Kirby is a uniquely healthful Nintendo character, but his video games typically have a unusual imply streak to them. They’re all about letting gamers take in enemies and tackle some wild powers to tear by way of vibrant phases with reckless abandon. That is very true with Kirby Air Riders, the long-awaited sequel to the GameCube traditional racing recreation, Kirby Air Experience. Very like the unique, it is a fast-paced racing recreation starring Kirby and pals as they race by way of visually putting locales – it additionally occurs to be one of the vital chaotic racing video games I’ve performed in fairly some time.
At PAX West 2025 in Seattle, I spent an hour taking part in Kirby Air Riders, reacquainting myself with the approachable but surprisingly deep mechanics from the cult-favorite 2003 racing recreation. It is definitely fascinating to see recreation director Masuhiro Sakurai observe up Tremendous Smash Bros. Final with a Kirby racing recreation. Nonetheless, after taking part in Air Riders, this racer carries that related ‘go-for-broke’ vitality that runs deep in his earlier video games.
Like the unique recreation, you race by way of quite a lot of phases impressed by the Kirby collection. The sequel takes issues additional with an expanded roster of Kirby characters, similar to Meta Knight and King Dedede, every with their very own distinctive expertise and stats as racers. When you race by way of conventional tracks, Air Riders – very similar to the unique – additionally opens up free-for-all motion phases and mini-games that check your expertise in drifting, gliding, and the traditional capacity of sucking as much as acquire new powers.
Kirby Air Riders completely doubles down on what made the unique so distinctive, and that is what makes it such an extremely weird tackle a racing recreation. In some ways, Air Riders does to racing video games what Smash Bros did for the preventing style – injecting non-genre-conforming programs and ideas that will appear misplaced for the kind of recreation it desires to be.
Nevertheless, taking part in Kirby Air Riders can take some getting used to, particularly contemplating its pretty restricted management scheme. Very like the unique, acceleration occurs mechanically, and the sport as an alternative has you concentrate on managing motion and momentum with the management stick and a single button to have interaction boosts – and that is all you want for controlling your chosen racer’s automobile. However therein lies the nuance of taking part in; by managing momentum and velocity, you’ll be able to have interaction drifts and energy spin assaults to beat rivals on the observe.
It pays to be aggressive in Kirby Air Riders, as you may acquire velocity by efficiently touchdown assaults on enemies. A specific racer I used typically was Return to Dream Land’s Magolor, who may sprout floor spikes after touchdown from jumps. The sequel even expands upon the offensive nature of Air Riders with a brand new particular capacity button, which prompts character-specific assaults after filling a meter.
I used to be actually greatly surprised by how briskly and chaotic races can get, and I discovered myself getting caught off guard by how diabolical the opposite rivals can get, unleashing assaults and snatching victory in a pinch. In reality, I closed two races in 2nd place back-to-back within the ultimate second as a consequence of King Dedede participating their automobile’s boosts on the proper time. In that sense, it took me a while to return to grips with the sport’s fast tempo and the way shortly issues can flip towards you.
This was very true with the returning Metropolis Trial mode, which is basically Kirby Air Riders‘ tackle the traditional kart-racer battle mode within the vein of Mario Kart 64 or Twisted Steel. In Metropolis Trial, gamers and CPU characters enter a mad sprint to gather power-ups and improve their automobiles in a big open space, which culminates in themed mini-games to determine the ultimate winner.
It took me a while to grasp the bigger purpose of Metropolis Trial, because it felt like getting swept up in a colourful mosh pit – one the place different gamers can snatch your automobiles. This battle mode shortly turns into extraordinarily hectic and the dynamic occasions result in some really weird situations, similar to bombs raining down on the sector, which may ship gamers scrambling. Metropolis Trial is a enjoyable, mini-open-world to discover that includes a set of secrets and techniques to search out, and I actually took a liking to only how a lot is packed into these occasions.
It took me a while to actually get into the groove of Kirby Air Riders and its fairly ruthless method to action-racing – and this was after spending 20 minutes operating the beneficiant tutorials that defined the programs at work. I nonetheless appreciated the sheer spectacle of all of it.
As soon as I discovered my stream inside the chaos, it actually helped to convey Kirby Air Riders into focus for me, and I actually appreciated the over-the-top spectacle that it’s as a racing recreation. It is a very completely different kind of racing that units itself other than Mario Kart World and different video games of its form. In reality, there are points of Kirby Air Riders that I nonetheless do not fairly perceive. OK with that as a result of I simply had a lot enjoyable attempting to waft.
Kirby Air Riders will likely be launched on November 20, 2025 on the Nintendo Change 2.
