Kirby Air Riders

Kirby Air Riders shakes up the kart racing genre in a massively refreshing way, and has a ridiculous amount of content to explore.

Kirby Air Riders is an extraordinary racing game that is filled to the brim with content and surprises. It’s deceptively simple to get the hang of and incredibly fun to dive deeper into as you play more and more, with the core gameplay loop even entrancing someone like me, who typically doesn’t get much out of racers. Basically, this is another brilliant Switch 2 title.

Kirby Air Riders is a fantastic follow-up to a GameCube classic. The racing is deceptively complex with a high skill ceiling.

Kirby Air Riders realizes the full potential of its predecessor, delivering a chaotic, colourful and vibrant experience that is not only overflowing with enough content to keep you hooked for dozens of hours, but is unique and enjoyable enough to make sure that you don’t question whether the time you’re clocking in is time well spent.

“Waddle Doo!” I cheer at the top of my lungs. I just lost an online race in Kirby Air Riders, but I couldn’t be happier. All week, I’ve been trying to unlock Waddle Doo by using a specific item in a specific mode, and have been so unlucky in finding it that this otherwise insignificant race has become a massive achievement. Kirby Air Riders, the latest from beloved game director Masahiro Sakurai, is filled with moments like this. The game overflows with his signature style, making bol...

Kirby Air Riders shares a lot of the same DNA as its predecessor, and it's a sequel that belongs in this era. The simplistic controls might not be for everyone, but if you can look past that, you've got a competent racer that does its own thing instead of attempting to battle it out against Mario Kart World.

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.

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.

More than 20 years after Kirby Air Ride zoomed onto the Nintendo GameCube, the cult classic racing game has gotten a sequel. This time around, Kirby is joined by a plethora of allies and foes for an over-the-top racing experience. Kirby Air Riders takes everything that made the original game fresh and exciting, and dials them up to an 11.

What's really great about Kirby Air Riders is that it gives players a reason to keep playing. Players will naturally earn achievements as they play, and that makes it hard to put down. It's clear that Sakurai fully fleshed out the game he wanted to make in 2003, and the passion he had for Kirby Air Riders really shines through.

The most baffling Nintendo release of recent years, with a quasi-remake of one of the GameCube’s worst games, that seems specifically designed to irritate and confuse would-be players.

I was one of the biggest Kirby Air Ride fans back in the day, so the fact that we're getting a sequel to the divisive cult classic is a dream come true. Kirby Air Riders is everything I could have ever wanted and more. It's a project filled with love, passion, and a celebration of all things Kirby. From the robust character roster, surprising depth of customization options, and an impressive amount of content to see, do, and unlock, Kirby Air Riders is easily my favorite racing game of the year. It's a triumph from start to finish, and I can't wait to spend countless hours in City Trial and be...