Kirby Air Riders Exists and I Need Everyone to Understand Why Thats a Big Deal
Twenty two years. TWENTY TWO YEARS. Kirby Air Ride came out on GameCube in 2003 and I was like eleven years old and it was one of my favorite games ever. City Trial mode specifically. Just flying around collecting powerups before some random minigame determined who won. Simple concept, absolute chaos, hours of fun with friends.
And then Nintendo just. Never made another one. For over two decades. I kept my GameCube specifically because of that game. The disc is scratched to hell from overuse. Ive been asking for a sequel since I was old enough to have opinions about video games.
Then they just casually announce it at a Direct. Masahiro Sakurai is directing. THE Masahiro Sakurai. Smash Bros guy. He did TWO full presentation streams explaining every mechanic because apparently thats just how he operates now. An hour each. For a Kirby racing game.
I took November 20th off work. Ordered too much food. Played for like eight hours straight. The game is everything I wanted. City Trial is back and better. Theres 21 characters now. The courses look incredible. Online multiplayer actually works. Its not just nostalgia talking this is genuinely a good game.
Making it Switch 2 exclusive was smart honestly. No cross gen nonsense. You want Kirby Air Riders you buy the new console. Nintendo saying the old hardware era is done, move on. And based on how hard it is to find a Switch 2 right now apparently people are moving on.
The timing is wild too because Mario Kart World came out a few months ago. Nintendo really said “you want racing games? heres two completely different ones deal with it.” But they ARE different. Mario Kart is the standard multiplayer thing. Air Riders is weirder, more experimental, honestly more interesting to me at this point because ive played like a thousand hours of Mario Kart over the years.
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The original Air Ride got lukewarm reviews when it came out which still annoys me. Critics didnt get it. But the fanbase never forgot. Speedrunners kept that game alive. City Trial became legendary in certain circles. And finally Nintendo listened. Only took them 22 years but whatever I’ll take it.
If you never played the original this is your chance. If you DID play it back in the day welcome back. The wait was worth it.
Now if youll excuse me I need to unlock more characters. City Trial awaits. Dont be mad when I destroy you online.
