Things Confirmed For Kirby Air Riders

Kirby has gone through a lot since his career started on the Game Boy in 1992. From platforming legend to puzzle cracker to golfer to racer, he has done it all. One of his strangest adventures was Kirby Air Ride on the GameCube all the way back in 2003.

While fun, no one could have ever predicted it would get a sequel after now news for so long: Kirby Air Riders. After being announced in April, Kirby Air Riders has been dormant in the news since, but now a new Nintendo Direct has dropped, and with it a bevy of information. Let’s get into all of the juicy details and what fans can expect from this upcoming Switch 2 game.

The Date And Tease

Also, Who Is Making It?

Kirby Air Riders was teased to come out in 2025 in the original presentation, and now Nintendo has confirmed that it will be releasing, as a Switch 2 exclusive, on November 20, 2025. November, right now, looks a bit barren but that could change in the next few weeks when publishers finalize their release calendar. This will most likely be Nintendo’s biggest game following Pokemon Legends: Z-A in October.

Masahiro Sakurai, the game’s director, has confirmed that his studio, Sora, is working with Bandai Namco again to produce the game. It’s the same team that worked on the previous three Super Smash Bros. titles, so it seems like the two companies have created a good workflow together. Typically, most Kirby games are made by Hal Laboratory, so this is a bit of a change.

Choose Your Rider

Going Beyond Kirby

In the original game, players could choose between different colored Kirby characters, all of which are returning in the sequel: original, Blue, Red, and Yellow. The only other two playable characters in Kirby Air Ride were Meta Knight and King Dedede, but players couldn’t choose their Machine, the term they give the vehicles in the game. This time around, all characters can choose their Machine.

Also, the roster is a lot bigger with Sakurai teasing more to come. So far, beyond the already mentioned characters, Kirby Air Riders will include classic Kirby allies and villains like Bandana Waddle Dee, Cappy, Chef Kawasaki, Gooey, Knuckle Joe, Magolor, Starman, Susie, and Waddle Doo. That’s an astounding roster, and what hasn’t been shown yet is how players can unlock characters and Machines.

The Special Button And Gauge

Unleash Your Rider’s Power!

Each Rider has a distinct set of skills and balances to their character. For example, King Dedede is slow but hits hard, and Cappy can use its little mushroom cap as a shield until it takes enough damage and gets destroyed. Machines will drive themselves, and all players have to do is steer them on the course.

They can also press a button to Boost Charge, which will increase speed, and there is a Special Button that, when filled, will unleash a character’s hidden talent. Kirby’s is called Ultra Sword, which swings a giant sword violently around. Kind Dedede’s hammer gets a booster to thrust him forward, hence the name Jet Hammer. Chef Kawasaki’s Superspicy Cooking will hurl dishes around, and the list goes on.

Copy Abilities

Everyone Gets Them

Typically, only Kirby can gain classic Copy Abilities from characters, but that is not the case in Kirby Air Riders. Besides the Special Gauge, every character can absorb a random enemy on the course. Every change will affect the character’s appearance, making them look wilder than they have ever looked before.

So far, the Copy abilities shown include Bomb, Cutter, Fire, Jet, Plasma, Mike, Steel Ball, Sword, and Wheel. So, more so than Mario Kart World, the races look absolutely chaotic with the amount of powers constantly being thrown around. This is as close to a Super Smash Bros. game as fans are going to get from Sakurai for a while, which is nice, as it helps differentiate Kirby Air Riders from Mario Kart World.

The Machines

Learn What You’ll Be Riding

The balancing in the game seems like it’s going to be tricky because each character has its strengths and weaknesses and then the Machines have strengths and weaknesses too. If viewers thought they announced a lot of characters already, they will be even more shocked by the number of Machines revealed. Players can look forward to riding the Battle Chariot, Bulk Star, Chariot, Compact Star, Paper Star, Rex Wheelie, Rocket Star, Shadow Star, Slick Star, Swerve Star, Tank Star, Turbo Star, Wagon Star, Warp Star, Wheelie Bike, and finally, the Winged Star.

Among those, Battle Chariot looked the funniest as Kirby appeared to be like Axel in the Twisted Metal games. This is a vast improvement over Kirby Air Ride, as there were basically only two types of Machines that looked either like bikes or stars. A cool detail Sakurai mentioned is that the Machines resize themselves depending on the character. So, a Machine ridden by Kirby will be smaller than King Dedede’s, for example.

The Modes

From Air Ride To City Trial

So far, Sakurai has announced three basic modes in the game. First, the main racing mode is called Air Ride, and players can tweak settings between each race, but for the most part six players can compete. For example, each course has a Slow and Normal mode, similar to the speed limits in the Mario Kart games. Waveflow Waters, Floria Fields, Cavernous Corners, Cyberion Highway, and Mount Amberfalls were the courses shown. Lessons is like the tutorial mode if players need some assistance in how to play the game.

The biggest mode shown was City Trial, which can be played with sixteen players online, or eight local, with the remaining eight positions being filled by AI. City Trial is kind of like a Battle Royale mode, as it’s chaotic and different events will pop up, such as bosses coming down, or mini-races popping up. The one stage is called Skyah, which looks a Super Smash Bros. stage. There are time limits to City Trial, so how a player wins really depends on a number of factors. Within City Trial are mini-games, called Stadiums, similar to how Mario Party handles them, except that characters remain on their Machines.

Kirby Air Riders

Systems

Released

2025

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer

Number of Players

1-4 players