When Kirby Air Riders was revealed at the first Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, fans were stunned to see it, and stunned to see Masahiro Sakurai was heading it up! However, there were no gameplay details or footage to show what the game was like. However, that changed today, when a dedicated Nintendo Direct headed up by Sakurai himself broke down the main elements of the title. Yeah, it’s clear Sakurai didn’t hold back in making this game special in all the ways that matter, including poking fun at how the original was basically “Kirby Mario Kart” and then working hard to change that perception both then and now.
So, where to begin? How about with the character roster? The original GameCube title had a very limited roster. This time? Not so much. There are plenty of characters from across the Kirby series history for you to enjoy playing as, including King Dedede, Meta Knight, Chef Kowalski, Knuckle Joe, Waddle Doo, Bandana Waddle Dee, Gooey, Cappy, Susie, and even more! There was even a stunning reveal done at the very end of the trailer that diehard series fans will enjoy…
But, Sakurai didn’t stop there, as he went and created a large array of vehicles for you to check out. Some are light, some are durable, some have unique ways of darting around the race course, and so on. Pick the one that YOU think will be the best for your character and have at it.
Just as important is that every character has special abilities that they can use to give themselves an advantage on the course. Some characters will automatically attack rivals when they get close, while others, such as Cappy, will use their natural defenses to block attacks for a time. Then, each character has a “Special” move that can be used to hurt foes, give speed advantages, and overall cause havoc on the course. Plus, Kirby’s “Copy” ability is back in play, and EVERYONE can use it! So, absorb enemy monsters on the track and use their abilities to get ahead!
But get ahead in what? Kirby Air Riders has brought back two classic modes for gamers to enjoy: Air Ride and City Trial. The first is your typical racing mode, where you’ll glide across beautiful tracks, Boost Charging most of the way, and attempting to cross the finish line first. You can fine-tune how you want the course settings to be to give you maximum enjoyment when race time starts. Then, with City Trial, you’ll once again race around a massive open-world track, this time known as Skyah, and attempt to get all manner of stat power-ups so that you can have an advantage in the coliseum courses to come. There are multiple challenges that will await you after the 5-minute time limit, so it’s best to balance your stats, since you don’t know what you’ll do next.
Be warned, though! Skyah has plenty of things happening within it, including random events that can cause enemies to appear, special challenges to partake in, and more!
After hearing Sakurai talk about the game, it’s clear he put a lot of effort and detail into making Kirby Air Riders stand out from the crowd, and the best part is that he says there’s even MORE to talk about before the game arrives on the Switch 2! When will it arrive? November 20th!
