Review – Kirby Air Riders

The power of the stars is amazing and was able to bring new life to the world. This reboot, coming straight from the GameCube classic, is not only a chance to renew the visuals, but also to expand its scope with lots of new features and rekindle that excitement that only producer Masahiro Sakurai knows how to convey. The doubt that has been the same since the reveal: what else will we discover and how far will this game go? After all, after the monumental success of , you never know what the limit is for Sakurai, and the announcements have made it clear that Kirby Air Riders is packed with promise.

This is a racing game that, despite having all the charisma of the Kirby universe, is far from being “cute”. Action and combat dominate the frenetic atmosphere of any match. The feeling is almost that of a Smash Bros on rails and turbo: speed, chaos, strategies, risks and that delicious adrenaline that makes you want to play “just one more”. And the competition is not restricted to the tracks; Kirby Air Riders clearly wants to compete at the top of new generation racing games and, honestly, it has everything to be a strong candidate.

A new shine for motorized stars

When Kirby Air Ride arrived on the GameCube in 2003, it was more straightforward and arcadey, with quick races, fast-paced battles, and lots of improvisation. The chaos of mid-course disputes was already there, but the options for characters, machines and modes were limited to Air Ride, Top Ride and the experimental City Trial mode that dominated the package. Now this legacy returns expanded: with the arrival of Kirby Air Riders for Nintendo Switch 2, the game preserves its classic spirit, but with completely renewed ambition.

Driving, which has always been simple at first glance, as you don’t accelerate (the machine runs on its own), now brings a much greater technical layer. Precise steering, drifts, boost management, jumps that turn into a glide and landings that return extra speed, it all depends on your mastery. Some machines, in fact, work almost as “energy dependent”: they only gain speed with charged impulses, and it is you who decides when to spend and when to hold back. This creates an incredible dynamic within the races, where every turn can become an opportunity or a fatal error.

The machines are also much more different than in the original. There are agile and light models, others heavy and brutal, some focused on combat and others that barely turn, but explode with speed when you master their tricks. Combining this with the characters, which now go beyond the colorful Kirbys to include allies and rivals from the series, each pilot brings a type of special ability and even copy variations, which makes each race more unpredictable and strategic.

Kirby Air Riders also has a stellar machine dealership. There, you can put machines you have customized up for sale or buy vehicles customized by other players (all with in-game currency). This already yields infinite possibilities, with machines full of style, references and even comical or nonsensical creations. It’s a fun way to engage the creator community and make each player unique on the track.

Revamped classic modes

Air Ride, Top Ride and the beloved City Trial are back, but none of them return in a lazy way, gaining more depth, gameplay options and even translated titles. Traditional races have wider layouts, modern visuals and sections designed to explore new physics. Top Ride maintains the accessible and fun feel of the top view, but with effects and small variations that make it more vibrant, perfect for shorter, more relaxed sessions.

The City Trial, now called Urban Trial, was much loved in the original Kirby Air Ride, and here it returns as a complete experience. The city is alive, changes and reacts all the time. As you collect parts, upgrades and try to assemble your perfect machine before the final challenge, the game simply throws you into the middle of dynamic events that can turn everything upside down. In the announcement, it seemed like a dated mode, but playing it I was amazed at how much fun it was to kick your friends away and take their machines, or manage to gather items to form a rare vehicle.

A meteor can cross the map, destroying entire streets; storms can take over the sky; giant enemies can appear in the middle of the city; portals can open revealing rare items; entire areas can simply disappear or change shape. It’s no exaggeration: all of this changes the pace of the match and forces you to adapt. It’s chaos at its most fun, and it’s impossible to play one round the same as another. The mode is more active and even allows you to define rules, create teams, extend time or even roam freely. The best thing is that it works well, both in online and local matches. Honestly, it’s everything that was missing from the vast open map of .

Kirby Air Riders also features a single-player adventure mode. “Pé na Estrada” has its own narrative and progression. Along the journey, you will face several challenges that combine all of the game’s existing modes, while rescuing memories, strengthening your machine and facing enemies. It’s an excellent addition for those looking for more than multiplayer chaos and makes the game even more complete but, believe me, it doesn’t stop there.

Unlocking everything Kirby Air Riders offers

I can’t help but mention the amount of content there is here. Kirby Air Riders looks set to be as big as Super Smash Bros. You unlock new machines, variations, characters, alternative modes, small rules and even cosmetic items as you complete challenges during matches, while filling in the hundreds of gaps in a large mosaic. It’s the same feeling as the classic and the brawler: “just one more objective and I’ll stop”, but you don’t stop. The game rewards each attempt with some kind of real progress, and that’s a joy to play. For more games like this, my vote is yes!

The driving school (a series of tutorials) also works perfectly. It’s simple, objective and quick, teaching even beginner players to master more advanced techniques. Everything is intuitive without being silly, and that’s what’s most interesting about these mechanics: they’re accessible without being superficial.

The game also has daily and scheduled events that bring varied rewards, such as coins, improvements to your world level, jelly beans and many other items. There’s even an area to play with your jelly beans, which are cute miniatures of the star machines.

Back on the tracks, they are now bigger and full of personality. There are environments that transform during the race (in fact, there are machines that also transform, here’s a tip), destructible areas, sections with well-used verticality and alternative paths that only appear if you know how to activate them. The colors, effects and style help reinforce that feeling of “controlled chaos” that defines the game.

Nothing chokes, breaks the rhythm or ruins the immersion. Kirby Air Riders’ performance is stable, the gameplay is responsive and each lap has some new detail to notice. Depending on your skills, everything is so fast that you can barely see the beauty of the maps. In any case, the care that goes into every detail of the game is undeniable. The songs, then, are one better than the other. In fact, there are several tracks to conquer, and you can listen to them in the game player.

The dubbing came with the stars

The dubbing in Portuguese is a show in itself. Well interpreted, charismatic and with personality, she brings more life to the races and makes it easier even for those who just want to relax and have fun without needing to read anything. Furthermore, the story mode is full of beautiful scenes and, with the reinforcement of voice acting, they become even better. Everything fits perfectly with the game’s identity, which is light, chaotic and always happy. It really makes a difference.

In the end, Kirby Air Riders is the kind of game that surprises you with its consistency. It’s chaotic, but it’s not messy. It’s colorful, but not childish. It’s accessible, but also offers good challenges (there are, for example, vehicles that are difficult to master). There is a balance that keeps everything working incredibly well, catering to those who are competitive and also those who just want to have fun amidst the frenetic atmosphere.

Kirby Air Riders is an extremely complete game. More lively and active than the new Mario Kart, and with the same insane energy as , however, with much more content than both. But be warned: It is not a traditional kart game as its battles and techniques may require a little more skill on the tracks. Still, among all of them, the perception is that Kirby comes out ahead precisely because he manages to combine variety, charisma, chaos, technique and progression in a package that doesn’t seem to leave anything for later. But coming from Sakurai, you never know.