Kirby Air Ride Review A Chaotic Vividness in the Life of a Rare Audience
A Lasting True The long-feared GameCube sequel, Kirby Air Riders, a mind-child of the great Masahiro Sakurai, blueprints its being. And this is more than just another kart racer; this is a statement. A game that seems much more like a corporate product made by committee than a labor of love that had to twist arms before being green-lit. For a game that refuses to toe the corporate line within the cookie-cutter community of race games, one may ask-will its identity be a blessing or a curse.
The Sakurai Touch More Smash Bros than Mario Kart
Sakurai's design philosophy is felt from the get-go. From the voice of the announcer and the iconic sound effects to the killing and flying-off-screen of enemies-it's Sakurai 101. Anyone who's played some Super Smash Bros. or caught a glimpse of his YouTube channel discussing game design will instantly identify this DNA. This matters a lot since Kirby Air Riders doesn't compare to Mario Kart with a pink puffball. The distance to this game is far yonder from Mario Kart, like Burnout from Gran Turismo. Better yet, treat it as a multiplayer party game that happens to have some racing modes, rather than being an outright racer.
"It's a good game in the same way that Mario Party is a good party game, but without the friends, this one is mostly just doing the motions."
One Button to Rule Them All The Core Mechanics
The game's most talked-about feature is its unique, one-button control scheme. There is no acceleration button; your machine moves forward automatically at its top speed. The B button handles everything else: boosting, drifting, braking, sucking up enemies to copy their abilities, and firing those abilities. While it sounds overly simplistic, it works surprisingly well in practice. The game isn't asking you to master complex mechanics but rather to master timing and situational awareness.
This game design notion thoroughly affects the tracks. Most courses employ invisible walls and funnel you indefinitely forward, nearly guaranteeing that getting stuck is an impossible scenario. Brilliant for kids and informal 'party' scenarios where anyone can just pick it up and play. For an experienced racer, however, sometimes it feels like the game is "playing itself" from a set-gaming perspective, losing the deep satisfaction of nailing a perfect racing line that you find in other games.
Beyond the Simple Surprisingly High Skill Ceiling
Don't let the simple rules keep you fooled; really, there is a high skill ceiling in this game. Mastering it involves more than just holding a button. Key mechanics that separate beginners from pros include:
- Mastery of Machines: Each vehicle has an entirely different handling profile. One could be an insane top-speed tank with perhaps no turning. Another one combining other elements with significant distance gliding. Knowing which machine to choose for which mode is paramount.
- Boost Braking: The action of rapidly tapping the boost button lets you make sharper turns with only minimal loss of speed.
- Star Trails: When you stay in the slipstream of other racers, you get a pretty good speed boost.
- Advanced Techniques: Getting boosts while destroying enemies consecutively or perfectly landing after a glide adds levels of strategy.
A Gastronomy of Chaos Exploring the Game Modes
Kirby Air Riders holds an impressive amount of content over different game modes.
Air Ride
Traditionally, this is the racing mode. It features beautifully designed tracks filled with branches; hence, many say it is the pure racers' best offer in the game.
Top Ride
A racing mode from a top-down isometric perspective inspired by the old-time Micro Machineman. The races are incredibly simple and short. While fun in short bursts, most detractors tend to agree that this is the least engaging and weakest mode in the pack.
City Trial
Kicking it up a notch-the fan-favorite mode is back and better than ever. Players are set free in a massive cityscape and must explore this place for several minutes, gathering power-ups to improve their machine stats (top speed, glide, offense, etc.). After the time limit, all players compete in a final randomly chosen minigame where their acquired stats give them an advantage. This is a nifty balance of brawler-slasher-scavenger-hunt-party game, with the journey of powering up being more fun than the final event.
Road Trip (Story Mode)
This is a new single-player mode where you travel from one end of the country to the other. You pick one event after another, win them to collect stats and new machines, and battle bosses in between. While a great way to experience everything the game has to offer, one major complaint is that many of the events are incredibly short-sometimes only a few seconds-meaning you spend more time in menus than actually playing through them.
Pros
- Super accessible, easy to learn/play for everyone.
- Endless content; tons of different ways to play.
- Great deal of customization possibilities plus over 750 challenges to be unlocked offer huge replayability.
- That unique focus on party gaming makes it an amazing multiplayer experience.
- Sakurai is delivering, as always, a highly-polished and presentable product.
- It seems simple but has a complex skill ceiling.
Cons
- Overly simplified, even though two-button, one-touch control feels on rails.
- It's not particularly satisfying for solo players or for purists of the racing genre itself.
- Some of the game modes seem fairly shallow, like Top Ride.
- Single-player portions were generally too short and often broke up the continuity of gameplay momentum.
- It can sometimes confuse a new player when all on the screen goes chaotic.
Final Verdict
Kirby Air Riders does not save the least of its boldness and bizarre brilliance for itself, but instead delivers some return to fans of the original in terms of any possible modifications to the formula. It is not playing Mario Kart on the same game; rather, it is doing something completely different. For the casual players, who want to have a party game that will not put much risk into it and yet has very chaotic fun with friends, this game is a must-have. And for solo players seeking the next great technical racer, maybe this ride is just a little too crazy and shallow.
Switch 2 version tested
