Enhance Productions

The mechanics in Kirby Air Riders are a lot of fun. This is a racing game that uses Kirby’s power of copying an enemy’s power after inhaling it to perfect use. The abilities are so fun to use as they help the player gain speed when attacking opponents, but they do not make the game ridiculously unbalanced and frustrating like the powerups in Mario Kart.

There is no blue shell to knock you from first to seventh here. My favorite ability is surprisingly the needle ability. Needle is able to take out multiple enemies or hit multiple riders quickly and it helps the player go fast as each hit increases their speed. The copy abilities are not overpowered, but they add just enough to help make this game feel distinct from other racing games.

There are only three characters in the original game. Here, there are 21 playable characters. All of them can ride any machine and they somehow can inhale enemies like Kirby can, even Waddle Dee! Every character has their own unique ability or trait to differentiate themselves. Starman can glide very high, Chef Kawasaki and Gooey have tethers to inhale enemies quickly, Waddle Doo has his beam attack and Suzy has a unique glide that gives her an extra boost in the air when she leaves the ground. 

The balancing of these characters is very solid as not many of them are much better or worse than most characters. Each of them offer a unique experience to race with. My favorites include Bandana Waddle Dee for his spear and well-rounded stats, Rick for his insane special and ground speed, Chef Kawasaki for his sturdiness and curry special attack and Starman who can glide for a while. I think every character is worth playing at least once to see which one any given player likes. None of them are duds.

One thing I have always loved about Kirby Air Ride is how diverse the vehicles are and this sequel continues that trend. This game features 28 machines and all of them feel different in some way. There are the Chariots, the Wheelie Bikes and Wheelie Scooters, which are all great for riding on land. There are machines like the Winged Star and the Paper Star which are great for gliding. Other stars have some fun gimmicks as well such as the Hop Star jumping instead of spinning, the Vampire Star attacking other enemies after a boost, the Bulk Star being powered by boost and many more.

My favorite vehicle in this game is the Jet Star. Kirby Air Riders is a game where I really just like to glide through the race courses and the City Trial map. What makes the Jet Star so fun to use is that after lifting off the ground, the player gets a boost to their speed while in the air. I love using the Jet Star for courses that have several aerial segments to get several boosts of speed. While it is a tough vehicle to ride on the ground and it is not the best ride for racing, riding the Jet Star captures all the elements I love about this game. 

The track designs are awesome! Air Ride mode features nine new tracks and nine that originated from the GameCube game over two decades ago. Each of the new tracks are a blast to play as they feature multiple routes and shortcuts. With the varied vehicles, there are multiple ways to tackle these tracks with some tracks being better for gliding and others where a ground vehicle is best on.

Another great aspect about these tracks is how gorgeous they look. Every track has a unique aesthetic to make them stand out. Waveflow Waters has these gorgeous colorful water ramps and waterfalls, Steamgust Forge has a slick cyberpunk aesthetic with an epic finale, Cyberion Highway is an incredibly cool-looking futuristic track that is just as fun as it looks, but my favorite course visual-wise is Crystalline Fissure. It is this stunning race track that features dynamic colors, changes in scenery and a fun crystalized cannon ride at the end. This is a completely unique track aesthetic-wise and every time I race on it, I get excited.

The older tracks get updated looks and they look wonderful. Celestial Valley and Magma Flows in particular look beautiful here with their updated visuals. It is nice to play on these old tracks with new looks because while they are prettier, they are still the same tracks I loved as a kid. Also, playing these tracks with the new game mechanics makes them feel fresh when playing them

My favorite track in this game is Steamgust Forge. It is such a fun track to play on with any vehicle as it has multiple paths and interactable objects. One thing I love to do is ride on top of the train to get a boost of speed. I also love gliding through the wind at the end of the track jumping from one piece of the broken track to the other. Small moments like these go a long way to make this track so fun and replayable for me.  

City Trial returns from the first game and this mode has me playing for hours. In City Trial, up to 16 players can roam around a map to collect as many powerups as possible while dealing with special events. City Trial has the most diversity of gameplay, because anything can happen. There are runs where I got my machine destroyed multiple times, runs where I got legendary machines and runs where I became so fast and powerful that I could barely control my own vehicle. Just about every experience I have with City Trial ends up being different.

One of my favorite experiences with City Trial was getting Leo for the first time. Leo is this awesome Tiger who runs incredibly fast and can attack opponents without copy abilities. Getting a legendary machine is difficult in this game because the parts are hard to find and once you get a part, you immediately get targeted. When I got Leo the first time, I felt like a new player and I was exploring new territory. It’s moments like this that make playing City Trial feel special sometimes.

After getting powerups and switching machines, everyone plays an event. There are all kinds of events like brawls, drag races, regular racing, gliding events, high jumps and boss fights. How well you perform in these events depends on what stats you have. In online mode, you can usually pick the event that fits your skillset and sometimes, the game will announce what the event will be before the round of City Trial. I really like how the game handles the events and it helps the player avoid picking an event they would flop in.

Of the events, my favorite is Gourmet Race. In this event, the player must pick up as many food items as they can around Skyah. This is such a fun event that allows me to go all over the map. Just watching my character gobble up so much food can be very satisfying. Also, it is one of the more balanced events in that any vehicle could do well.

Kirby Air Riders adds a story mode in this game called Road Trip. I really like this mode too. Here the player can play as any character and they go through an assortment of Air Ride, Top Ride, City Trial and event challenges. Every victory gives you a powerup.

I like Road Trip mode because it allows me to build the kind of vehicle I want and to take on the challenges I am good at. The boss fights are fun and the little animations to move on to the next sections are adorable. Shockingly, the story is very powerful about a vehicle who wanted to move and getting a wish that put it through pain. I am watching cutscenes in a racing game that makes me feel bad for the machines we ride on here!

I worried that Road Trip would turn out to be too long, but it is a mode that can be completed within hours. Having said that, it is replayable because the game has multiple endings and playing as different characters can cause a major difference in how my next playthrough will turn out. I am only on my second playthrough with Rick the hamster.

Just playing any mode of Kirby Air Riders is a blast. I am a fan of Kirby and having his abilities be incorporated into a racing game makes for a fun and chaotic experience. Gliding around these beautiful tracks is an absolute joy even when I am not winning. Playing through City Trial and trying to create a powerful vehicle is always entertaining no matter what. Any time I turn this game on, it never fails to make me happy.

As much as I love this game, I do have a couple problems with it. One concern I have with it is the limited number of tracks in the game. I really feel like four or five extra air ride tracks could have gone a long way for the game’s replayability. I do get that Mashido Sakurai does not want to add any DLC to the game as he wants to release it in a complete state. I respect that because it shows that he put passion into creating a wonderful game without trying to get money off of microtransactions. Also, the game does have two events each month that players can participate in and unlock more goodies to keep the game replayable.

My other complaint is that I am not a fan of Top Ride mode. I admire Sakurai for bringing it back and changing it from the original game by having all vehicles and characters playable instead of just Kirby, but it is the weakest mode in the game. Turning can be a pain and one mistake can send you to last place. The tracks for Top Ride are okay, but they just made me wish I was playing Air Ride or City Trial where I can glide, ride and feel immersed in the tracks.