Although Mario Kart 64 was THE racing title to own for the Nintendo 64, Diddy Kong Racing was another great game in the genre that isn’t quite as beloved, but still has a broad legion of appreciators. Mario Kart received a throng of sequels between then and today, but all the red-hatted Kong’s racing gem got was a Nintendo DS remake in 2007, Diddy Kong Racing DS. That doesn’t mean a Diddy Kong Racing sequel was never considered, though.

In fact, Climax Studios created a pitch to present to Nintendo for a game called Diddy Kong Racing Adventure, and while the project was never green-lit, footage of the demo can be seen in a new video from PtoPOnline (via Kotaku).

The game was meant for the GameCube, although the demo was created on the Xbox since Climax already had development tools and experience on that console. As for the plot, Wizpig and the Kremlings plan to take revenge on Diddy by paving his island home and turning it into a massive raceway. From there, it’s up to Diddy to defeat the baddies in races that take place all across the island in order to regain control of the area and send the baddies packing.

Different from most other racing games, Diddy Kong Racing Adventure would have featured animals as the vehicle of choice, which would have made sense considering how they’ve been used in that capacity before in games like Donkey Kong Country and others in the Donkey Kong franchise. Alas, the game wasn’t meant to happen, but you can still check out footage of what could have been above.

Featured image: PtoPOnline