Earlier today, Nintendo held a special Nintendo Direct about the upcoming Kirby Air Riders for Nintendo Switch 2. Hosted by game creator and director Masahiro Sakurai, the presentation had a wealth of interesting info on the game and how it all works. Here’s the video if you missed it…
Plus, here are some brief highlights:
New Characters
Starting with the fact that Kirby won’t be the only playable character anymore, at least in the majority of the game. Indeed, while the original had multi-coloured Kirbies for most modes, and the likes of Meta Knight and King Dedede for some side content, Air Riders tosses that away entirely.
Now Meta Knight and King Dedede are playable in all modes (with unique abilities and the option to use Kirby style copy abilities), and they’re joined by the likes of:
- Bandanna Waddle Dee
- Cappy
- Chef Kawasaki
- Starman
- Gooey
- Magalor
- Susie
Among likely many others. So, the variety is damn lot better this time around!
Special Moves
The game also has special moves to, used by the controller’s Y button. Once the bar has been charged up, each character will be able to use a special move to blast to the front, annihilate nearby rivals or both. These include Meta Knight gliding fast on his wings, Dedede blasting through with his rocket hammer, and Kirby using one of a couple of possible powerful abilities based on which colour Kirby he is.
Machines
The following machines have also been confirmed for the game too:
- Warp Star
- Compact Star
- Winged Star
- Shadow Star
- Wagon Star
- Slick Star
- Bulk Star
- Rocket Star
- Swerve Star
- Turbo Star
- Wheelie Bike
- Rex Wheelie
- Paper Star
- Chariot
- Battle Chariot
- Tank
As you’d expect, the Compact Star is still the initial vehicle for City Trial, as well as the one you’ll use if you don’t have one by the time the event ends. The ones highlighted in bold are new to this game.
Tracks
As for tracks, the following have been confirmed for the game:
- Floria Fields
- Cavernous Corners
- Cyberion Highway
- Mount Amberfalls
- Waveflow Waters
- Steamgust Forge
We don’t see much footage of the majority of them, but we do know that the water one has players racing through parted waves, beaches, caverns and a variety of other areas, so it appears they’ll be pretty big and detailed. We’ll have to wait and see what others are revealed, and how many extras are yet to be seen here.
City Trial Returns
Another fan-favourite mode returning here is City Trial, where players are placed in a large city and have to collect parts across it to power up their machine for a big battle or challenge at the end. This time, the mode takes place on a floating island called Skyah, and there are more random events and stadium challenges to spice things up. The former includes attacks by Kracko and a rain of Giant Gordos, while the latter include things like a glide challenge, a point scoring board challenge and a battle with a swarm of enemies among other things.
Mechanical Updates
There are also mechanical changes too. These include the boost button being usable around corners to drift in a similar way to the Mario Kart series, players being able to ride behind opponents and use the stars their machines leave for a speed boost, and a variety of other things to keep things fresh.
Others
Finally, Sakurai also announced the game would be releasing on the 20th of November 2025, and that some of the songs from the game (including the vocal tune that acts as its main theme) would be added to Nintendo Music as well. So yeah, you can now listen to a selection of the game’s songs on that service too.
Still, those are some of the biggest announcements from today’s Kirby Air Riders Direct. If you haven’t seen it already, we recommend checking out the video on the Nintendo YouTube channel here, or seeing it in the Nintendo Today app if that’s more you speed.
It’s definitely making the game feel more exciting than before, that’s for sure!
Regardless, what are your thoughts? Are you buying Kirby Air Riders? How much of an upgrade is it compared to the first game?
Leave your thoughts in the comments, on social media or on our Discord server today!
Source: