Kirby Air Riders Review – Ter-Rick-fic

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I was surprised when Kirby Air Riders was announced earlier this year. While I enjoy the original game from 2003, releasing another Nintendo kart racer so soon felt unusual – even the game’s director, Masahiro Sakurai, admitted it. This was especially noticeable considering Nintendo’s careful release schedule for its Switch games. But calling Kirby Air Riders just another kart racer doesn’t quite capture what it is. Racing is a core part of the game, but what really makes it special is how it takes those basic racing ideas and uses them to create both entirely new ways to play and improve on existing ones. The end result is a fantastic sequel full of smart ideas, enjoyable challenges, and plenty of personality.

Kirby Air Riders is easy to control. Your vehicle speeds up on its own, leaving you to steer left and right. You have two main actions: charging a boost and using a special ability. The boost works like a brake – holding it stores energy, then releasing it sends you flying forward. Using it before a turn lets you drift, similar to Mario Kart. The special ability is unique to each rider. Besides a quick spin done by moving the control stick rapidly, you can also suck up enemies to gain new powers. These powers activate automatically or when you use the boost.

Kirby Air Ride is simple to learn thanks to its two-button control scheme, but adding one more button would have been helpful. Because the game combines inhaling enemies, using copy abilities, and boosting with a single button, you might find your speed suffers if you don’t press the boost quickly enough when trying to attack. It can be a little frustrating initially, but you can easily get used to it with some practice.

Okay, so this game looks easy to pick up, but it’s actually surprisingly deep! You’re constantly trying to balance speed – getting rid of enemies, staying close to your rivals, and sticking those landings all give you a boost. But mess up, take some damage, or bump into things, and you’ll quickly lose your momentum. Honestly, winning, especially in the races, is all about keeping that speed up. Mastering when to use your Boost Charges, taking out enemies quickly, and nailing those landings? That’s what separates the winners from those who just miss out on first place!

Kirby Air Ride is surprisingly quick – really, really fast! The game’s speed has been increased since the original, and you’ll notice it right away. Things move quickly with enemies whizzing by, bright colors, and flashing lights, which can be a bit overwhelming. However, this fast pace pushes you to think and react instantly. You might need to land perfectly, suck up an enemy, and then boost around a corner, all within a single second! Mastering any one of those actions is doable, but chaining them together without crashing takes serious skill. Each race is full of quick decisions that require your full focus and lightning-fast reflexes, making a perfect lap incredibly rewarding.

Kirby Air Riders stands out from other kart racing games because of its unique vehicles. Each one isn’t just about speed and handling – they all have special abilities and characteristics that encourage different ways to play. Some even have completely unique features. For instance, the Formula Star is incredibly fast in a straight line, but struggles with turns. On the other hand, the new Transform Star can change shape during a race to adapt to different track surfaces, making it a very adaptable choice. A lot of the game’s strategy comes from learning what each vehicle does best. I personally love some of them and dislike others, but these strong differences give each vehicle a lot of personality. This makes unlocking new vehicles exciting, as you never quite know which one will become your favorite.

The Riders, while not as game-changing as the machines, are much more developed this time around. Each Rider has unique stats and special abilities – some offer powerful attacks, while others provide significant speed boosts, making them all feel distinct. For example, Kirby attacks wildly with a sword, and Waddle-Dee turns golden for a huge speed increase. How useful each Rider is depends on the game mode, but none of them feel unbalanced. Using a Rider’s special ability at the right moment can help you catch up, though it won’t instantly put you in first place like some power-ups in Mario Kart. Personally, I love Rick, the hamster with sneakers. His special lets him abandon his machine and run the course incredibly fast. It’s hilarious to watch, and even after 30 hours of playing, I still enjoy seeing him zip by.

City Trial is the party mode in Kirby Air Riders, played in two parts. First, players explore the map to find parts and upgrades that boost their machine’s speed, flight, handling, and combat skills. Then, players compete in a randomly chosen challenge, like a race or a demolition derby. Success depends on building a versatile machine that can handle anything. Each match is different because of factors like available machines, how other players are behaving, and what power-ups you find. Random events, such as boss battles, rare items, and special combat challenges, keep things interesting. Originally featured in the first Kirby Air Rider, this mode remains unique thanks to its mix of fast-paced action, unpredictable events, and ever-changing gameplay – no two rounds are ever the same.

City Trial is complete mayhem in the best way. By the end of a match, if you’ve gathered a lot of power-ups, your vehicle will become incredibly fast and difficult to steer. While there’s a bit of strategy in avoiding too many upgrades, it’s much more fun to push your machine to its limits and see how powerful you can make it. Players are either randomly assigned a competition or can choose from four random options, meaning they usually don’t know what’s coming in the second phase. Sometimes your vehicle won’t perform well, but other times you’ll create a perfect match for the final challenge. It’s not perfectly balanced, but that unpredictability is what makes it so enjoyable.

Road Trip connects all the game’s different modes. It’s a single-player story where you’ll face hundreds of short challenges taken from the other game types, all while traveling through various environments. Each time you encounter a challenge, you can choose from three options, and successfully completing one improves your vehicle’s stats. These improvements last throughout the entire Road Trip, giving you a rewarding feeling of progress as your machine transforms from a basic vehicle into a powerful, high-performance rig.

What makes this mode so fun is how quickly it switches between different types of gameplay. One moment you might be battling a boss in a City Trial, and the next you’re racing other players to see who can fly the furthest. Built around Air Ride, Top Ride, and City Trial, the mode really highlights how versatile Kirby Air Riders is. There’s a huge variety of challenges, including races where you collect food, drag races, combat arenas, and flying challenges – all packed into the game. It accomplishes a lot despite appearing simple.

I’m totally hooked on Road Trip! One playthrough takes a good two or three hours, and honestly, you can’t see everything in just one go. I’ve already played through it four times and still haven’t discovered all the areas and finished every encounter – it’s amazing how much there is to do!

Aside from Splatoon 3, this might be Nintendo’s slickest implementation of multiplayer to date.

Road Trip has a few frustrating elements. After each battle, you only have a short time to change your vehicle, and if you miss the window, you could be stuck with a machine that’s poorly suited for the next fight. While you can switch vehicles after losing, harder difficulties penalize you for failing or retrying, which feels unfair when your current machine isn’t strong enough for combat. Also, you’re locked into your chosen character for the entire playthrough – you can’t change them without starting a new game. This wouldn’t be a big problem if each run was quick, but since a playthrough takes two to three hours, it’s a long time to stick with a character you don’t enjoy.

One of the biggest surprises in Kirby Air Ride is its surprisingly strong multiplayer mode. It’s arguably Nintendo’s most polished multiplayer experience since Splatoon 3. You can play ranked and casual matches in Air Ride, Top Ride, and City Trial, but the real standout feature is the Paddock. This is a lobby where up to 32 players can gather, listen to music, and show off their customized vehicles. Players can also queue up multiple races simultaneously and jump into whichever one they choose.

I got to try out the game in a special, early access setup with Nintendo staff running things, so I know things might be a little different when everyone gets their hands on it. But honestly, my experience was really good! I did run into one annoying bug during a few of the City Trial matches – my game kept freezing up whenever I tried to switch machines, and it happened three times in a row! It eventually fixed itself, thankfully. Still, I can already tell I’m going to be spending hours hanging out with my friends in the Paddock. It’s that fun!

Each game mode is enjoyable, but the real draw is the extensive checklist system. Every mode, including online play, features 150 challenges displayed on a grid. Completing these challenges unlocks new vehicles, Riders, music, tracks, and other goodies. The constant stream of rewards makes each race feel rewarding and encourages players to try out different Riders and machines. Plus, most challenges can be started directly from the checklist menu with a simple button press, saving you the trouble of manually configuring the game settings. While the automatically set parameters aren’t always optimal—sometimes using the default number of laps when a challenge could be finished in one—it significantly simplifies the process of completing these challenges.

Kirby Air Riders is a surprisingly robust game that gets a lot out of simple gameplay. Each mode offers something unique: Air Ride is a classic kart racer, Top Ride is lighthearted fun, City Trial is wonderfully chaotic, and Road Trip provides a creative and rewarding experience. While Masahiro Sakurai has stated there are no plans for further development or downloadable content, after playing extensively, it’s clear this game has fully realized its original vision from 2003. It’s a complete package, and I couldn’t ask for more.

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2025-11-19 14:11