It’s been over 33 years since Kirby first debuted as a character in Kirby’s Dream Land, and ever since, he has captured the hearts and minds of so many people around the world. He’s easily one of the most iconic characters Nintendo has ever created, up there with Mario and Link, and part of that is due to more than just his adorable design. Every single entry in the Kirby franchise, from Super Star to Return to Dreamland to Forgotten Land to Planet Robobot has maintained its consistency of being incredible games due to the fun levels and shockingly deep story.
One of the more underrated entries in the series is Kirby Air Ride for the GameCube. It’s a racing game that couldn’t be more different from Nintendo’s other racing franchises: F-Zero and Mario Kart. It focuses far more on raw speed, prioritizing turning over acceleration, and features like City Trial. Directed by one of the architects of the Kirby series and the lead director of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, Masahiro Sakurai, the game would go on to become a cult classic, with DNA that would spread to titles like Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS. For a while, though, it seemed that was all it would ever be: an underrated title that would be left behind by time.
Thankfully, Kirby Air Ride has returned in the form of a sequel: Kirby Air Riders. The game brings its predecessor’s style into the modern era, featuring new mechanics, characters, modes, and numerous additional options for players to explore. Did the original’s striking gameplay style transition gracefully after 22 years? Thankfully, despite Kirby Air Riders‘ chaotic mechanics, which take some time to adjust to, it is an absolute blast and is arguably one of the best games from Nintendo this year.
Absolute Chaos
Kirby Air Riders, like Air Ride, is a complex and chaotic game. If you’re playing expecting “Mario Kart but with Kirby characters,” then you will be lost as soon as you boot up your first race. Most racing games have dedicated buttons for accelerating and braking, plus a button for power-ups if it’s something like Mario Kart. Air Riders, however, does not have an accelerate button. Instead, there are only two buttons to concern yourself with.
The first allows you to boost charge. When you hit one of the many buttons that trigger a boost charge, you slow down to build up a boost. This is best used for gaining speed as you turn a corner, instead of losing your acceleration as you drift. The second button is a new mechanic added in Air Riders: a special move unique to whichever rider you pick. Every rider has a special ability with different capabilities that range from granting you extra speed or the ability to combat your opposing riders.
I won’t lie: it was extremely hard getting used to all of the differences between Air Riders and other racing games. Even as someone who played the Global Test Ride, adjusting to the strange style took a while. Any other game made for the modern day would have made necessary changes to streamline the gameplay, but Air Riders doesn’t. That being said, that’s not at all a bad thing.
Once you eventually figure out how the gameplay of Air Riders functions, it is so much fun. When you pick the right machine for your rider and understand your own play style, there’s a certain organized insanity to its systems that feels as natural as breathing. Flying through the air and landing to get a speed boost, understanding how your rider’s special can help you get a leg up in a race, learning how to balance your speed in a straight line and in a corner, all of these are challenges that you need to overcome to get good at the game. It feels strangely strategic compared to other entries in the genre.
A lot of the strategy comes from which character you end up choosing. While Air Ride only had one playable character (Kirby, of course), Air Riders has 21 characters. Furthermore, according to Sakurai, there will be no DLC released that adds additional characters: this is the final roster. While that may seem disappointing, the characters they chose do a great job of representing the series’ history.
There are multiple common enemies from the series, like Scarfy and Cappy, as well as some major antagonists from some of the most beloved entries in the franchise. For the most part, regardless of your entry in the series, you will likely find a character that clicks with you. The reason I say for the most part is that, sadly, there aren’t any playable characters from Kirby 64 or Forgotten Land. It’s a huge shame, but overall, the roster itself is quite strong. The addition of an original character unique to Air Riders is also a huge plus.
You will find this mysterious character in the Road Trip mode, another offering that has been added to Air Riders. It functions as the game’s story mode, but unlike World of Light in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, you pick challenges that raise your stats. These range from challenges that feature the game’s base Racing mode, select Stadium minigames from City Trial, fighting boss fights from the series’ past, and others that highlight Air Riders‘ many modes.
Along the way, you learn more about a strange machine named Zorah and the origin of all of the game’s machines in the form of memories. These feature a certain character that Kirby fans are sure to recognize, and continue the series’ trend of having absolutely psychotic lore that manages to rival the Soulsborne games. There were multiple moments where I was laughing in disbelief at the sheer absurdity of it all, while also appreciating just how dark the story manages to get at points. While it’s a bit limited compared to World of Light, I still had a lot of fun with Road Trip. It certainly helps that it offers a lot of replayability.
Of course, you can’t really talk about Kirby Air Riders without bringing up City Trial. City Trial returns from Air Ride, the beloved mode that forces you to fight against players in a giant open city to collect as many stat upgrades as possible before competing in one final minigame. Here, the city of Skyah has been expanded even further, and the minigame offerings, called Stadiums, are far greater than before.
Again, this mode is absolute insanity. It is so hard to figure out what you’re doing sometimes, and that issue can apply to the game as a whole. When I showed my younger cousins this game, they absolutely hated it because of how confusing it was, and kept begging me to play something else instead. It’s not a game that will appeal to everyone. Despite all that, much like with the actual Race mode, I can’t say I dislike that fact.
If you design a game for everyone, you run the risk of creating a game without focus. What Sakurai has managed to do here is create a game that is shameless in its chaos and celebrates just how obtuse its own mechanics are. It challenges you to get good or pay the price, and rewards you with an absolutely addictive gameplay system that will keep you occupied regardless of whether you’re playing for thirty minutes or five hours.
You will inevitably end up losing hours to this game, though. The main reason for that is because of just how much content there is in Air Riders. While other games would stop at just two main modes and a limited story mode, this instead opts for so much more than that.
Options, Options, and More Options
When Mario Kart World released earlier this year, despite having a lot of fun with the game, I was pretty disappointed with the lack of content at launch. Sure, the number of courses was great, and the free roam feature was a fun novelty, but I still felt like something was missing. That void will likely be filled as Nintendo releases more updates in the coming months. This is not a problem that Kirby Air Riders suffers from.
Other than the main Racing mode, City Trial, and Road Trip, there are countless other features to dive into. Some of these are accepted, like online and local multiplayer, while others are sure to be a huge surprise. As you continue playing, you will unlock more characters, more maps, and more ways to customize yourself. While not all of these ideas land, the overall experience was so much fun to dive into.
For starters, there’s more to experience with the story beyond the Road Trip. Once you beat the game for the first time, you get an option to pick a New Game Plus. If you do, you can pick different routes that lead to different stages, allowing you to unlock more machines. If you get every single machine, you get a new final boss and ending. I won’t spoil what you find at the end of the journey, but I highly recommend going back to play Road Trip a few times.
I will say, though, that unlocking more machines, riders, and maps is an extremely frustrating process. There is a checklist that shows what tasks you need to complete, but sometimes it won’t show you what task to complete or even what the reward is. This wouldn’t be a problem usually, but most of the characters, machines, and stages are unavailable until you complete those tasks.
Unlike Smash Bros. Ultimate, though, collecting machines in the Road Trip mode doesn’t transfer over to your overall unlocks. It makes it pretty frustrating if you’re trying to play the game with friends, and the only characters you have to choose from are Kirby, Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight. I did eventually unlock every rider, but I still have a lot more machines and stages to get, sadly.
Thankfully, a lot of the rewards you will simply get by playing the game. One of the alternate modes that you can play through to get more unlocks is Top Ride. Top Ride was initially introduced in Air Ride, and no one expected it to make a return. Now, it’s better than ever, and features the same new coat of paint and thrilling style that the rest of the game has gotten. Getting to see your rider and machines in a top-down style is so charming and brought me back to the days of playing with RC cars when I was a kid.
Of course, there’s also the online matchmaking. While Smash Bros. Ultimate had an extremely rough netcode, Air Riders has been way better in the brief amount of time I’ve played online. The addition of a lobby system where you can hang out with your friends as your favorite Kirby characters is a great touch. I also loved that you could play any of the three main modes locally with friends and family, which was a great source of fun (and chaos) within my extended family.
Beyond that, though, there are a lot of additional features that may surprise players. For starters, there’s the fact that you can customize each of your machines. You can add individual parts and decals to add more personality to your ride. That also applies to the riders themselves, who can get various little hats in the game’s shop. Also in the Air Riders shop is music you can listen to in a dedicated music player, much like Smash Bros.
You can buy your own garage to display your favorite machines. After every race, you get gummies of your opponents’ races that you can fiddle around with in a menu. You can even remap all of your buttons in a menu and change the voice of the announcer. Not to mention the fact that you can toggle photo mode at any time. There is so much to do that helps you to make your own unique version of Air Riders. Even now, there are so many features I haven’t even begun to dissect.
I can’t wait to find out more about everything I’ve missed in Air Riders, though. The game itself is so much fun that, regardless of what mode I’m playing, whether I’m playing by myself or with others, or if I never choose to unlock the other customization or maps, the base foundation is so solid that the sheer abundance of options never detracts from the overall experience. Despite some small frustrations, I can’t deny that Air Riders is an absolute slam dunk of a game.
Kirby Reigns Supreme
Kirby stands as one of the best franchises under Nintendo’s belt, and for good reason: there is something in that series for everyone. If you like platformers, deep lore, or cute and charming characters, then you will find something within the series that clicks with you. Now, I can confidently say that if you like unique racing games and the consistency you’ve come to expect from the series, then Kirby Air Riders is a must-play.
Does the game take some getting used to? Absolutely. Certainly, you will be lost at first as you try to figure out what to do and how to get good. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself pressing the A button to accelerate and instead stop completely dead in your tracks, or if you press up on the joystick and are told by the game, “You don’t need to do that.” It doesn’t help that unlocking a majority of Air Riders‘ content oftentimes feels more confusing than it should.
Despite all that, though, the game managed to draw me in. Why? Because the gameplay is, at its core, undeniably fun. When you eventually figure out what you’re doing, the races feel as smooth as butter. If you are struggling, then you can always use Road Trip as a way to test your abilities. You are introduced to a great story alongside the game’s countless modes, like City Trial and Top Ride. When you eventually make the shift to online or playing with friends, before you know it, you’ll realize that hours have gone by in the blink of an eye.
In creating a game that won’t appeal to everyone, Sakurai has created an experience that never fails to be entertaining if you choose to challenge yourself with something beyond your comfort zone. Personally, I loved Kirby Air Riders and immensely respect the courage it took to make a game like this. While I’ll always wish that there was more content, as a completed game, Air Riders stands as a contender for my favorite Nintendo game released this year and my favorite of the major racing games that have launched recently.
Disclaimer: Kirby Air Riders was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch 2.
