Kirby Air Riders is one of the deepest arcade racing experiences on the Switch 2 and gives you a lot of content for $70. Masahiro Sakurai’s determination to have everything here without any DLC coming later means you get served so much game you’ll be playing this game for years, still unlocking collectibles and mastering the gameplay.
Now, we need to get one very important piece of information out of the way. Kirby Air Riders is not Mario Kart World, it’s not Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, or Fast Fusion either. It sets itself apart from the crowded arcade and kart racers on the Switch 2 by being faster paced, with machines that move automatically without pressing a button, and by giving you copy abilities instead of items. If you want something more intense, maybe something that is more in line with F-ZeroGX, then Kirby Air Riders is also a great choice.
Kirby Air Riders is also a vast improvement on the original. I grew up playing it and loved it, despite the reviews. I loved anything Kirby and was always up for trying something new. It was a cute and fun game on the GameCube, but it was particularly deep. This sequel is a huge improvement on the original.
The gamefeatures four main modes. Air Ride, which is your standard race mode. Top Ride, which is like a slot car race. City Trial, where you ride around collecting powerups and then compete in various battles. Road Trip is basically the game’s story mode where you drive and compete in different types of games.
City Trials are definitely the start of the show. They’re the most unique racing mode in the game and are considerably different than any other racing game on the Switch 2. They’re chaotic free-for-alls where you get your power ups, try out different machines, and play through different conditions that show up. You might start spinning uncontrollably for a while or you might have to fight a giant monster that pops up. But, as much as I love City Trials, Top Rides are definitely my favorite. I’ve never played with slot cars before, but I definitely get the appeal after playing for Top Rides. It’s so much fun flying around fast on the track, drifting into turns, and looking at these beautiful tracks.
What makes Kirby Air Riders such an essential addition to the Switch 2 library is that amongst the chaos of races, there’s a lot of depth and strategy involved. Mastering drifting, boost charging, quick spins, flying, and perfect landings is essential to winning races. There are also the copy abilities which, if you’re familiar with the Kirby franchise, is basically the same as any of his other adventures. But all of this must be done while also competing in breakneck races with other racers slamming into you and using copy abilities against you. Going through the lessons is essential and incredibly fun. You also get to unlock objectives on the checklists going through the lessons and other gameplay modes.
I can definitely understand why someone would find Kirby Air Riders daunting. If you just grab this game thinking it’s like any other racing game, you won’t know what you’re doing. It’s a lot. That’s okay though. The game rewards you for just doing a little bit of everything and anything. In City Trials, try running into trees and see what happens. Try all of the different machines. Get power ups without thinking about what they might do and just learn from the experience. There’s not a lot of handholding here, but the lessons will make up for that and help you be able to master the essentials of the game. Beyond that, you have to be on the offensive in the races and attack. I also recommend doing time trials to get the hang of the different tracks.
You also have to get used to your machine moving on its own and learning how to time your boost. If that’s too much, then you can pick a machine that doesn’t boost like Wagon Star and have better performance in categories like handing and top speed. You can learn the tracks a little better this way and focus on copy abilities and being on the offensive instead. This is a good way to bring the learning curve down and focus on having fun before you move onto more complex strategies.
Visually, the game is gorgeous in handheld and TV mode. The vibrant colors of the tracks pop, showing off everything this system can do. The music is also incredible and is some of the best music the Kirby franchise has ever had. It doesn’t just get you in the mood to race. It brings you into the joyful and colorful world of Kirby.
I’ve had a great experience playing Kirby Air Riders online so far. I haven’t had any problems playing with other people either on wi-fi in handheld mode or connected to ethernet docked. I’ve enjoyed hanging out in the paddocks, virtual lobbies where players hang out before races begin. You can also just jump into ranked matches or quick races as well.
Kirby Air Riders does so much well and sets a standard for what a next-gen game should be. It shows off the new graphical and sound capabilities, but also does something remarkable in a sea of games loaded with DLC. Everything you need is included. There’s no DLC or missing pieces. This is how a next-gen game should be measured. If games are going to cost $70, then there should be enough content to match. Kirby Air Riders justifies its price tag with having a whopping 750 objectives on its checklist. Combine that with the different modes and deep gameplay, and you have a game that will keep you playing for a long time.
So, let’s all embrace the madness of Kirby Air Riders and rejoice that Sakurai got to bring back a beloved cult classic from the GameCube. Whether you want something a little more fast paced than Mario Kart World or want something loaded with content to get your money’s worth out of the Switch 2, Kirby Air Riders is an excellent addition to any Switch 2 library.
Kirby Air Riders is one of the deepest arcade racing experiences on the Switch 2 and gives you a lot of content for $70. Masahiro Sakurai’s determination to have everything here without any DLC coming later means you get served…
Kirby Air Riders is one of the deepest arcade racing experiences on the Switch 2 and gives you a lot of content for $70. Masahiro Sakurai’s determination to have everything here without any DLC coming later means you get served so much game you’ll be playing this game for years, still unlocking collectibles and mastering the gameplay.
Now, we need to get one very important piece of information out of the way. Kirby Air Riders is not Mario Kart World, it’s not Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, or Fast Fusion either. It sets itself apart from the crowded arcade and kart racers on the Switch 2 by being faster paced, with machines that move automatically without pressing a button, and by giving you copy abilities instead of items. If you want something more intense, maybe something that is more in line with F-ZeroGX, then Kirby Air Riders is also a great choice.
Kirby Air Riders is also a vast improvement on the original. I grew up playing it and loved it, despite the reviews. I loved anything Kirby and was always up for trying something new. It was a cute and fun game on the GameCube, but it was particularly deep. This sequel is a huge improvement on the original.
The gamefeatures four main modes. Air Ride, which is your standard race mode. Top Ride, which is like a slot car race. City Trial, where you ride around collecting powerups and then compete in various battles. Road Trip is basically the game’s story mode where you drive and compete in different types of games.
City Trials are definitely the start of the show. They’re the most unique racing mode in the game and are considerably different than any other racing game on the Switch 2. They’re chaotic free-for-alls where you get your power ups, try out different machines, and play through different conditions that show up. You might start spinning uncontrollably for a while or you might have to fight a giant monster that pops up. But, as much as I love City Trials, Top Rides are definitely my favorite. I’ve never played with slot cars before, but I definitely get the appeal after playing for Top Rides. It’s so much fun flying around fast on the track, drifting into turns, and looking at these beautiful tracks.
What makes Kirby Air Riders such an essential addition to the Switch 2 library is that amongst the chaos of races, there’s a lot of depth and strategy involved. Mastering drifting, boost charging, quick spins, flying, and perfect landings is essential to winning races. There are also the copy abilities which, if you’re familiar with the Kirby franchise, is basically the same as any of his other adventures. But all of this must be done while also competing in breakneck races with other racers slamming into you and using copy abilities against you. Going through the lessons is essential and incredibly fun. You also get to unlock objectives on the checklists going through the lessons and other gameplay modes.
I can definitely understand why someone would find Kirby Air Riders daunting. If you just grab this game thinking it’s like any other racing game, you won’t know what you’re doing. It’s a lot. That’s okay though. The game rewards you for just doing a little bit of everything and anything. In City Trials, try running into trees and see what happens. Try all of the different machines. Get power ups without thinking about what they might do and just learn from the experience. There’s not a lot of handholding here, but the lessons will make up for that and help you be able to master the essentials of the game. Beyond that, you have to be on the offensive in the races and attack. I also recommend doing time trials to get the hang of the different tracks.
You also have to get used to your machine moving on its own and learning how to time your boost. If that’s too much, then you can pick a machine that doesn’t boost like Wagon Star and have better performance in categories like handing and top speed. You can learn the tracks a little better this way and focus on copy abilities and being on the offensive instead. This is a good way to bring the learning curve down and focus on having fun before you move onto more complex strategies.
Visually, the game is gorgeous in handheld and TV mode. The vibrant colors of the tracks pop, showing off everything this system can do. The music is also incredible and is some of the best music the Kirby franchise has ever had. It doesn’t just get you in the mood to race. It brings you into the joyful and colorful world of Kirby.
I’ve had a great experience playing Kirby Air Riders online so far. I haven’t had any problems playing with other people either on wi-fi in handheld mode or connected to ethernet docked. I’ve enjoyed hanging out in the paddocks, virtual lobbies where players hang out before races begin. You can also just jump into ranked matches or quick races as well.
Kirby Air Riders does so much well and sets a standard for what a next-gen game should be. It shows off the new graphical and sound capabilities, but also does something remarkable in a sea of games loaded with DLC. Everything you need is included. There’s no DLC or missing pieces. This is how a next-gen game should be measured. If games are going to cost $70, then there should be enough content to match. Kirby Air Riders justifies its price tag with having a whopping 750 objectives on its checklist. Combine that with the different modes and deep gameplay, and you have a game that will keep you playing for a long time.
So, let’s all embrace the madness of Kirby Air Riders and rejoice that Sakurai got to bring back a beloved cult classic from the GameCube. Whether you want something a little more fast paced than Mario Kart World or want something loaded with content to get your money’s worth out of the Switch 2, Kirby Air Riders is an excellent addition to any Switch 2 library.
by Kayla Merritt
