On the eve of gamescom 2025, a Nintendo Direct solely focused on Kirby Air Riders has arrived, giving fans all of the info on Nintendo’s next big racer.
Today, the Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct dropped, giving fans of the series a fresh look at everything Air Riders before its newly announced launch date in November. After the official announcement back in April, Nintendo has kept everything regarding the next Kirby title under wraps until today’s Nintendo Direct uncorked everything fans could hope to know about the new racing title.
Kirby Air Ride was originally launched in 2003 for the Nintendo GameCube, and the new entry comes over 20 years later exclusively for the Switch 2. The new game will now give players a roster of riders to choose from, each with distinct characteristics and abilities. In addition, there are new Air Ride machines, returning game modes, and new Special moves for racers to deploy! The latest trailer can be seen below, as revealed today.
Kirby Air Riders Key Features
- Riding Techniques – Each ‘kart’ or “air ride machine” can have different forms and traits. They hover above the ground automatically and accelerate automatically, removing the need to hold the A button like in Mario Kart World.
- Boost Charge – By pressing the B Button, your machine will drop from hover and land on the ground, which will start a boost charge. Releasing the B button after the braking sequence, activates a Boost Dash. Director Masahiro Sakurai explained that this technique is more than just a speed boost, and fans can cut corners by tilting the left stick and holding the Boost Charge button through sharp turns, giving players a boon during Kirby Air Riders races.
- A Second Button Has Been Added – The Y Button is your “Special button,” and it activates your player character’s unique Special move. Attacking rival riders and enemies will fill up riders’ Special Gauge and once it’s full, you can unleash a Special move! With most characters stuck having one distinct Special, Kirby has four different Special moves, one for each colour Kirby players can select.
- Finally, More Riders – Kirby Air Riders adds a strategic element to its mayhem by adding more importance to your choice of rider. Each rider in the game has unique traits which can impact their selected machine’s performance. This includes weight, durability, Specials, close-range attacks, etc. Sakurai mentions this is by design, and why Air Ride mode has players select the course first, then the rider and machine after. Roster inclusions are numerous from Kirby, including: Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee, with enemies like Cappy, Chef Kawasaki, Starman and others also making the roster. Kirby Air Riders also lets players mix and match riders and machines.
- Machines – Each machine (like the riders) can sustain different amounts of damage in Kirby Air Riders races, and although most machines glide and perform jumps, it’s up to the player’s choice to ensure victory.
- Copy Abilities – To level the playing field, Kirby Air Riders gives all the riders the ability to inhale or capture to copy an enemy’s abilities to make sure gameplay is fair.
Mr. Sakurai also unveiled the returning game modes and experiences that await players in Kirby Air Riders, including City Trial mode, which he described as “the main event.” The mode from the original Kirby Air Ride returns, this time expanded and enhanced with more room to explore. Kirby Air Riders will allow players to join in groups of 16 when playing its returning open City Trial mode online. That’s a big jump from the original four-player multiplayer support from 2003, and players will be able to flit around the sprawling Skyah map. Up to eight players can play locally, also adding chaos to the equation.
That’s not the only returning mode in Kirby Air Riders, as Air Ride Mode will also be returning. In this mode, up to six riders can compete to cross the finish line first. Players can attack opposing riders, and by hitting them, speed will be increased by gathering small stars, applying notable speed boosts to gameplay. Kirby Air Riders can also slide into the classroom with its lessons mode, allowing fans to re-tune their playstyle before jumping into competition.
Aside from everything Kirby Air Riders has to offer, Director Sakurai confirmed the title will be coming exclusively to the Nintendo Switch 2 on November 20. Fans can catch the entire Nintendo Direct on the Nintendo website.
