure chests, each one belongs to one character. The purpose of the treasure chests is to hold bananas which the racers collect. During the game, a racer can hold a maximum amount of two bananas, so after collecting two of them, they should put them into their respective treasure chest. The first race to collect ten bananas wins; the player must win this challenge to obtain a piece of the T.T. amulet.
In the DS remake, Bananas were replacede by Taj Tokens, and just like to the other Challenge Levels, it was replaced by a Wish Race against T.T. in the Adventure Mode, being playable only in multiplayer. |
Gallery
Diddy Kong Racing map artwork
Diddy Kong Racing DS in-game map
Diddy Kong Racing DS Trophy Race icon
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ドラゴンゾーン[?] Doragon Zōn |
Dragon Zone | |
| German | Drachenwald[?] | Dragon Forest | |
| Italian | Foresta del Drago[?] | Dragon Forest | |
| Spanish | Bosque del Dragón[?] | Dragon Forest |
