We live in a society…er…we live in a gaming world where all sorts of factors can determine a game or franchise’s success or not. One of those big factors is simply having the right people on board to make things go smoothly and ensure quality. We ALL know examples of games that didn’t have that and suffered because of it. Ironically, one of those titles was Super Smash Bros, when Nintendo tried to do the game without Masahiro Sakurai. He came back and helped right the ship. But…what does that have to do with Kirby Air Riders?
Well, this story comes from Reddit and some XCancel posts made by insider “Kiwi Talkz.” According to them, Sakurai was straight-up burned out after Super Smash Bros Ultimate and needed to take some time off, which is when he decided to do his now legendary YouTube channel. However, Nintendo still wanted him to make games, especially ones from a certain fighting game franchise, so they made a compromise with him. Sakurai, apparently, REALLY wanted to do Kirby Air Riders. So, they made a deal that he would be able to do that game, which is what he’s been working on over the last few years, and then he’d be able to go back to Smash Bros.
Is this true? No clue. However, elements of it do ring true. We KNOW that Sakurai was burned out after Smash Bros Ultimate. He said so himself in multiple videos and interviews. Second, we know that Kirby Air Ride from the GameCube era held a special place in his heart. So, having the Nintendo Switch 2 to take things to the next level likely would be appealing to him.
Regardless, Sakurai is someone you trust to make great games, so just let him make what he wants!
