Kirby Air Riders review: Simple controls, surprising depth

One of the Kirby franchise’s biggest strengths is how approachable and easy to pick up its games are. Most of its platformers are simple, one-button adventures, yet they’re filled with collectibles and secrets for anyone willing to master each game’s unique quirks. Even Kirby Air Ride, when it released back in 2003, stood out from other racers thanks to its simple controls and party-focused energy.

A little over 20 years later, Kirby Air Riders returns with a slew of updates that stay true to that simplicity while offering a more robust package for both newcomers and returning fans who want a racing game that isn’t trying to be Mario Kart. It also reinforces why Kirby games never need to be complicated to be fun.

One Button Wonder

Just because Kirby Air Riders is on the Switch 2 and falls under Nintendo’s racing umbrella doesn’t mean it plays anything like Mario Kart. In fact, it deliberately doesn’t. Like the original, it features unique controls built around constantly accelerating forward. With a single button, you drift or brake, then release to burst forward. That same button lets you get close to enemies, inhale them to toss at rivals, or copy their abilities for projectiles and attacks that can give you an upper hand mid-race.

All of that—just from one button.

Air Riders sounds simple on paper, but once you start racing, you’ll quickly realize it takes lots of practice to truly feel comfortable. The game even includes thorough tutorials on swerving, braking, and making the most of copied abilities. On top of that, the different machines you can ride drastically change how you handle each race. One machine doesn’t burst at all but boosts stats like speed and control, while another can’t swerve and instead stops completely when you hold the button, letting you aim and zap yourself in a new direction.

Kirby’s copy abilities come into play every time he inhales an enemy, replacing traditional items with powers like slicing through rivals, shocking them, or transforming into an iron ball to flatten anything in the way. Performing well—damaging enemies, taking good turns, racing efficiently—charges a power meter that eventually lets you unleash a short but devastating special attack unique to each character. Air Riders may look straightforward, but it’s packed with mechanics you can master, making the game feel deeper and more rewarding the longer you play.

City Trial Stumbles

Air Riders brings back the original game’s modes: Air Ride, City Trial, and Top Ride. Air Ride is the main mode, letting you take on CPUs or local players in arcade-style races. It’s the mode you’ll turn to for most versus sessions, though because the game takes time to learn, your friends might need a crash course before jumping in. While Mario Kart is something virtually anyone can pick up, Air Riders—despite its one-button setup—requires more practice and understanding to truly get comfortable.

City Trial returns bigger than ever, featuring a much larger map and support for more players. The goal is to collect as many power-ups as possible to build your ideal machine before time runs out and a Stadium mini-game begins. Each mini-game favors different builds: a gliding challenge rewards high glide stats, while a drag race favors pure speed.

The problem is that City Trial’s prep phase drags on for too long. You get five minutes to roam the floating island, gather power-ups, and even sabotage opponents by breaking their machines. But once the Stadium event starts, you have no idea which challenge you’ll get—it’s random. If you stacked speed and end up in a melee brawl, you’re doomed. If you built a powerful bike but get a gliding challenge, tough luck. Thankfully, you can play Stadium mini-games on their own, and most of them are genuinely fun and add to the game’s party-like charm.

Game Modes Galore

Top Ride is another highlight, offering a top-down perspective with slightly different controls and chaotic tracks filled with gimmicks and traps. It feels closer to Mario Party than Mario Kart and works well as a lighter, sillier option.

The game also includes an impressive single-player mode called Road Trip, which takes you through various chapters that mix different modes together. Each chapter increases in difficulty and lets you slowly upgrade your machine’s stats between events using the money earned from races. You’ll do plenty of racing, of course, but you’ll also tackle Stadium games or even occasionally fight bosses.

It’s really neat seeing how Kirby Air Riders connects to Masahiro Sakurai’s work on Super Smash Bros. Many of Smash’s classic power-ups originated in Kirby Air Ride, and playing Air Riders feels like returning to those roots. The announcer calls out character names, menus have familiar Smash-style flair, and Road Trip often resembles Smash’s single-player modes with unique conditions and themed encounters. Its soundtrack also features various tracks from past Kirby games and you can even choose which songs to play during a race.

Final Thoughts

Beyond its aesthetic, Air Riders is packed with collectibles. Racers, music tracks, new machines—nearly everything you do earns you something. Cosmetic items like decals and hats let you personalize your experience offline or online, while checklists in each mode encourage you to complete challenges to unlock even more content. Best of all, you can tackle these challenges directly from the checklist instead of trying to juggle them mid-race.

Air Riders takes everything that made the original special and simply runs with it. Its controls and party-like feel won’t be for everyone, but if you give it time, the game reveals a surprising amount of depth in its mechanics, ideas, and distinct machine stats.

Its biggest flaws come down to a few design decisions. City Trial feels like a missed opportunity to become the game’s standout party mode, but instead relies too heavily on randomness. And while the one-button system is charming, it also limits what the game can do, especially compared to more modern racers. Still, despite these issues, Kirby Air Riders offers enough substance and charm to make it a game you’ll keep coming back to—whether for quick bursts of fun or to teach your friends something new when they come over.