Nintendo doesn’t like to talk about who makes its games. The company would rather turn Mario and Link into celebrities, not the developers who make their titles. There’s one exception: Masahiro Sakurai. Thanks to the massive success of the Super Smash Bros. series, Sakurai is a household name among Nintendo fans. Before Smash, however, Sakurai created the pink puffball Kirby, and he’s returning to the series with Kirby Air Riders. I spent an hour with the peculiar kart racer, coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on November 20. It has Sakurai’s design philosophy all over it, and I can’t wait to play more.
Air Riders Is Kirby Meets Mario Kart
It might seem strange that the Switch 2 is getting another big mascot kart racer so soon after launching with Mario Kart World. Maybe Nintendo is trying to cash in as much as possible after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s gargantuan sales. In Kirby Air Riders, you control cute characters racing across elaborate tracks using speed and power-ups to cross the finish line.
(Credit: Nintendo)
The racing genre is big enough to contain multitudes, and in many ways, Kirby Air Riders is so crazy it makes Mario Kart World look like a restrained and realistic Forza Motorsport title. Instead of two dozen players speeding across a relaxing open world, Kirby Air Riders has just six combatants duking it out on tight, frantic courses. The game looks beautiful, with rolling fields and rushing waves, but it moves so fast and with so much energy that you barely have time to take it all in.
Racing Mechanics With Fighting Spirit
What truly sets Kirby Air Riders apart are its mechanics, which are a direct gameplay evolution of 2003’s Kirby Air Ride for the GameCube. Similar to what Super Smash Bros. did for fighting games, Kirby Air Riders strips out some of the genre’s complexities to enhance accessibility. For example, you don’t need to press a button to accelerate; you simply steer and hold down a button to boost while drifting. It’s so simple that even the youngest gamers, people who can barely hold a controller, can participate.
Even with that basic framework, Kirby Air Riders has additional complexity layered onto it, again very much like competitive Super Smash Bros. You collect fallen stars from racers ahead of you for a speed boost, and spin the stick to attack enemies and build your special gauge. The various characters have different special attacks, like King Dedede’s Jet Hammer or Pink Kirby’s Ultra Sword. Characters have other contextual quirks, too. Racing off a ramp lets anyone glide through the air, but when Magalor lands, he leaves spikes in his wake. Each character can inhale enemies to gain their powers, a Kirby game staple.
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(Credit: Nintendo)
This all makes for an unusual racing game, and that isn’t always a good thing. For instance, the lack of an acceleration button proved frustrating when I wasn’t going as fast as I’d like. That’s because holding the boost button slows you down before you let it go. Mario Kart veterans must spend time unlearning their drifting muscle memory due to Air Riders’ wildly different angles and timing.
Racing That’s a Party: City Trial Returns
Nintendo refers to Kirby Air Riders as a “vehicle action game” because racing isn’t always the focus. For example, the playable demo featured City Trial, a beloved mode in the original game that’s about so much more than doing laps. In this pseudo-battle royale, 16 people roam a single, large map for five minutes. The goal is to create the best vehicle possible before engaging in a final challenge. It has the chaos of Mario Party, but with far more satisfyingly competitive factors to consider.
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The map is littered with power-ups that affect various stats like health, speed, and handling. You can also swap from one vehicle to another, like the sturdy tank or regal chariot. You can attack each other as well as compete in mini-games that spring up on the map, like a quick race or destruction derby. Sometimes, meteors just fall from the sky to ruin your day. All the while, you’ll still want to be mindful of which power-ups you collect or risk going into the final round with an unbalanced build. However, different vehicles may be better suited for different events. Too slow to race? Pick a mode all about combat instead. The narrative arc of a City Trial session, the ups and downs and dramatic comebacks, is sublime. This mode was the demo’s highlight.
(Credit: Nintendo)
Release Date
Sakurai is a master game designer, but a fun revival of a cult classic racing game, while neat, isn’t quite as exciting as one of the biggest fighting games of all time. I still hope there’s more to Kirby Air Riders, like a substantial mode that wasn’t demoed. But even with what’s there now, from City Trial shenanigans to the intriguing skill ceiling, Kirby Air Riders has me curious to explore more. Check back for a full review when it arrives on November 20.
About Jordan Minor
Senior Writer, Software
