More party game than a pure racing title, Kirby Air Riders takes everything that made the original Kirby Air Ride so beloved and builds upon it with more characters, vehicles, courses, and unlockable items.
Considering the many games that Nintendo could have chosen to make a sequel for in 2025, Kirby Air Ride is one of the most unlikely picks. It was a one-off, Mario Kart-like racer for the Nintendo GameCube that applied an offbeat twist to the fun formula. The result? A cult classic. Still, Nintendo is nothing if not playful, and Kirby is one of its cheeriest mascots. So, 22 years later, Kirby Air Riders ($69.99) hits the Nintendo Switch 2. It takes everything beloved about Kirby Air Ride and adds more tracks, vehicles, and riders, along with a lengthy single-player campaign, online play, and numerous cosmetic options. It’s a fun, party-style game, but like its predecessor, Kirby Air Riders lacks many conventional, competitive racing modes. That said, if you want a more mainstream kart racing game, check out the Editors’ Choice award-winning Mario Kart World and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.Story: Cartoon Racing and Eldritch Horror
Narratively, Kirby Air Riders is a traditional Kirby title, meaning it has a colorful, cheery premise with just a hint of an underlying apocalyptic nightmare. The story details how several cool vehicles landed on the planet Popstar, and its inhabitants, including Kirby, decided to ride them for fun. So, you have cute Kirby characters, cool vehicles, and entertaining races. All that is pretty chipper.
The single-player campaign mode, Road Trip, takes the Mario Kart premise and mixes in some of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Colour Out of Space. If anything, dealing with an unknowable force threatening reality is more of a typical Tuesday for Kirby than racing on scooters. I won’t go into details beyond that, except to say that a particular popular character is warped into one of the coolest designs the series has had since Meta Knight.Controls: Now There Are 2 Buttons!
Kirby Air Riders features a control scheme that will be familiar to anyone who has played the original GameCube game. As in Kirby Air Ride, you steer with the analog stick, and brake, drift, and charge the speed boost with the B button. The latter is similar to Mario Kart’s boost, except you charge it by slowing down, whether or not you’re actually drifting. I constantly keep my thumb on the accelerator while playing Mario Kart (when I’m not drifting around a corner to get a boost, that is), so applying that idea to Kirby Air Riders’ pedal feels surprisingly natural.
Tapping or holding the button for a moment lets you inhale nearby, non-racer enemies on the track; releasing the button spits them out for a forward-shooting projectile attack that also increases your speed. Alternatively, you can swallow certain enemies and temporarily gain their Copy Ability. Those are powers that let you automatically attack nearby racers and creatures (Needle, Sword), launch projectiles (Cutter, Fire), or transform into a different form that’s faster, more maneuverable, and more dangerous (Steel Ball, Wheel).
If you want to attack a nearby racer and there isn’t a creature to use as a weapon, flick the analog stick left and then right to unleash a Quick Spin that damages opponents. However, the Quick Spin is a bit awkward to execute, as the flicking gesture isn’t as precise as a dedicated button. I didn’t miss any Quick Spins while playing, but I can envision people blowing the motion during heated competition.
Kirby Air Riders’ control scheme is slightly more complicated than the original game’s. Now, you use the Y button to activate a special move unique to your character after you’ve charged a meter that fills as you race. For example, standard Kirby swings a powered-up sword that’s much larger than the Sword Copy Ability, Meta Knight leaps into the air and flies forward, and Bandana Waddle Dee spins his spear in a tornado attack. Additionally, in City Trial mode, the Y button lets you switch vehicles. The controls work well, and I never felt constrained by the simplicity while playing.Racers and Vehicles: Mix-and-Match to Victory
You race using a racer paired with a vehicle, with over a dozen different choices for each. The combinations have stats in 10 categories, including Boost, Charge, Top Speed, and Turn. They’re pretty self-explanatory, with a few exceptions. Lift and Flight Speed determine how far you can glide after a jump and how well you can control the vehicle in the air, respectively. Offense, Defense, and Max HP dictate how effective you are in combat. Depending on the match type, losing all your health and wearing down your opponents’ health can result in temporary advantages or setbacks, ultimately leading to victory or defeat.
There are 20 racers, including favorites like Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, Waddle Dee, and Bandana Waddle Dee. Similarly, the 22 vehicles vary significantly in terms of general performance and control mechanics. Their stats swing massively between them, more than the differences between riders, and they also often have their own unique control quirks.
