Thank you Nintendo for sending us this game to review!

I have always been a huge fan of the Kirby series. The pink puffball's platformers are consistently some of my favorites in the genre. As a child, one of my favorites was Kirby Air Ride. As we see all the time in the games industry, Kirby Air Ride was an attempt to place a popular character in a racing game. However, the unique controls, mechanics, and modes made it stand out from games like Mario Kart. I poured countless hours into Kirby Air Ride, and it was one of my favorites to enjoy with friends. Sadly, Kirby Air Ride was not all that successful, and it was seemingly forgotten, outside of the occasional reference here and there.

I always longed to see Nintendo revive Kirby Air Ride, but I had no hope of that dream coming true. I was beyond ecstatic when Kirby Air Riders was announced to be coming out for the Nintendo Switch 2! In addition, we learned it would be directed by Masahiro Sakurai, the man behind Super Smash Bros. and the original creator of Kirby, whose last work on the series was the original Air Ride.

One more surprise, though, is that Nintendo decided to release Air Riders in 2025, even though another racer—Mario Kart World—was a launch title for the Switch 2. As you can read in my review of that game, Mario Kart World had excellent innovations, such as a large interconnected world and new parkour-style mechanics, but it suffered from limited online options and an unreasonably higher price tag than other Nintendo games. Naturally, a question will arise for many people: Which of these two racing games is superior?

Before going over the various modes, I should explain the basic controls and mechanics in Kirby Air Riders. You ride a vehicle known as an Air Ride Machine, which controls very differently than vehicles in other racing games. In fact, you only need to use two different buttons. A, B, X, ZL, and ZR all perform one action, while Y, L, and R perform another (to keep things simple, I’ll just refer to them as B and Y, respectively). You accelerate by default, and you brake by holding B, which also charges a boost for when you release. During races, you’ll find yourself either hitting B to boost around a corner or repeatedly tapping to slow down. If you ride off a ramp or an edge, you’ll briefly be able to glide through the air for improved speed, while holding B in the air will cause you to plummet to the ground very quickly. Flicking the left stick left and right will cause you to do a spin attack, which can damage enemies on the road or other players.

There are over twenty different Air Ride Machines to choose from, with each handling very differently. The Warp Star is the most balanced Machine, while the Winged Star has better control in the air. The Bulk Star requires you to charge up its engine before it can move, but it becomes a monster once it gets going. The new Hop Star replaces the spin attack with a jump. There are also Machines besides Stars, like Wheelies and Chariots, which have great speed and handling but cannot glide. The new Tanks can hardly steer and don’t brake when holding B. Instead, they only change direction when you release B.

For the most part, the original Kirby Air Ride only allowed you to play as Kirby. There were two other characters, but they were limited in how they could be used. Now, there are around twenty characters that can be paired with your Machine. You’ll find mainstays such as King Dedede and Meta Knight, along with fan-favorites like Magolor and Susie. Along with differences in stats, characters have unique actions they can perform. For example, Meta Knight can automatically attack nearby enemies with his sword, while Magolor can create hazards when landing on the ground. Each character also has a unique Special move that charges up over time and can be activated with Y. These moves generally increase your speed in some way while also having offensive capabilities.

There are three primary multiplayer-focused modes, which all play very differently. The main racing mode is Air Ride. You can race several laps through various courses against up to five opponents. You’ll have to make use of the unique traits of both your character and Machine to place first. There are often many different routes to take, with certain Machines excelling at certain shortcuts.

Along the course, you’ll find enemies that you can either attack with a spin or inhale with B. Some enemies will be spit out into other racers or enemies, while others grant temporary Copy Abilities, which are comparable to items in other racers. Some include the Sword ability, which allows you to automatically strike enemies in front of you, or Plasma, which builds up energy over time that can be discharged as a blast with B. There are also several new abilities, like Cutter, which lets you throw boomerangs with B, or Steel Ball, which transforms you into…well, a large rolling steel ball.

The Copy Abilities are all fun to use, and the enemies that grant them remain the same each time you play a course, making Abilities feel less chaotic and unpredictable than items in other racers. Copy Abilities last for a short time, but you can discard them early by mashing Y. What’s frustrating, though, is that if your Special is charged, that will take priority. I’ve wasted Specials a handful of times because of this. Using Copy Abilities or other attacks doesn’t slow opponents down very much. Instead, whenever you land a hit on a player or enemy, it gives you a noticeable burst of speed. Players also leave behind trails, and following them speeds you up.

Unfortunately, there are relatively few courses. There are nine new ones, in addition to all nine courses from the original Kirby Air Ride. That isn’t a whole lot, not compared to Mario Kart World. Some of the returning courses in Kirby Air Riders are also pretty short. On the bright side, there are plenty of options to customize the experience. For example, you can choose exactly how many laps a race will last or have the race run on a timer, with the winner being decided by whoever is in first when the time runs out. My favorite option makes it so you swap Machines each lap.

The next mode is Top Ride, which supports up to eight players. Instead of a more traditional view from behind, these races take place on small, flat courses that you view from above. The nine different courses are very short and sweet, with each lap usually taking around 10-20 seconds. Separately from the Copy Abilities, which can be picked up on the ground instead of from enemies, there are also other items, like spiky Gordos that serve as roadblocks when thrown. Overall, Top Ride is a much simpler experience for more casual gamers.

The star of the show is City Trial, which is a big departure from the two racing modes. Instead of selecting a Machine, you begin on a sluggish Compact Star. You and up to fifteen other players will then spend the next five minutes exploring a large island in the sky. You’ll be looking out for various Machines that spawn randomly around the map. Even once you get a better Machine, you’ll still have poor stats, so you’ll have to spend your time collecting power-ups that boost your Machine’s speed, turning, and flight capabilities, among other stats.

There is also much more of a focus on combat in City Trial. Machines in this mode have varying levels of health, damage output, and defense. Whenever you find other players, you can attack with spin attacks, Specials, Copy Abilities, or other items that spawn. If you can overpower an enemy, you’ll be able to destroy their Machine or even nab it for yourself, on top of stealing some of their power-ups. They’ll then have to scramble on foot to find another Machine before they can resume powering up.

Every so often, your search for power-ups will be interrupted by whacky events. You may find yourself stuck in a thick fog, speeding uncontrollably, participating in a short race around the map, or fighting a boss that appeared. The 40 unique events typically give you opportunities to power up your Machine even further, but more importantly, they contribute even further to the chaos!

Once the five minutes are up, it’s time to compete in a stadium. Stadiums will have you competing in various tests of your Machine’s stats. You might have to fly as far as possible, fly off a ramp and hit targets to score points, defeat as many enemies as possible, fight other players, or eat the most food. My favorite type of stadium has everyone team up to try to defeat a boss within a short time limit.

In the original Kirby Air Ride, all four players would participate in the same random stadium. Here, there are now four randomly selected stadiums to choose from. You only compete against those who chose the same stadium as you, allowing multiple winners in each match. I don’t prefer this system, but you can disable it, at least. There are also options to allow for team battles or to skip the initial five minutes and just play stadiums.

City Trial is way too addicting! I love the cycle of starting out slow and weak, before gradually powering up until I become an uncontrollable terror! My main issue is simply with the controls. You swap to other Machines you find with Y, but just like when discarding Copy Abilities, your Special takes priority if it’s charged. I appreciate this game’s simplistic control scheme (It’s so simple that you can play one-handed!), but I wish Specials could be mapped to a separate button, as this has caused me to waste them way more than I’d like to admit.

When playing on one system, up to four players can play in any of these modes, but there are also options for local wireless, LAN, and online multiplayer. Online specifically gives you numerous options to mess with when creating custom servers that friends and random players can join, along with various matchmaking options. On the downside, I’ve noticed that when matchmaking, the game seems to have an issue with finding other players. City Trial matches typically only end up half-full, with the rest being filled with CPUs, and I’ve especially had trouble finding online Top Ride matches. I don’t know if the playerbase has already mostly died off, or if the matchmaking algorithm is just really bad, but it’s baffling for such a new game. Also, while not too common, I have had cases in which latency would prevent me from picking up power-ups in City Trial matches.

The final mode is Road Trip, a single-player story that borrows aspects from the other three modes. The premise is incredibly basic: One day, the Air Ride Machines seemed to want to travel somewhere in the distance. After picking a character, you’ll take a journey with your Machine to the unknown. Road Trip is divided into numerous stages. During each stage, you’ll be met with a series of challenges to conquer, usually being able to choose from several challenges to take on. These challenges may involve placing first in Air Ride and Top Ride races, performing well in City Trial stadiums, defeating CPU players, and more. Failing challenges will send you back to a previous checkpoint, while completing them will earn you power-ups to boost your stats for the rest of the journey.

A single run takes around two hours, and there are different paths you can take when proceeding to the next stage, which will give you opportunities to unlock different Machines based on your choices. Overall, Road Trip feels like a fun sampler of what the multiplayer modes have to offer, and it serves as a good way to get accustomed to Kirby Air Riders’ unique gameplay.

There are also plenty of options for customization. Some simpler examples include alternate colors and unlockable hats for characters. You can also customize a license with various backgrounds and stickers of Kirby characters. The most pleasant surprise, however, is a system for decorating Machines. You can customize the colors of a Machine and apply patterns, decorations, and special effects to it. You also have a wide array of decals that can be placed anywhere. With all the options available, you can create all sorts of cool designs, which can be selected to use in races and appear randomly in City Trial matches. Custom Machines can even be uploaded to an online market where you can browse and purchase other players' creations.

As mentioned earlier, this Kirby game was directed by Masahiro Sakurai, rather than being headed by HAL. Indeed, the visual style screams Super Smash Bros. The menus, environments, and effects are done in a very similar style to that series. There is even a Smash-style announcer to narrate the gameplay. The courses do look pretty, but I wouldn't have minded for them to take more inspiration from Kirby games. Most follow simple themes, like beaches and autumn mountains, while only a few are based on locations from the Kirby series. There are plenty of catchy songs taken directly from the original Air Ride and other Kirby games, though only a few of the new compositions really stood out to me.

In addition to ramming into enemies and other players, you have the usual cartoon violence seen in Kirby, such as inhaling and spitting out enemies or using weapons like swords and bombs granted by Copy Abilities. Also, it’s worth mentioning that among all the hats you can unlock, some include things like ribbons, which can strangely be used on even male characters.

There is also some use of magic. For example, characters like Magolor use cartoon magic in their attacks. There are also wizard-like enemies that ride on broomsticks. In City Trial, you’ll occasionally pick up magical books that can predict what stadiums you might be able to play at the end. Some of the bosses that appear in stadiums use somewhat scary imagery, which I can imagine being frightening to especially young gamers. Road Trip incorporates a classic character named Galactic Nova, a giant wish-granting mechanical star. As such, there are several references to making wishes, not unlike to a genie.

Finally, I would like to issue a warning regarding online interaction. As with all online games, there’s a chance that you’ll come across inappropriate usernames. The robust customization of licenses and Machines also opens the door to being exposed to inappropriate designs. Thankfully, though, I haven’t seen too many bad licenses or Machines, and in the case of the latter, there is a setting to hide other players’ designs during matches. However, if you’re buying this game for a kid, I did not find a way of preventing your kid from seeing other players' Machines through the online market.

Kirby Air Riders is a dream come true! I never expected a return to the hidden GameCube gem but we got one, and it’s almost perfect. Just about everything I wanted to see in a sequel is here—more players, more Machines, plenty of characters, and online support. The single-player content and vehicle customization are pleasant additions as well. However, it is a huge bummer that the matchmaking struggles to find players online. The Machine customization has also led to some…unpleasant creations by other players, but those make up a small portion of the custom creations I’ve seen.

Earlier, I mentioned that Mario Kart World is another racer on the Switch 2, and you may be trying to decide on one of these games to pick up. I really enjoy the unique movement and mechanics of Kirby Air Riders. However, when looking purely at the racing aspects of these games, I think I prefer the more chaotic gameplay of Mario Kart World. Mario Kart World also has way more courses to race on, along with an entire open world connecting them. That said, almost everything else in Air Riders—City Trial, plenty of online options, single-player content, and customization—makes it the definitive game in my eyes.

-Tyler Ferguson