There are a whole bunch of unique unlockable characters to get to grips with in the excellent Kirby Air Riders, and you're gonna need to work through all the modes the game has to offer — barring online — to get yourself the complete collection.
That's a lot of unlocking! So, in order to help make things a little easier to parse, here's our full guide to all playable characters in Kirby Air Riders and how to unlock them in each of the game's modes.
Ready? Let's ride!
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Kirby Air Riders: Character List - How To Unlock
All Game Modes
In Kirby Air Riders, there are four main game modes:
- Air Ride (basic races, up to 6 players)
- Road Trip (a story mode)
- City Trials (battle arena to upgrade your machine before a minigame, up to 16 players)
- Top Ride (races from a top-down perspective, up to 8 players online or 4 players local)
Each mode has its own collectibles and unlockables, and all of these can be traced via the great big picture grid in each mode's main menu.
Why are we telling you this? Because each mode has different ways to unlock characters. So you're going to need to unlock your fave multiple times.
Also, note that not every character is available in every mode!
Full Character Roster & Unlock Conditions
Kirby
The main man. Captain Big Mouth. Kirby is a good all-rounder and is a good shout for newcomers. His special Ultra Sword ability unleashes a series of powerful slashes with his blade.
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - Finish without crashing into any walls
- Road Trip - Auto-unlock
- Top Ride - Win on Flower without getting any Copy Abilities in a single race
- City Trial - Defeat a rider while shrunk down
Waddle Dee
Waddle Dee is a quick accelerator whose special, the Golden Waddle Dee, sees him blast ahead in a shiny spectacle of speed. A lightweight and speedy dynamo!
Unlock conditions:
- Road Trip - Defeat 30 riders during City Trial challenges
Bandana Waddle Dee
Bandana Waddle Dee has got great boost, charge and turning stats, and his spear cyclone enables you to spin a great big death propeller around you as you race. Handy!
Unlock conditions:
- Road Trip - Clear Top Ride challenges a total of 3 times
- City Trial - Destroy 2 boxes within 30 secs of the start of the match
Lololo & Lalala
This troublesome twosome swap positions on their machine when you perform a quick spin and their special sees sliding blocks thrown down to frustrate and slow opponents.
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - On Crystalline Fissure (Laps) finish within 3 mins and 30 secs
- Road Trip - Defeat 10 riders that are riding star-type machines
Rick
RICK! IT'S RICK!!! Sorry about that. Rick is a big heavy hamster boy, but he handles corners better than most. He can also transform into a massive version of himself in order to run as fast as he can around the course. So he's amazing, basically. LOOK AT HIM!
Unlock conditions:
- Road Trip - Enter the shop 3 times
- Top Ride - Win Mountain with at least 5 sec. between you and 2nd place
King Dedede
Another big boy on the scales, King Dedede is, nevertheless, a reasonably decent speed machine, he also hits tremendously hard with his Jet Hammer special.
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - Win with course, rider, and machine set to random
- Road Trip - Clear a Treasure Hunt challenge
- City Trial - On Gourmet Race, get 80 points in a match
Rocky
Well. What can we say? He's a rock. However, he's also got a cool headband, and he's very small and fast. Oh, he and can fly into the air then explode down in a fiery ball of meteoric magic that wrecks anyone in the vicinity. So watch your mouth around this chap.
Unlock conditions:
- Road Trip - Open a treasure chest in the road
- Top Ride - Use 30 items
Knuckle Joe
Knuckle Joe comes packing his signature flurry fists as a special, and he rocks a good spread of stats that make him another decent all-rounder. He's a right grump, mind.
Unlock conditions:
- Road Trip - Power up all stats to 1 or higher
- City Trial - Steal a machine that another rider is actively riding
Chef Kawasaki
The good chef gains extra benefits from food items, because he's clever that way and stuff. He's also fast, despite being a big boy. His special the Superspicy Cooking manoeuvre, sees him serve his rivals a fiery curry feast. Sounds like our kinda guy. Get him down the offices on a Friday for closing time.
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - On the Mount Amberfalls track, eat Onigiri from the trackside teahouse as you pass by
- Road Trip - Clear Air Ride challenges a total of 3 times
Susie
A smug entrepreneur who can float through the air using a propeller. Her Roboboosters special sees her ignite high-tech thrusters in order to go WHOOOOOOOSH! Like that.
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - Perform a perfect landing 5 times in a single race
- Road Trip - Hit 3 enemies with a single attack
Daroach
This sneaky thief can steal your copy abilities and then vanish. In fact, he can even do a sneak attack as his special. Quickly, somebody smash him!
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - Find and defeat the special shiny enemy, Gemaine
- Top Ride - Win after lapping an opponent
Scarfy
Scarfy is another small pilot and his small demeanour hides a terrible secret. He's got quite the temper. Don't ragebait this guy. With a special that sees him lose his cool and go on a frenzy around the course, may we suggest Scarfy try to relax a little?
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - On Waveflow Waters, defeat another Scarfy enemy without making it angry first
- City Trial - Destroy a rider's machine within the first 60 seconds
Meta Knight
The knight is darkest just before the dawn. What a terrible movie. Meta Knight, on the other hand, is another solid all-rounder whose Night Wing special ability sees him unfurl his wings for a huge boost.
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - Finish a lap without crashing into walls more than 2 times
- Top Ride - On Nova, complete a lap without attacking another rider
Marx
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - Complete an entire lap of free run without dropping below 30km/hr
- Road Trip - Spend 300,000 Road Miles
Taranza
Unlock conditions:
- Air Ride - On Beanstalk Park, ride for a total of 5,000 metres
- City Trial - Win a short race
Magalor
Unlock Conditions:
- Top Ride - Send the same rider flying 2 times with Drill Driver
- City Trial - Enter all secret Rooms
Starman
Unlock Conditions:
- Top Ride - Crystalline Fissure - Complete 4 laps in the lead position
- City Trial - Fall for 6 secs after only boosting once
Waddle Doo
Unlock Conditions:
- Air Ride - On Floria Fields (Laps), finish without crashing into any enemies
- Top Ride - Hit a rider with a Course Quaker
Cappy
- Unlock Condtions:City Trial - On Skydive 1, Get 2,000 points in a match
- Top Ride - Win after getting swept up in the tornado 3 times on Air
Gooey
Unlock Conditions:
- Top Ride - Win after getting swept up in the tornado 3 times
- City Trial - Skydive 1 - Get 2,000 points in a single match
Noir Dedede
Unlock Conditions:
- Road Trip - Beat the story and get the "true ending"
Kirby Air Riders Character FAQ
Here we'll be answering some common character questions.
How many characters are there in Kirby Air Riders?
There are 21 playable characters in total. Remember, though: not all of them are playable in every mode!
Who's the best character? Who's the fastest?
In terms of who is the best, well, that's gonna be down to personal taste, as the machines' stats and other factors tend to balance everything out. But here are our go-to picks:
Kirby (Best for Beginners)
Well, he's gotta be on here, but Kirby is just also very good for hoovering up foes and blasting them with ease. He's a good choice for newcomers, too, as there's nothing tricksy about his style.
Oh, and his special flurry of blade attacks is just straight up one of the most effective specials in the game, too.
Rick (Best for blasting through the competition)
RICK! IT'S RICK!!! Okay, listen, we're gonna stop that now. Rick is a big, heavy boy, and his biggest asset, besides being an amazingly cool and epic big boy legend, is that his special enables him to run at blazing speeds through everything and everyone. Also, he's a big hamster.
Meta Knight (Best sword attack)
Another awesome character who we will usually pick just for his looks, here he also has a very useful sword attack that swipes I lovely big arcs to easily hit multiple foes.
Knuckle Joe (Best punches with speed boosts)
Knuckle Joe has got a bad attitude. He can also unleash an amazing flurry of unstoppable punches when you unleash his special.
What's more, he gets a big speed boost as he punches, too. A blazing blizzard of pain!
Marx (Best if you can avoid damage)
Small, fast and great in pretty much every category, Marx's Achilles heel is that he takes a lot of damage very quickly. Avoid this, though, and he's a rocket to be reckoned with.
Taranza (Best Spider-Man impression)
Not the easiest rider to use, but Taranza has got one trick up her sleeve that we love, in that she can latch onto things with her webs and yank towards them! Also, her eyes glow.
How can I track what I need to do in-game to unlock characters?
To see what's required for an unlock, simply hover over the little squares that make up a mode's picture grid. As long as you have some adjacent unlockables complete, the game will point you towards what to do next.
Once you hover over a square, and if it's available to clear, you'll be shown the option to press "+" to go directly to the challenge at hand.
Comments 10
Disappointing that Adeleine, the only character I wanted to be playable, is not even in the game. Guess I won’t be getting this one
Very helpful, thank you very much.
@Final_Fantasy_Kirby You're welcome, Final Fantasy Kirby.
Honestly think Adeleine not being in is legit the tipping point on me deciding not to get this game. Was kind of wishy-washy on it anyway but learning the character I'd definitely play as isn't there for no explicable reason is a good reason to fall on the, "Nah, I'll pass," side of the fence.
What a bizarre system
Adeleine not being playable is a real heartbreaker. She's one of my favorite characters and keeps getting left out. She was part of the Kirby crew from way back in Kirby 64! She's part of the franchise's fab five and you won't convince me otherwise!
@MasterGraveheart @YunoboCo @MasterGraveheart Yeah, the omission of her, the mage sisters, and Elfilin feels bittersweet.
Though sadly with the case with Adeleine is to be expected considering Japan's own CERO ratings systems were beginning in regulating years ago against certain types of violence such as punching aimed at human female children, for their A and B games and I doubt Nintendo or Sakurai were going to risk a C rating for this game because of one character.
@weirdregalia Honestly, rare and based CERO W. I hate Adeleine and am glad she's nowhere near this game and with there being no DLC characters since it looks like Sakurai is returning to the Smash mines there's zero chance of her sullying this game in the future. Considering buying two copies and donating the game to someone because of this.
Plus considering that the Kirby franchise has added and emphasized more important characters like Gooey, Magolor, Taranza, Susie, Daroach and possibly Elfilin in the future, plus some minibosses like Chef Kawasaki grabbing more spotlight due to actual and substantial popularity, she will keep getting pushed down further in the realm of unimportance where she belongs.
@PJOReilly Something is wrong here, Cappy and Gooey have the same conditions listed.
@nukatha Ah. Let me take a look and fix. Apologies!!
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