my hopes and dreams for kirby air riders - QUICK TAKE #16
To me, Kirby Air Ride always felt like the quirky franchise spinoff game that Nintendo would never have good reason to revisit. As a racer, it never came close to reaching the appeal of Mario Kart, and its City Trial mode never felt like anything more than an experiment -- despite its endless replay-ability and copious amounts of off the rails fun. However, now that we're actually getting a sequel with Kirby AirRiders, I can finally allow myself to dream about what the evolution of the Air Ride formula could look like. In this Quick Take, I dive into my short list of hopes and dreams for Kirby AirRiders!
City Trial - Where The True Potential Lies
It actually wasn't until after the reveal of Kirby AirRiders that I discovered how popular City Trial is with the original game's cult following, as the flood of reaction videos following the announcement trailer all featured a through-line of excited anticipation for the return of this one specific game mode. That said, my baseline dream for Kirby AirRiders is to see City Trial return in any way shape or form, because without it, I quite frankly won't have much interest in sticking with this game for the long haul. Let's assume that City Trial's massive popularity makes it a given that it'll be featured in Kirby AirRiders -- what could it look like with today's game design sensibilities?
For those who don't know, City Trial was essentially battle royale before battle royale became a dominant genre in gaming. It featured you and three other Kirbys gliding around on your warp stars, wreaking having in a sandbox style map and collecting items to boost your stats. Following a round 3-7 minute round of this mode would feature a randomized event, where the stat bonuses you collected during City Trial could make the difference between you winning and losing. These events featured races, cage match style warp star fights, and more. In 2003, this game mode couldn't really flourish, but in today's gaming landscape, the possibilities are endless.
I think it would be an easy layup for Sakurai to implement online play for City Trial, as half the fun of this game mode back in the day came from causing mayhem alongside your friends. Though, I do worry that Nintendo's historically subpar online multiplayer infrastructure could hamstring the potential for something like an online City Trial mode to be truly great, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt now that the Switch 2 is out. Beyond just being able to play with friends, I would love to see some sort of ranking system or even a leaderboard in conjunction with a Kirby themed battle royale mode. Not only would this add a competitive edge that Kirby Air Ride didn't feature, but it would also give even more reason to endlessly return to this game.
When it comes to maps, I think most fans would agree that the original City Trial was incredible. It was just the right size, and was jam packed with different biomes and sections that made it feel like you were living inside of a fully fleshed out world. However, despite how awesome the original City Trial map was, I think most fans would also agree that it can't truly evolve without the addition of multiple maps. To that end, I would love to see a selection of at least three different maps roughly the same size and just as jam packed as the original City Trial was. But since this is a sequel, why not crank the chaos up to eleven? I would love each map to feature their own unique environmental traps, obstacles, and randomized events to keep me on my toes and constantly trying to adapt.
More Of A Reason To Race..
...Because after all, this is technically being marketed as a racing game. However, while playing Kirby Air Ride as a kid, I never felt enticed by its two racing modes -- Top Ride and Air Ride. To me, they just weren't very fun, especially compared to City Trial. But today, AirRiders has the potential to bolster its core racing design and become a legitimate contender in that space. Will it be a true competitor to Mario Kart? Most likely not, but I don't think anyone really expects it to be. Half of the appeal of Mario Kart is its roster, and even if AirRiders includes the full suite of its characters, I still don't think it'll be as appealing as what Mario Kart has to offer in that department. So what can Sakurai do to to have Kirby AirRiders looked at as a serious competitor in the Nintendo kart racer space?
Online multiplayer is a must, but there has to be some sort of X-factor that not only pulls players away from other popular kart racers, but also keeps them coming back. Additionally, I would love to see a variety of maps that go beyond the basic biomes featured in Air Ride. Don't get me wrong, those maps weren't bad by any means, but none of them were particularly memorable in my opinion. Lastly, I would love to see Sakurai lean into the already excellent gliding mechanics featured in Air Ride. Don't fix what isn't broken, but with modern racing physics applied to Air Ride's already novel gliding mechanics, you could have a racer that genuinely feels unique -- providing a compelling and addicting playing experience.
The Verdict? Kirby Air Riders is my most anticipated game of 2025
So to recap, an evolved City Trial with more maps and online multiplayer, paired with a more compelling reason to jump into whatever racing modes make their appearance, and you've got what I would consider to be the ideal Kirby AirRiders experience. But at the end of the day, no one knows what Sakurai is cooking up right now. All I know, is that there's no one I trust more than him to deliver a great experience to a game that for decades many, including myself, never believed would see the light of day again with a sequel. It's a great time to be an Air Rider, and I'll be there minute one when this game launches to take it all in -- because who knows, this could be the last we ever see of this cult classic franchise. Oh...and how perfect would it be if Nintendo added Kirby Air Ride to the Nintendo Switch Online GameCube catalog to get us ready for the sequel?