Topic: Kirby Air Riders

Kirby Air Riders is here. Prepare for an adventure that’s equal parts thrilling and unforgettable! This soon-to-drop gem promises a wild ride with killer vibes, a vibe that sticks with you.Boy this one looks awesome.

Wished I had a drink to spit out upon the reveal. Legitimate thought it was gonna be Smash Bros., but no. And Sakurai in the director's chair, too! Guess we know what he's working on. Very exciting.

That said, I do have one reservation, and that mainly boils down to the controls. Air Ride did not control the best with it's one-button scheme, so hopefully Riders allows for more flexibility in that regard.

Kirby Kart!
My question is ... Why, when we have Mario Kart?
When so few nintendo made exclusives were announced (3 + a tech demo), and one we already knew about.. That left DK and .. this...
What a strange choice.. I hope Nintendo havent gone back to messing up...

@N00BiSH that was me lol 😂 I was sure it was Smash Bros

Not really that excited for Mario Kart...even 8 was "meh"...and even tried getting back into it with 8 Deluxe and that expansion pass thing...barely played any of the new courses because I moved on to other games.

Kirby Air Ride though, yes...gimme...Air Ride sequel? Even more yes.

Screw Mario Kart, screw From Software, this is all I care about now! (half-serious)

I would say its a game that takes time to fully appreciate, especially with how its structured and all the weird ways the different vehicles control. I thought it was just decent the first time I played it and it became a favorite after quite a few hours.

I take my GameCube collection pretty seriously. I've been wanting Air Ride since literally forever. So right after the Direct today, I went onto eBay and picked it up for $55 while the price is remotely reasonable. Now it's $70.

lol

I wasn't planning to get Mario Kart this year, but I really want Kirby Air Riders. Granted, I would feel the same about any good looking Kirby game.

To be fair, Kirby Air Ride came out between F Zero GX and Mario Kart Double Dash, with Need for Speed Underground around as well, all within months of each other. So this would not be new.

Original Air Ride was also...kinda on the barebones side as well. Like, it still had plenty of stuff to do with the missions for all 3 modes, but compared to other Nintendo racing games like Mario Kart, it didn't have that much. I'd imagine this time things will be different, and Sakurai can go all out with this one. Would love to see an even bigger City Trial mode. lol
_{(let's be honest, that's the mode everyone really cares about, lol)}

To be honest, I kinda feel the opposite for Double Dash. Especially after DS came out 2 years later and immediately had way more content. 16 tracks, a few battles maps, and that's about it.

Whereas Air Ride had as many tracks (I think?) across two different modes, various mini games and courses built around City Trial, and a checkmark system that gave worthwhile reasons to complete them. Might still be the best version of that system compared to future Sakurai games.

@Kuhang good on you covering the launch game threads!

I am excited as it is different enough from mario kart that I won’t care. Might play my original this weekend to refresh myself.

@Ryu_Niiyama Part of the fun being a gamer innit 😉

I forget what youtube channel just had a retrospective on kirby air ride and why its cool and meaningful it's coming to switch 2, but its good to watch. I remember disliking kirby air ride on GameCube, but after they described why they enjoyed it I could see a modern revision working if get rid of some of the jank apparent in the GC game.

Edit:

Ah it was IGN:

I think this is a really odd game to be in development. I’m not sure if there is a market for this in 2025. Maybe the game will be that good but with MKW releasing most people will prefer that to be their racing game of choice.

This is obviously not true, since it made less sense to be a hit as a not even well reviewed 2003 Gamecube game and still sold a million despite the disadvantage of being a Gamecube game.

@Qwertyninty I mean... it's Kirby. Kirby games rarely sell insanely well but usually sell decently.

I do think it's odd Nintendo had Mario Kart, Fzero, and Air Riders all in the Switch 2 direct. Racing overdose.

Personally I'm not buying Mario Kart this year but I may grab Air Riders.

Mildly miffed we're getting this rather than a new F-Zero. But I understand. Keep Sakurai happy by not burning him out on Smash development. A soft-confirm that Smash is on ice for at least five years.

How about a Meteos sequel next, Sakurai-san?

Or will we get that long-rumor Kid Icarus Uprising Remaster instead?

@Magician Between F-zero 99 still being popular and the emphasis on the F-Zero GameCube game for expansion pack, I feel like something new F-zero has to be in the works. But it's probably not high in the priority queue right now.

Kirby is a little different because we get Kirby almost every year; even though Air Ride coming back is a surprise, some type of Kirby was inevitable for this year.