Kirby Air Riders review – WipEout Nintendo version

Kirby Air Riders is the latest explosive and frenetic experience designed by Mr. Masahiro Sakurai, a brilliant mind who fascinates his fans with the precision of his gameplay. A Sakurai game is a game that manages to entertain in incredibly simple ways, but that elevates the feeling of merit thanks to the depth present when you go beyond the surface. Presented as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, Kirby Air Riders takes on a great responsibility, but I would say that it manages to become yet another brilliant pearl from Nintendo, aimed at everyone who vibrates with that characteristic energy of a good arcade game.

After 10 years mainly focused on Super Smash Bros., Mr Sakurai managed to fulfill a desire of his, producing a sequel to a cult classic from Nintendo GameCube and here we have Kirby Air Riders. In short, imagine that you are playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on wheels and you have a good idea of ​​what you have here. From the menus, to the sounds, difficulty, challenges, rhythms, controls, everything works with the precision that you associate with Mr. Sakurai.

Furthermore, it is a game with the spirit of games from another generation, when you unlocked extras and secrets as you played, with a huge sense of merit driving another game session. This is particularly important in these first months of Nintendo Switch 2, as Nintendo continues to do what it did with the previous console and that no other console manufacturer does: build a diverse catalog of fun experiences built on its most popular series.

The explosiveness of Super Smash on wheels

I confess that everything I saw pre-launch of Kirby Air Riders didn’t catch my particular attention. As a big Mario Kart fan who also plays Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, I thought I already had enough arcade racers to keep me entertained. That’s changed now that I’ve played it, I feel like it’s one of the most irreverent Nintendo titles in recent years that, despite being similar, is something different. Similar to what ARMS achieved in the first months of the first Nintendo Switch, it is a colorful and super frenetic title, with an arcade tone reminiscent of the 90s, which will probably pass by most, but will be highly appreciated by those who like irreverent, unexpected and even eccentric games.

Kirby Air Riders is a very simple racing and action game, but don’t think of it as Mario Kart. Even though they are games of the same genre, it is better to think of it as “Nintendo’s WipEout” as it is so frantic and explosive, especially with the importance of powers and attacks. However, the experience that takes place at great speed, on tracks designed for stunning visual dynamism, does not become too complicated, as the gameplay is simple.

90% of the time in Kirby Air Riders you only use two buttons: one to move the vehicle and the other to skid around corners, this same button is also used to charge the turbo. The vehicle accelerates automatically, you just have to direct it and like a good arcade driving game, you have to skid through the most difficult curves and that’s it, that’s it. However, this simplicity hides depth as there are numerous parameters that you will learn as you play to discover the nuances of the experience.

If you’ve played Super Smash Bros., you’re certainly familiar with the Sakurai method, you know how much you like precise controls, quick response, a visual design that allows you to easily interpret challenges, and encourages the player to invest their time to feel gratification. In Kirby Air Riders this can be seen when trying out different vehicles, with different behaviors, which deepens the gameplay. This is because charging the turbo means stopping the vehicle and each one has its own specializations, which are better suited to different challenges and game modes.

Learning to use the turbo only at the most appropriate times (sliding in the most difficult curves), learning the layout of each track, understanding how each vehicle works and what its advantages are, Kirby Air Riders shows once again that it is possible to create depth in a worthwhile way in an experience designed specifically to be easy to play and interpret. The 4 different game modes help, each in their own way, to illustrate this depth, with a strong help from vehicles.

A multifaceted experience

When playing the four different modes of Kirby Air Riders, you can even feel like you are in 4 different games, which complement each other and allow you to discover the depth of the gameplay in your own way. Air Ride (Rally Rasante in the localized version) and Top Ride (Aerial View) are the two racing modes, the first in a 3D perspective seen from behind, while the second takes you to races with a simpler design, seen from above. You can play in free races, against the clock or online in both, with the possibility of playing locally with other people.

Playing Air Ride is totally different from playing Top Ride, the latter is much more casual due to the simplified track design. Air Ride are races at dizzying speeds, track design with vertiginous drops and gravity-defying moments. Without forgetting that here, the use of powers and skills with super simple controls has even more impact on the races. It’s really a lot of fun and a great challenge.

City Trial puts you in a 3D environment in an experience focused more on combat. These disputes in the city focus on looking for skill items to dispatch opponents or destroy objectives, in a tone that is equally frantic, but combative. If Air Ride is WipEout Nintendo, City Trial is Twisted Metal Nintendo, combat with vehicles in a 3D environment. Additionally, you have several fun and easy-to-play mini-games.

Road Trip is a surprising story mode, with cutscenes of similar quality to those found in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, in which you will follow a road with varied challenges at various points along each route. By choosing between different items in each zone, you will access different zones until you reach the end. This includes facing bosses in large 3D areas. The mode lasts approximately 2 hours, but as there are different items that modify the route and areas you play in, you can try again to discover more secrets, events and rewards.

Best of all, each of these 4 modes allows you to unlock lots of rewards by playing and earning currency, which you can use to buy vehicle or character customization items. Character customization is extremely basic, just hats or items like cat ears, but vehicle customization is much more advanced, with the possibility of adding various accessories.

Visuals leave a lot to be desired

Kirby Air Riders is an experience that easily makes you think that we are playing something with the tone of Super Smash Bros., but applied to racing. It’s frantic, explosive, takes place at great speed, and a power up can make the difference between victory and defeat. The track design is meticulously calibrated to intensify the adrenaline you feel when playing this ingeniously simple gameplay, but the graphical quality doesn’t keep up.

Graphically, Kirby Air Riders leaves a lot to be desired. Although the visual design and aesthetics of the tracks deserve praise for their dynamism of visual design, the feeling of low resolution and lack of sharpness remains. Furthermore, the basic geometry and simple textures convey the feeling of a Nintendo Switch game running on a Nintendo Switch 2.

In a game like Mario Kart World, with large-scale, open-world scenarios, this doesn’t become a problem like in Kirby Air Riders, where the scenarios are small and you often pass through closed places like caves, where the geometry is too simple.

Conclusion

Despite the simpler visuals that convey the idea that this is not a game designed natively for the Nintendo Switch 2, Kirby Air Riders is a very fun game. Whether veteran or casual players, there are modes to keep you entertained for hours, and it’s rewarding to unlock extras by completing challenges. The dizzying speed and simplicity of these races appear wrapped in unexpected depth, with the various modes revealing excellent interpretations of the same experience. Furthermore, Kirby Air Riders boasts all the personality of a great arcade classic from the 90s, positioning itself as one of the greatest treasures in Nintendo’s recent history.