“Kirby Air Riders” Is Coming to Switch 2, and It’s “Basically Like ‘Mario Kart’”

More than two decades aft Kirby Air Ride launched connected GameCube, Kirby Air Riders is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 connected November 20. Director Masahiro Sakurai announced nan news successful a Nintendo Direct that aired August 19, alongside a elaborate look astatine nan upcoming racing game. “It fundamentally is for illustration Mario Kart,” Sakurai says.

The sequel is besides nan first Kirby title to beryllium directed by instrumentality favourite Sakurai since nan original.

“Oh dear,” Sakurai said during nan Direct. “Why is making a crippled truthful hard?”

Air Riders expands connected nan original, which came retired successful 2003, pinch much characters, modes, and caller controls beyond nan azygous fastener players utilized to boost. “This clip we’ve added a 2nd button,” Sakurai said. “Unfortunately.” While nan original crippled featured different versions of Kirby to play, Air Riders adds Chef Kawasaki, Knuckle Joe, and moreover lesser known characters for illustration Starman, each of which tin usage transcript abilities for illustration Kirby. Each characteristic has a typical move that tin boost their speed, onslaught different racers, aliases activate abilities for illustration turning into a elephantine snowball. The crippled allows up to 8 quality players locally aliases 16 online.

Following nan game’s announcement, WIRED went hands-on pinch a demo successful New York. Despite Sakurai’s first comparison to Mario Kart, Kirby Air Riders feels much for illustration a frenetic, sugar-crazed small brother. While Mario Kart World’s developers want players to beryllium capable to quickly grasp their game’s mechanics, Air Riders requires a small much finesse to maestro its skills. Players don’t person to manually accelerate, which intends you’ll move guardant whether you want to aliases not—sometimes into enemies, walls, aliases different obstacles. Winning a title requires timing boosts well, smashing done enemies to juice your powerup, and mastering way drifting.

In summation to accepted races, Air Riders features City Trial mode, wherever players will request to upgrade their rides arsenic quickly arsenic imaginable by gathering power-ups, stealing caller machines, and attacking opponents. Random section events will springiness players nan chance to subordinate and play short races and battles; players person only 5 minutes to upgrade their machines arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable earlier entering Stadiums, wherever nan main competitions return place.

During WIRED’s demo, City Trial and its Stadiums were nan main attraction. Five minutes to upgrade your machine—whether it’s by gathering powerups to summation formation abilities, speed, and durability, aliases by jumping to thing caller entirely—flies by. The full acquisition is frantic and successful changeless motion: location are items everyplace to snatch earlier your competitors do, and vehicles are scattered passim nan map. Even if you do negociate to find 1 you like, personification other tin bargain it by smashing into you. Damage your instrumentality enough, and you’ll person to get a caller one.

Even if you’re incapable to get nan powerups you want, each is not lost. Stadiums see 4 different games to ballot for, each of which are suited to different types of machines. A battle-focused lucifer will make a ray instrumentality pinch precocious flying skills astir arsenic useful arsenic bedewed paper. If you spell excessively difficult connected creating a vessel and onshore successful a title to spot who tin alert nan furthest, you mightiness arsenic good beryllium attempting formation pinch a rock. Others, for illustration an eating title wherever you effort to cod arsenic overmuch nutrient arsenic possible, consciousness for illustration anyone’s game.