Kirby Air Riders Review

Kirby Air Riders Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2

Kirby Air Riders has been getting a surprising amount of love from Nintendo leading up to launch, with two Nintendo Direct presentations and several overview trailers sending longtime Kirby Air Ride fans into a frenzy. I never experienced the original game, so this was my first time jumping into the world that inspired so much passion. I was excited to explore Sakurai’s latest creation that mixes a beloved Nintendo mascot with his familiar Smash Bros flair. What’s it like? Grab a star, power up, and prepare to go fast as we review Kirby Air Riders on Nintendo Switch 2.

Kirby Air Riders’ story mode is tied to Road Trip, which we’ll dive into later in the review. The story, told with cutscenes, has a more serious tone than the gameplay and revolves around Zorah, a mysterious mechanical life‑form, being transformed into the giant Gigantes, which sets the stage for the races you’ll tackle. Along the way, you meet characters like Noir Dedede, who acts as a rival in some missions. The story works as a backdrop for the game’s racing action, but it doesn’t add much depth. The charm comes from the gameplay itself, with the narrative serving mostly to guide players and punctuate the action with cutscenes and exposition.

Kirby Air Riders revolves around four main game types, each offering its own twist on racing and action.

Air Riders is the core mode, a traditional race against opponents around high-speed courses. The controls are accessible: the game auto-accelerates your rider, leaving you to steer, brake, and drift with one button, while the Y button unleashes special attacks. The courses are fast and fun, simple enough for newcomers to enjoy, yet rewarding for players who want to master every nuance. You can bounce around and experiment with little consequence, making learning part of the fun.

Top Ride takes a top-down slot-car approach. The mechanics are similar, but the courses are simpler and less exciting than Air Riders, focusing on taking the best lines through each turn.

City Trial is where the game really shines for many players. You spend five minutes gathering power-ups and stat boosts to make your rider faster and stronger before competing in a stadium mini-game. The mode blends elements of Mario Kart and Smash Bros, encouraging aggressive play as you steal from opponents while building your own power.

Road Trip ties the gameplay together with the story. You cruise along highways, choosing opponents along the way in a series of mini-games. Depending on which allies you encounter, different story paths and endings are unlocked.

Across all modes, completing challenges unlocks items on your checklist, opening new riders, license cards, vehicles, and more. HAL Labs’ design and Sakurai’s Smash Bros influence are clear throughout, giving Kirby Air Riders a grand, spectacle-like feeling.

While these gameplay elements sound great on paper, Kirby Air Riders often feels like a collection of good ideas mashed into a directionless package. Everything outside of Road Trip follows a single-use structure. If you want to race in Air Riders, the lack of any GP mode or sequential cup system turns each event into a one-and-done experience. You finish a race, return to the main menu, choose the mode again, and repeat the process. Top Ride and City Trial suffer from the same issue. A simple set of three or four races with an overall standing would have provided a stronger sense of structure. In its current form, the game feels incomplete, almost like a set of mini games that belong inside a much larger title.

Road Trip offers progression through upgrades, which helps, but even here, you will hit roadblocks. Certain mini games do not suit your current vehicle, leaving you to play, fail, swap machines, and then stick with that new pick until the cycle repeats. This stops Road Trip from feeling smooth or consistently rewarding.

Another caveat is the simplicity of the controls. Sucking up enemies and braking are tied to the same button, which means you will often brake by accident when trying to inhale an opponent. Some might argue that this is a skill issue, although the low-risk nature of the courses turns it into a frustration rather than a learning moment.

Kirby Air Riders offers a strong mix of local and online multiplayer, and this is where many players will spend most of their time. Local multiplayer works well, with stable performance and quick load times that let you jump between modes without much waiting. Air Riders and City Trial stand out the most here, especially if you have a group that enjoys light chaos and short, punchy rounds.

Online multiplayer is functional and easy to access. Matchmaking is fast, and races usually run smoothly on Switch 2 hardware. The simplicity of the gameplay helps keep online sessions consistent, even when connections vary. City Trial is again the highlight online, with the scramble for power-ups creating plenty of unpredictable moments that feel fresh each time.

The only drawback is that the same lack of overall progression affects multiplayer too. Since races are isolated events rather than part of a structured series, online play can feel repetitive over long sessions. Still, with the right group, Kirby Air Riders delivers a fun and lively multiplayer experience that suits quick pick-up-and-play sessions.

Kirby Air Riders is a bright and colourful game from the moment you load into your first course. HAL Labs commits fully to the charm of Planet Popstar, filling each environment with soft lighting, clean textures, and a vibrant palette that keeps everything cheerful and easy to read at high speeds. The Switch 2 hardware helps the presentation shine, giving characters smooth animations and keeping the action clear even when the screen fills with effects.

The Air Riders courses are the real highlight. Many of them have striking visual themes, with twisting sky tracks, neon-lit tunnels, and sweeping landscapes packed with personality. The sense of speed is supported by clean track silhouettes and bold colour contrasts, turning each race into something fun to watch as well as fun to play.

Character designs stay true to Kirby’s playful style, and the Air Ride machines have a polished, modern look that fits the series perfectly. Even Top Ride, which is intentionally simple, benefits from crisp visuals that make the top-down races easy to follow.

Performance on Nintendo Switch 2 stays fairly consistent across all modes. Air Riders and Top Ride run smoothly, with stable frame rates that keep the sense of speed intact. City Trial is the only place where you may notice slowdown. When the mode gets particularly hectic, with multiple riders clashing and power-ups filling the screen, the frame rate can dip for brief moments. It never becomes unplayable, although it is noticeable enough to break the rhythm at times.

Outside of those busy City Trial moments, Kirby Air Riders performs well on both docked and handheld play. The visuals remain clear, the controls stay responsive, and the overall experience feels well-suited to Switch 2 hardware.

For my Air Riders looking into Accessibility, there are a few options here to make your time with Kirby Air Riders more comfortable. These include the ability to resize text and change HUD Elements, remap buttons, change motion controls, rumble, and several colourblind modes. At just under $110 AUD, Kirby Air Riders falls more on the premium end of the pricing tier, and value will depend largely on whether you enjoy the series, or play online a lot. For me personally, I felt the game could do with a little more depth, and it didn’t quite grip me much like other Nintendo titles seem to. I’m not sure if I’m missing something here, but after around 20 hours of playtime, it just didn’t sink its hooks into me.

Kirby Air Riders is bright, colourful, and full of charm, with courses and characters that are a joy to watch. At its core, however, the game feels more like a collection of mini games than a fully fleshed-out racing experience. The single-use nature of most modes makes it hard to sink your teeth into long-term, and the lack of structured cups or sequential races leaves a sense of incompleteness.

That said, fans of competitive online play will find plenty to enjoy. Unlockables, upgrades, and the variety of modes offer motivation to keep coming back, especially in multiplayer sessions where the chaos and creativity of City Trial shine. Kirby Air Riders may not fully live up to its spectacle, but it still delivers fast, fun, and colourful racing for those willing to embrace its quirks.

So, What’s it Like? Kirby Air Riders is like Mario Kart crossed with Super Smash Bros.

In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by Nintendo, but this doesn’t influence my score.

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