Fellow air riders! It is time to...ride the air.
We're big fans of Kirby Air Riders, as if you couldn't tell from our 8/10 review, and one thing that it's got plenty of — especially given that this sequel has a great big story mode — are unlockable bits and bobs.
From new machines to riders, racetracks, and a seemingly endless array of Things™ with which to customise your fleet of wonder whips, there's a ton of swag to get busy gathering up.
So. Where to start? Well, we've honed in on the big things, the most important stuff, to get you up to speed with beginners' tips and tricks (below), as well as how to unlock every playable character and every machine, and every track in the game, as well as a bunch of other gameplay secrets.
Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube841k
Ready? Let's get into it!
Kirby Air Riders Guide - Unlocks
Before we get to the beginners' tips, let's cover machine and character unlocks.
Full Character Roster
There are plenty of characters to unlock across Kirby's latest racer, each with different unlock conditions in different modes, and we have no doubt you'll want to nab them all ASAP.
So, rather than bashing your head off each mode until you randomly do the right thing, here we have a handy guide to exactly what's required to unlock the full lineup.
Full Machine List + Custom Machines
The different machines are undoubtedly the highlight of this one, and luckily there are plenty to get out there and start unlocking.
Here we show you how to grab each and every last machine in world record time.* We also look at the best custom machines we've found.
*may not officially be a world record
Course List
Here we focus on raceways, highlighting every circuit in Kirby Air Riders and how to unlock 'em:
City Trial
In these guides, we focus on the manic City Trial mode - specifically, secret locations.
How to Unlock the True Ending
If you're looking to totally finish the game with all characters, machines, and everything else, you'll need to 100% Road Trip mode.
Kirby Lore Recap
There's a Story Mode in the game which sets up some key characters and lore points you might have missed. If that's the case and you don't mind mild spoilers, find out about them here:
Kirby Air Riders Walkthrough - Tips & Tricks For Beginners
It's not exactly natural, this air-riding malarkey. It's a little bit different to your normal racing that we do here on Earth, so here are some top tips accumulated throughout our time with the game to help you get a handle on this unique racing experience.
Boosting is at the heart of everything
The boost button ('B') in Kirby Air Riders isn't like other boost buttons, in that it also slows you down, until you stop! The flip side is that the longer you hold it down, the bigger and faster the boost you'll get in return.
So, think about it strategically, even just a little, and consider where is best to boost. Corners are an obvious example, and timing it right can see you slow with other riders and then boost out of the apex to take a lead.
Follow the shimmering trails!
As you approach a rider in front of you, you'll notice a shimmering trail behind them, which acts as the game's version of drafting or slipstreaming the vehicle in front of you.
Here, though, the drafting boost is quite exaggerated, and therefore riding this trail can see you pick up crazy speed as you approach and pass by opponents. Use this to your advantage, and factor it into when you decide to use your own boost or turbo your machine in other ways.
Use your environment
The tracks in Kirby Air Riders may feel like great big automated rides to the uninitiated, but once you know what you're doing, and once you're scrapping against opponents who've got skills to match, you'll want to wring every last opportunity out of the game's track designs.
Look out for jumps to quick spin on, boost pads, and sharp corners where you can really charge your boost up and let fly down straights. Knowing where to green a little extra pace on the tracks here makes all the difference.
Think about what pickups are actually for
If your current vehicle is slow, you'll want speed pickups. A ride that can't turn well will require as many boosts to its turning ability as you can grab.
Consider this as you play. Think about your attack and defence stats when facing a boss. Once you relax into it, you'll be able to build and rebuild your machine's capabilities on the fly and as you battle/race.
Switch lanes on Auto-Rails
Don't make it easy for your opponent to pick up and ride on your trail, shift about plenty, even when not avoiding obstacles on these trails, and always make sure to position yourself best for coming off rails because...
Auto-Rails charge your boost!
That's right. When grinding on a rail, or any other aspect of a track (such as some vines and fences), you'll get your boost topped up without having to worry about slowing down any!
Think about how this can prep you for a fast exit from rails, and any corners that are coming up.
Power graphs FTW!
Press '+' during a City Trial and you can take a look at what power-ups you've currently got in order to gauge your current levels of attack, offence and racing skill.
You can hold multiple items at once
Pick up as many items as you see during events, as they'll use themselves up automatically for the most part, so you don't need to wait to pick up more!
Hold back on the left stick to zoom out the camera
If the default view is a little too close, you can adjust it to widen the view slightly. Or zoom a tiny bit more, if that's your preference.
Your special bar fills up in these ways!
By taking damage, doing damage, and automatically over time, your special bar refills.
Make sure to use it within 10 seconds once it's primed, too, or you'll lose it.
You can set quick spin to a controller shake
Don't like wiggling a stick to spin? You can up the sensitivity a little, or you can turn on the option to shake your controller instead!
Don't sweat the chaos, find your own pace
This advice goes for all modes, really, but if you can master this in City Trials especially, you'll soon find yourself quite zen-like, even when faced with the most chaotic of multiplayer match-ups.
There's always loads going on in races and in City Trials, but pick your own way of approaching it, have a strategy for the track you're on, and make sure to aim for the pickups (there are a lot of pickups onscreen at times) that suit your style of play!
Make sure to play all modes for unlocks
Whilst it can be natural to just stick to one mode of play, make sure to check out everything this game has to offer, as each mode has a ton of collectibles, and loads of cosmetics to get your hands on.
Choices lead to different paths in Road Trip
As you may or may not be aware, the Road Trip mode of the game allows you to switch routes, giving you a bunch of different paths to play through on revisits.
To make sure you get to see everything, once you've played through the game once, you'll see helpful icons highlighting routes and game choices you haven't taken before, making it all easy to understand so you can see it all.
However, it's worth noting on your first pass that certain choices you make regarding a handful of icons that pop up on the road will lead you to different paths after the fact. So you'll see some random items here and there, and depending on the one you choose, you'll get a different set path.
Again, once you've done your first route, all of these things will be highlighted for you, so don't sweat it.
That's all for now - hopefully you've found these tips useful. Now go get 'em!