Up until today, I was very confused as to why Nintendo was releasing Mario Kart World and Kirby Air Riders, two kart racers, in the first six months of the Nintendo Switch 2’s lifecycle. The Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct had me thinking that these games were very similar, just with a different character roster. After getting a hands-on tutorial and playing through two modes at PAX Aus, I am happy to report that these are two completely different games, with Air Riders feeling more like a Smash Bros game by comparison.
Playing through the tutorial, you get to see that you don’t need to press an “accelerate” button. The riders will consistently move forward as you control your rider with steering controls, drifting and variations on the boost function to succeed in these races. There looks to be a comprehensive amount of tutorials to fine-tune your moves to be able to master each rider. Here I was able to race through the basics of steering, drifting and the boost and Star Slide abilities. Once I had these mastered and the Nintendo Rep was confident I could maybe, just possibly get through one race, we moved on to our first standard race.
The first few turns around the track put your skills to the test and unlearn everything you know about Mario Kart and adapt to the new moves. Your racer is constantly moving forward, so there is no acceleration required. This was very testing and I found myself wanting to each for the A or ZR button, only to fail the move I was attempting to master. The key to mastering this game is to use your special ability as often as possible to barrel through the other races to take you to the first position, and use your inhale ability to suck up racers, acquire their ability and throw them from the track. Once you get the hang of it, it is a lot of fun.
The next part was the multiplayer section, playing with three other PAX Aus attendees. The modes are random; we were racing through an open world, picking up weapons and items that would contribute to our performance in the battle. The open world area was extremely chaotic as we raced around trying to figure out what items did what with weapons, different items that made you heavier, lighter and some that would turn you into objects. We only had a limited run in this mode, and before we knew it, we were racing each other on a standard track.
Visually, Air Ribers looks spectacular and at times, quite chaotic and challenging and honestly puts Mario Kart World to shame. The first race I played through had rushing waterfalls on each side of the track; the water was beautifully detailed and looked hyper-realistic.
It’s a hard game to judge from a very quick demo, but as it appears, the game is something very different to Mario Kart World, offering up its own racing style and battle format that will take a lot more hands-on sessions to master. Fortunately, the gorgeous graphics and character roster are enough to put this one high up on your wish list.
Kirby Air Riders is set to launch on the Nintendo Switch 2 on the 20th of November, 2025.