The game is directed by series creator Masahiro Sakurai, who had not directed a Kirby game since leading development on its predecessor and leaving HAL Laboratory to create Sora Ltd, making it his first video game not part of the Super Smash Bros. franchise since Kid Icarus: Uprising (2012).[2]Kirby Air Riders is set to be released on November 20, 2025.[3][4]
Gameplay screenshot of the "Air Ride" mode, featuring Kirby, Magolor, Gooey, Waddle Doo, and Knuckle Joe, racing in the ocean-themed track "Waveflow Waters"
Kirby Air Riders, similar to its predecessor Kirby Air Ride, features simplified controls where players focus on steering, boosting, and utilizing the series' signature ability to absorb enemies' powers.[2][5][6] Unlike Air Ride, which only featured Kirby, Meta Knight, and King Dedede as playable characters, Air Riders features at least 20 playable characters (Riders),[7][8] all of which can use Copy Abilities, and each rider has a unique "Special" ability. Kirby has four Special abilities, with the one used depending on the color of Kirby selected. In addition to choosing a character, Air Riders features multiple vehicles to pick from, each one having different stats. The Air Ride, City Trial, and Top Ride modes from Air Ride return, all of which are expanded in both size and depth, and feature both online and local multiplayer.[8] Air Ride races can have up to 6 players, Top Ride supports up to 8 players, and City Trial allows up to 16 players simultaneously.[3][4][8]
Vehicles in the game move forward automatically without player input, with players simply steering and maintaining balance. Players can also brake, boost, and perform drift maneuvers with the B button and perform special moves and switch machines with the Y button. Moving the control stick side-to-side allows the player to perform a spin attack, which can damage their opponents.[9] By attacking other characters, players can fill up a "Special Gauge", which, when full, allows them to use their "Special" ability. During City Trial matches, random field events can earn players power-ups based on their performance.[10] Air Ride mode features 18 race tracks, including all 9 tracks from the previous game.[8] Road Trip is a mode exclusive to Kirby Air Riders, which features the game's story. To become one with their vehicles, the Riders play challenges or minigames relating to the existing game modes, and are assisted by characters from previous Kirby games to progress.[11]
Miles are a form of in-game currency that can be earned by playing the game and are spent in the shop. They can be used to unlock customization options such as cosmetics for their characters and vehicles. In the My Machines menu, vehicles can be fully customized with items purchased by the player, which can be listed online for sale in other shops. While online, players can roam around the Paddock, a lobby where they can interact before online matches. The player's performance in online matches determines their Global Win Power, a ranking system which is displayed on their license.[12]
Development and promotion
Kirby's creator and director of Kirby Air Ride Masahiro Sakurai (pictured in 2021) returned for the sequel.
Kirby Air Riders was announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation focused on the Nintendo Switch 2 on April 2, 2025. Masahiro Sakurai, creator of the Kirby series, was revealed to be serving as director, with his team at Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. developing.[5] This was the first time Sakurai directed a title since Kirby Air Ride in 2003, with his last role in the series prior to Kirby Air Riders being a "Special Advisor" for Kirby & the Amazing Mirror in 2004.[13] According to Sakurai, pre-production started in 2021 when the idea was proposed by Nintendo EPD executive general manager Shinya Takahashi and HAL Laboratory president Satoshi Mitsuhara, with full production starting in April 2022. It is the first game to be developed with the SOL-AVES engine created by Bandai Namco Studios.[14]
A 45-minute long Nintendo Direct hosted by Sakurai about Kirby Air Riders aired on August 19, 2025.[17] It revealed the first gameplay footage, new playable characters, and ended by announcing the game's release date. Seven music tracks from the game were added to the Nintendo Music app the same day.[3][4]
A second, hour-long Nintendo Direct about the game aired on October 23, 2025, with Sakurai once again hosting.[18] It revealed online features, additional new playable characters, returning race tracks, other new modes and features, vehicle customizations, a music player, a story mode, and ended by announcing a live demo.[8] The "Global Test Ride" was held between November 8–9 and 15–16, respectively, for Nintendo Switch Online members to test the game before the final release.[19] It features the Lessons, Air Ride, and City Trial modes, with each of the two weeks containing a different selection of riders and machines.[20] Additional tracks from the game were added to the Nintendo Music app the same day.[21] Advertising for the game was featured on trams by Yarra Trams in Melbourne, Australia starting November 5, 2025.[22][23]
Amiibo figures containing one character and machine bundled together are set to be released over time, with two of them releasing alongside the game.[24] They have swappable bases, allowing riders to be removed from their machines and swapped onto another figure. Once scanned into the game, the rider and corresponding machine can be trained as a "Figure Player".[25] The figures are the most expensive amiibo Nintendo has released to date.[26]
Prior to its release, an advertisement for the game titled "What's that? Huh?" received mixed reception. Critics have compared it both favorably and unfavorably to the DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64, with Metro's Adam Starkey claiming it to be "the worst song in the company’s history" and "fascinatingly bad".[27][28] Scott McCrae of GameRadar+ described it as "cheesy", "bizarre", and "hilariously unfitting to Kirby Air Riders' vibe", but claimed to enjoy it regardless.[29]
Music
The soundtrack was composed by Shogo Sakai and Noriyuki Iwadare.[21] Iwadare also worked on the Super Smash Bros. series and Kid Icarus: Uprising (2012), while Sakai was the co-composer of Kirby Air Ride.[21] Music from the previous game and additional songs from the Super Smash Bros. series are also included, with the "My Music" feature returning as it appears in the series.[11] The main theme for Kirby Air Riders, "Starlit Journey", was composed by Noriyuki Iwadare.
Reception
Pre-release
On August 19, 2025, a media-exclusive demo was available at Gamescom, in which the media outlets were shown the Nintendo Direct as it aired the same day and granted early access to the game. After playing the demo, Nintendo Life author Felix Sanchez believed that "Kirby Air Riders is shaping up to be really great", but he "worried that City Trial will get old".[9] After playing the same demo, Leanne Butkovic of IGN heavily praised the game, stating "[t]he maximalism of Kirby Air Riders is its core charm; it feels brewed from impish, chaotic-neutral alchemy."[30] Other media outlets complimented the Air Ride and City Trial modes,[31][32][33] with Alex Perry of Mashable claiming the game "makes Mario Kart World look sedate by comparison".[34]
During the Global Test Ride, Rick, a character that debuted in Kirby's Dream Land 2 (1995), became popular among fans of the game for his surprising top speed and humorous special ability.[35] Carlos Zotomayor of Automaton West claimed that Rick flooded online lobbies of the game for "his adorable design and animations make him appealing to more casual players", comparing him favorably to the Cows in the Mario Kart series.[36] During the second weekend of the Global Test Ride, the speed of the game in City Trial was reduced via an update.[37]
Notes
↑ Known in Japan as Kirby's Air Rider (カービィのエアライダー, Kābī no Ea Raidā)
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