Release Date: November 20, 2025
A spin-off of the popular Kirby series, offered in a form of a racing game. Kirby: Air Riders allows us to play as Kirby and other Nintendo characters, participating in crazy races taking place on the ground, above the surface of the water and in the air. The game supports both singleplayer and multiplayer (local or online).
Kirby Air Ride, a racing spin-off of the popular platforming series titled Kirby, was released in 2003 and appeared on the Nintendo GameCube console. Years later, it received a sequel in the form of Kirby: Air Riders. Its development was overseen by the director of the Super Smash Bros. series - Masahiro Sakurai.
In Kirby: Air Riders we watch the action from a third-person perspective (TPP). The gameplay involves crazy racing.
The game gives us a range of characters at our disposal. Apart from various color versions of Kirby, we're talking about such characters as Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee, Cappy, Chef Kawasaki, or Starman.
They were differentiated in terms of unique features of size, weight and durability, strong points that increase their chances of winning, and weaknesses that could potentially hinder them. They were also equipped with unique abilities. In addition to this, each character has a special move (Kirby even has four, depending on the chosen color version), the use of which requires charging of a special bar. All players can also absorb enemies and temporarily copy their abilities.
Machines prepared for the game can not only fly, but also hover above the ground and slide on various surfaces. The tracks we race on are littered with obstacles, jumps (perfect landings give us speed bonuses), barriers, and other structures, the placement of which is worth remembering and using in the fight for victory.
The driving model is purely arcade and vehicles and machines accelerate on their own. Nevertheless, our role is not limited to just turning, as the Boost Charge mechanic has been implemented here, which allows for manual charging of the booster. Thanks to it, we can gain temporary speed increases and drift through turns, overcoming them in spectacular slides.
Kirby: Air Riders can be played alone or in multiplayer mode (on a single console or over the Internet).
City Trial mode is also available, in which we traverse a flying island called Skyah, acquiring machines and upgrades, collecting power-ups and participating in random events such as races and battles with opponents. After moving to the second phase, we gain access to Stadiums, where we face specially prepared challenges.
There is also the Air Ride Mode, in which attacking opponents gives us speed bonuses. Moreover, the Lesson mode serves as an introduction to the intricacies of gameplay and gives us the opportunity to hone our skills.
Platforms:
Switch 2
24GAMES
A series of platformers with a pink, balloon-like hero in the title role. The series was created by the Japanese studio HAL Laboratory, which develops it in cooperation with the Nintendo corporation.
Kirby Air Riders review: Simple controls, surprising depth
Despite its design flaws and City Trial misses, Kirby Air Riders offers enough substance and charm to make it a game you’ll keep coming back to—whether for quick bursts of fun or to teach your friends something new when they come over.
Game Director Masahiro Sakurai hosted a 45-minute livestream for Kirby Air Riders, which revealed a release date planned for this November.
video games
Matt Buckley
August 19, 2025
Nintendo announced a 45-minute Kirby Air Riders Direct for tomorrow, hosted by game director Masahiro Sakurai, which means the length shouldn't be a surprise.
video games
Matt Buckley
August 18, 2025
After 22 years, a new Kirby Air Riders game will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in 2025. This was the secret project Sakurai was working on.
video games
Matt Buckley
April 2, 2025
Game Ratings for Kirby Air Riders Video Game.
Kirby Air Riders review: Simple controls, surprising depth
Despite its design flaws and City Trial misses, Kirby Air Riders offers enough substance and charm to make it a game you’ll keep coming back to—whether for quick bursts of fun or to teach your friends something new when they come over.
Game is Recomended by 86% of Critics. There are 104 Critic Reviews.
NookGaming: 7 / 10 by Isaiah Parker
?Kirby Air Riders is like a box full of charming toys. There’s a lot to poke your nose into and prod away at, but it’s not long before I realize there just isn’t much to its many offerings. While its sense of polish and variety is impressive, this has come at the devastating cost of focus. You get lots of ideas and gameplay quirks that are individually fun for a while, but seldom do they come together to form something especially satisfying or cohesive. In its attempts to have lots of things that might please everyone, it winds up not doing any one thing all that exceptionally. As a racing game, it’s mechanically shallow and tracks offer little in terms of skill or engagement, often focused on looking nice rather than providing the player with fun challenges that are interesting to revisit. City Trial fares somewhat better, but having only one map whose changes generally aren’t that impactful means it has to fall back on randomness to do anything interesting. ? Sure, there are things like Roadtrip or Top Ride that are kind of fun in their own right, but again, these are just a collection of distractions rather than anything substantive on their own. I suppose that’s fitting as the final form of an old GameCube that suffered from many of the same issues, but it’s a shame that time didn’t do this format as many favors as I was hoping. I think fans of the original game will like, if not love this, so in that sense I can’t call the game a failure despite my many misgivings with it. It wanted to be a bigger version of Kirby Air Ride, and for better and for worse, it wound up being precisely that.
VideoGamer: 8 / 10
Playing Kirby Air Riders is like learning a new language – it takes a lot of compromise, and it’s not for everyone. It’s those who master the basics who will soon find many new ways to approach each game mode, providing depth and replayability. If you meet Kirby Air Riders on its own terms, you will be rewarded with a gauntlet that’s bursting with thrills, depth, and charm.
LadiesGamers.com: by Lynne Newey
Kirby Air Riders is an intense, fast-paced racing and battling game, with additional challenges to add variety. The price point may be restrictive for casual gamers, so I hope they introduce a demo and GameShare, so that more can experience the joys and thrills that Kirby Air Riders offers. If racing is your happy place, then it’s probably Two Thumbs Up. For me, there was enough to be greatly entertained, with the racing being challenging at points, but not so hard to make me feel incompetent.
![[1:07] – Nintendo Direct 12.09.2025 Trailer](https://cdn.gracza.pl/galeria/filmy/640x360/104922562.jpg)
