kirby airriders direct #2 RECAP - quick take #4
Where the first Kirby AirRiders direct was a welcome party meant to introduce the game to both series vets and newcomers alike, this direct was clearly aimed at the former. In fact, I would argue that Sakurai's intended audience for this second presentation was even more niche than that. Watching it, I felt like he was talking to people like myself -- the obsessed, enduring fan starving to know every little detail, no matter how seemingly inconsequential it may have been. With the overview now in the rearview mirror, it was now time to get down to the nitty-gritty, and oh boy, did Sakurai deliver. From the small, yet lovingly confusing elements, to the larger, more undeniably exciting inclusions, one thing was made abundantly clear in this presentation -- Kirby AirRiders is leaps and bounds ahead of the original game in regards to its scope and ambition. With all of the cards seemingly on the table, save for any last-minute surprises Sakurai has hiding up his sleeve, AirRiders appears to be a much bigger game with a shocking amount of depth baked into all of its different modes. Speaking of modes, there are more than I could have imagined!
Top Ride is Back!
Sakurai mentioned that he felt that he would have been forgiven if he had decided not to include Top Ride in AirRiders, yet he decided to include it anyway. Now complete with more tracks, wider course layouts, more abilities to use, and up-scaled graphics, Top Ride is back and better than ever! Sakurai explained that this time around, Top Ride is meant to mirror the feel of AirRide, while also presenting as an approachable option for those who have trouble with 3D action games. Quite honestly, Top Ride never appealed to me when I was a kid, and I'm not sure that this showing of it moved the needle for me personally, but I can't deny that this mode has been crafted with love, care, and an infectious passion that jumps right off the screen.
Road Trip: Kirby AirRiders’ Story Mode?!
The final moments of the first direct showed a mysterious rider blasting through a dark and ominous storm. The way this character was presented suggested that AirRiders may feature some sort of narrative, but what sort of story could a game like this feature? This has been a burning question in my mind -- one that has been a mere hypothetical for decades. Well, now we know the answer. Road Trip sees Kirby embark on a journey to follow his machine as it guides him towards a mysterious destination. More interestingly, the presentation showcased a bustling world filled with Riders who have formed personal connections with their machines. How this plays into the Road Trip narrative will be interesting to see.
City Trial: More is More
In the first direct, what Sakruai had shown off of the newly designed City Trial mode appeared to be a modest iteration of the original. Sure, Skyah is completely different than the original City Trial in regards to its design layout, but it appeared that the core gameplay loop had remained the same. While this still appears to be true, the introduction of a host of new items has taken an already chaotic mode and cranked it up to 11. With new items like multi-missile, the size-up, the mega cannon, and more, I'm starting to get the feeling that the common AirRiders City Trial experience is going to be one of unhinged chaos that only those with a tolerance for constant off-the-rails arena gameplay will be able to hold on to. As a die-hard fan, I do not doubt that I'll be commanding the train, but I wonder how the more casual fan will fare when the gates of Skyah open up to everyone.
AirRiders Online: The Competitive Experience I've Been Craving
During the first direct, Sakurai mentioned that AirRiders would offer online play, but didn't go into much detail about it. Well, now we have a much better picture of what the competitive experience will look like. Interestingly enough, it appears that online play is designed to be as competitive as you want it to be. Each rider will be granted a license that they can personalize to make it uniquely their own. But the license is more than just for show, as it is also meant to display important stats relating to your skill level and positioning in the worldwide ranks based on two separate systems. The first is the class system, which is designed to place you against players of your skill level. Unrelated to class is your global win power, which is determined by the number of matches you've won. Playing AirRide as a kid, I always wished I could show off my skills to the world, and the global win power appears to be designed to allow me to do that in flashy fashion -- I can't wait! Online play is available in City Trial AirRide and Top Ride. With each of these modes containing its own ranking system, as well as its own subgame modes like City Trials' team matches, this side of the game seems to be shaping up to be truly robust.
Other Notable Additions
Making a welcome return is the checklist system -- something that I never could quite complete in the original game but now seems much more doable, especially for completionists. In AirRiders, when you want to complete a checklist task, clicking the empty square will take you right to that challenge you want to complete. Gone are the days of aimlessly playing the game, hoping you'd randomly complete one of the elusive checklist requirements.
Also making a welcome return are all nine race courses from AirRide, fleshing out the race selection to 18! AirRide is pretty low on my list of modes to try out, but I must admit, 18 courses feels like a pretty healthy amount of options, sure to keep people playing for quite some time. As you'd expect, each of the nine returning courses has received visual uplifts to keep them on par with the game’s tracks and so that players can experience them with all the glory of modern gaming's graphical standards.
Sakurai also took some time to highlight a wealth of new machines to ride, new copy abilities, and the thing I didn't know I needed until I saw it today -- the My Machine editor! That's right, in Kirby AirRiders, you can now deck your machine out with a host of wacky designs to make it uniquely yours. Interestingly enough, and perhaps unintentionally, AirRiders seems to be creating a parallel between you and the bond you'll form with your star by customizing it, and the bond that the riders share with their machines in Road Trip. I'll be interested to see if those parallels materialize in the full game, but if they don't, I'll surely still have a grand old time outfitting my Bacon-star with flashy designs.
Closing
If you weren't already excited for Kirby AirRiders, then this direct wasn't going to get you on board. However, as I mentioned earlier, this presentation was clearly designed for the insatiable die-hards dying to know all of the details, no matter how small. From the revamped Top Ride mode, to a curious but interesting looking story mode, to new machines and everything in between, this direct made clear that while this game may not be for everybody, those who it is for are in for something truly special. For me, this showcase cemented what I felt I already knew -- that it would become my new obsession. A game that I'll pour thousands of hours into maxing out my global power score in, crafting countless custom machines for, and more! Many have argued that a second direct for a game that can essentially be played with two buttons wasn't necessary, and at times, I felt worried that Sakurai's excruciatingly detailed explanations of the game's systems and mechanics would make jumping in less exciting. But for a game as quirky, unique as this appears to be, I feel that explaining the motivation behind every design choice helps the game feel more digestible, even for a die-hard like myself. Sakurai concluded the presentation by saying that there would be no DLC and no follow-up to this game, and that he'd thrown everything he had into crafting this experience. That much was apparent just by looking at the game on YouTube. Knowing that fact makes me even more giddy to get behind the sticks and actually feel what it’s like to play this game. See you in Skyah, riders -- we don't have much longer to wait!