REVIEW: ‘Kirby Air Riders’ Rules The Interstellar Roads

Kirby Air Riders, the new racing game developed by Bandai Namco and published by Nintendo, feels like a fever dream. I was a massive fan of the original on Gamecube over 20 years ago, spending hours ripping around the streets of City Trial with my friends and family.

I never really thought we’d get a sequel; it seemed like a one-and-done experience, but here we are. Masahiro Sakurai and the rest of the incredibly talented team took what they started so many years ago and built on it, making it one of the best games on the Switch 2. 

Kirby Air Riders stars the titular pink ball of gluttony, Kirby, and a wonderful and zany cast of characters as they race around across a number of different modes. There’s a ton of content here, and all varied, mixing and playing with the formula at every turn. It’s full of unlockables, a stream of serotonin as seemingly every race brings some tangible reward, whether it’s a new character, map, decal, or so much more. 

Kirby Air Riders is deceptively simple with a high skill ceiling.

While it seems deceptively simple at first, Kirby Air Riders has a high skill ceiling. It’s all built around one button, as the karts accelerate on their own, and one press slows them down, builds boost, sucks in enemies, and more. There’s definitely an adjustment period, but once it clicks, there’s a lot of depth here as you learn the ins and outs of each map, kart, and racer. The only other button is a special attack that builds on its own as you race, firing off a different super move depending on the racer. 

Sure, press the B button as you come around a tight turn, building boost as you do, and let go for a boost sounds straightforward enough. It lets new players and those less racing-inclined join the fray with ease, with no confusion over what button to press when. For those looking to truly express themselves on the track, the karts can get wildly different, and learning the intricacies of each ride and track leaves so much room for discovery.

While the starter warp star is a solid all-arounder that anyone can use well, the vampire star sucks energy out of other racers to build your own specials faster. On the other hand, a winged star may be slower, but excels in the air. This extends to the racers and their specials as well, each one a different move that can make a huge difference at a critical time. Kirby slashes around wildly with a sword, Rick the hamster embiggens and starts running at a full clip—it’s so fun experimenting to find the right kart/racer combo. 

City Trial is the best and most expanded upon mode.

The different modes all offer varied experiences, as well. Air Ride is the standard racing mode, as you compete with other players or computers to reach the end of the track first. Top Ride shifts the perspective top down, creating the feeling of racing around a Hot Wheels track in your own living room.

Time Attack brings fast and furious runs, chasing after best personal times. All three of these modes are a blast, with fun maps and white knuckled racing, but the two remaining modes, City Trial and Road Trip, are the best of the bunch.

City Trial was the mode I played the most, and it makes me so happy that it’s so well done and expanded on in Kirby Air Riders. 16 players hop onto an island, with a 5-minute timer ticking down. Everyone frantically jets around the island, getting new rides, finding power-ups, and competing in mini-challenges, trying to build the best kart they can in a short amount of time. It culminates in a battle where you choose between four events, selecting the final mini-game that best suits your kart. 

City Trial is all about quick decisions and kart/character combos.

It absolutely flies by, a chaotic whirlwind as you try to decide on a strategy. Do you build the best flying kart you can, aiming and hoping for a flying final challenge, guiding your winged kart to a high point total others can’t reach? Do you go for speed and try for a quick race? Do you go around destroying other players’ karts or hunt down the pieces of a legendary machine?

Trying to make these snap decisions while events pop off around the map, either raining down massive spiky Gordos or spawning a boss you can fight for loot, is so much fun. It recaptures that special energy of the original and amplifies it to new heights.

While there are many challenges, games, and events that can occur, it is disappointing that there’s only one City Trial map. This mode is begging for at least a couple more, as there are so many content variations here that could play out well in different spaces. The map that is here is mostly similar to the original on GameCube. While there is still plenty of new here, more maps that required different tactics or approaches would’ve made an awesome mode even better. 

Road Trip offers a roguelike mode where you build your kart over time.

Road Trip is another favorite mode—a roguelike mode where you build up your kart over time. You pick a character and hit the road, choosing between different challenges that offer various boosts. Depending on the choices you make, different routes unlock as you try to make your way through 12 stages without dying.

Lower difficulties offer opportunities to retry, while harder ones force a restart. There’s some story here, too, offering glimpses of a fallen kart from the stars. It’s a great mode that really feels like an adventure, requiring multiple runs to see all the potential routes and challenges.

Kirby Air Riders nails the feeling of unlocking something new, which almost feels like a lost art from a bygone era in a landscape full of microtransactions and deluxe editions. Each mode has its own unlockables, ranging from characters to color variants to karts to maps to customization options, and even more.

The early game is full of constant unlockables.

The early hours of the game feel like a never-ending birthday party. You unlock something new constantly, a stream of rewards for just engaging with the game in front of you. As you start to get into the weeds, there are plenty of challenges to chase and hyperspecific rewards to unlock. 

Kirby Air Riders is a fantastic follow-up to a GameCube classic. The racing is deceptively complex with a high skill ceiling. There’s a star-sized amount of content and unlockables, with City Trial and Road Trip being the standouts. While more City Trial maps would’ve been welcome, everything here is filled to the brim with joy and excitement. It’s a standout experience in the Switch 2’s first year, and one I’ll be coming back to for years to come. 

Kirby Air Riders is available now on Nintendo Switch 2.