Kirby Air Riders takes a bold swing on Nintendo Switch 2 and immediately stands out as something new. At first glance, you might assume it fits into the same space as Mario Kart World, especially with its bright tracks and character-focused racing. Once you start playing, though, it becomes clear that the two games move in completely different directions.
Your machine accelerates on its own, shifting your attention to drifting, boosting, gliding, and lining up smart angles through corners. It feels unusual for the first few laps, but the flow starts to settle in once you understand how each action stacks together. Small timing changes can make a big difference, and learning how to control that speed becomes a big part of the fun.
Kirby Air Riders also spreads its ideas across several modes. Some lean into traditional racing, while others focus on exploration or short challenges that mix up the pace. The variety gives the game more range than it seems to have at first, and it helps the experience stay interesting as you learn how each machine handles.
Kirby Air Riders details
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch 2
Developer(s): Bandai Namco Studios, Sora Ltd.
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Genre: Racing
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)
A light story behind the speed
Kirby Air Riders is not a story-focused game, but it does have one mode that adds a bit of structure. Road Trip gives you a loose journey to follow, built around short challenges that link together as you move from stop to stop. It is simple on the surface, yet it works well as a break from the faster racing modes. Each Road Trip chapter presents a series of small encounters. One might ask you to glide through a section cleanly, while another might send you into a short race or a quick objective challenge.
The variety keeps the mode moving at a steady pace, and the format makes it easy to play through a few segments at a time. I ended up liking these short bursts more than I thought I would, especially when a challenge matched the machine I was trying to get better with. The narrative elements sit quietly in the background. Short cutscenes appear between chapters, adding some charm and giving you a sense of how Air Riding fits into this corner of the Kirby universe. They never slow things down, and the game treats them more like a reward than a requirement. It is a light touch, but it matches the overall personality of Kirby Air Riders.
Road Trip does not turn the game into a story-driven experience, but it adds just enough structure to round out everything else. It works as a relaxed detour when you want something guided without taking a long break from the action.
Learning the flow of each race
Gameplay is where Kirby Air Riders sets itself apart from other racers on Nintendo Switch 2. Instead of managing acceleration the entire time, your machine moves forward on its own. This shifts your focus to drifting, boosting, gliding, and timing each action so they stack together smoothly. It can feel unusual at first, especially if you are used to the structure of Mario Kart World, but the learning curve is manageable once you understand how the controls connect.
Drifting and boosting form the heart of each race. Holding the brake charges a boost, and releasing it pushes you forward with extra speed. The trick is knowing when to slow down just enough to angle your machine into a clean line. Gliding changes how you approach certain tracks, especially when a machine can stay in the air longer than expected. Some machines are built for long airtime, while others stick closer to the ground and lean into tighter turns or quick bursts of speed.
Each machine handles differently, and the game makes those differences noticeable. Some focus on straight-line speed. Others lean into turning or stronger attacks. Switching machines gives you a new feel for familiar tracks, and the variety keeps races interesting as you experiment. The Wagon Star finally clicked for me after a rough first lap, and suddenly the rest of the track felt like a completely different run.
Copy abilities and special moves build on this foundation. Inhaling an enemy gives you a temporary ability you can use to protect a good run or create space during a tight race. Special moves act as powerful tools once their meters fill, adding a bit of strategy to when you want to push forward or disrupt nearby racers. The controls stay simple, but the depth shows up the more you play. Kirby Air Riders rewards clean timing and small improvements, making each lap feel better as you settle into the pace.
A bright look at every track
The first thing you notice in Kirby Air Riders is how clean and colourful everything looks once you hit the track. The courses move fast, but the layouts stay readable enough that you can focus on the next corner or glide point without losing track of what’s happening. The bright colours and soft shapes from the Kirby series translate well to this faster style of racing, giving each course a lively and distinct feel.
You get a solid mix of track types here, and that keeps races from blending together. Some courses launch you into long glides, while others stick to tight corners and quick bumps that test your timing. A few even throw in guided moments that shift your angle or send you airborne for a few seconds, just enough to shake things up without slowing the pace. Machines have their own look and personality, and their designs give you a good sense of how they’ll handle before you even hit the first corner. Characters are animated with clear, playful movements that fit the tone of the game. Attacks, copy abilities, and special moves all stay easy to read at high speed, even when multiple things are happening at once.
The sound design ties everything together in a way that just feels right while racing. Music keeps a steady pace that matches the action, and the sound effects land clean during boosts, glides, and attacks. After a few races, certain audio cues start to become second nature, especially when lining up a drift or noticing something coming your way. Even when things get wild on screen, the game keeps up. It stays smooth enough that you never feel like you’re wrestling with the performance.
Multiplayer modes that bring out the chaos
Kirby Air Riders really comes alive when you jump into multiplayer. City Trial is the mode that grabbed me right away. You drop into a big map, scramble for upgrades, swap machines on the fly, and try to piece together a build before the final event kicks in. When that last challenge appears, everyone tenses up a bit. You can feel it. The whole round flips in seconds, and that scramble is half the fun.
Local multiplayer feels great for quick sessions. Sharing a screen works better than you might expect, even when abilities start landing everywhere. The races move fast, and the machine swapping keeps every run a little unpredictable. Someone always manages to grab the perfect build at the worst possible time, and it turns the room into a mix of groans and laughs.
Online play has the same energy. The Paddock works like a warm up area where you and your friends mess with machines before diving into an event. Once a match starts, the rhythm stays tight. You still get the quick corners, the sudden boosts, the messy fights for upgrades. It feels close to local play, which makes switching between the two easy.
Top Ride sits in a nice spot when you want something simpler. The top-down tracks are tiny and quick, so it’s perfect for a break between longer City Trial rounds. Kirby Air Riders treats multiplayer like a big toolbox. Each mode has its own flavour, matches stay short, and it’s ridiculously easy to fall into that “fine, one more round” loop without noticing the time.
Kirby Air Riders shows how much fun a different kind of racer can be
Kirby Air Riders might look simple when you first hop into a race, almost like a Mario Kart World clone at first glance, but that impression fades fast. It starts with a light, friendly feel, then slowly shows you how much there is to dig into. The more time you spend learning machines, drifting through corners, or running wild in City Trial, the more the game opens up.
Each mode brings a different pace without drifting away from what makes the game click. Quick races keep things tight. City Trial adds a layer of unpredictability that never gets old. Top Ride works as a clean palette cleanser. Road Trip gives you short challenges and a steady path forward. Nothing feels tossed in. Everything contributes to the same fast, slightly wild identity the game builds from the start.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The machine variety gives you lots of room to experiment and find your own favourites. | The learning curve can feel rough until the controls finally click. |
| There’s a surprising amount packed into the game, with modes, machines, and unlocks that keep you busy for a long time. | Races can get chaotic, making it hard to recover if things go wrong. |
| City Trial adds a chaotic multiplayer loop that keeps every round unpredictable. | Not every mode will appeal to everyone, especially if you prefer more traditional racers. |
| Kirby Air Riders delivers fast, reactive racing that feels different from typical kart games. |
What surprised me most is how much staying power the game has. You expect a fun burst of speed, but you end up with a racer that rewards you for sticking with it. Machines handle differently enough that even familiar tracks feel new when you swap to a fresh setup. There is always something to unlock, some challenge to chase, or some silly moment waiting in multiplayer.
Overall assessment of Kirby Air Riders
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Graphics: 4.5/5
Sound: 4/5
Lasting appeal/Replayability: 4.5/5
Overall rating: 4.3/5 (86%)
Kirby Air Riders works so well because it leans into its own style instead of chasing anything else. It’s fast, a little chaotic, and full of small ideas that build into something bigger. If you want a racer that’s easy to jump into but still gives you room to grow, this one fits perfectly as a go-to game on your Nintendo Switch 2.
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