I’m terrible at Kirby Air Riders, but Nintendo’s racer doesn’t punish me for it

It’s taken over two decades to get a sequel to Kirby Air Ride, and frankly, that’s criminal. The beloved GameCube title was the talk of my friends’ living room in my teens, and now, Kirby Air Riders is resurrecting those nostalgic memories. Between our appointments at Gamescom, Nintendo invited me along to give the long-awaited sequel a try, even if it meant embarrassing myself in front of the big dogs.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not exactly good at Kirby Air Riders. It’s been a considerable amount of time since I played its predecessor, and my spare time is spent grinding FPS games rather than racers these days. Now that I’ve got my weak excuse in place, despite my terrible run in the arena, there’s a certified winner on Nintendo’s hands with its new Switch game. While it shares some DNA with Mario Kart World, Kirby Air Riders is a far more frenetic experience.

If Mario Kart World is like drinking a can of white Monster, then Kirby Air Riders is like a six-pack of green cans; it’s full-sugar madness. With a simplified control scheme, you can essentially play the game with two buttons – if you’re not counting the left stick. There’s no need to push forward here, as your momentum is continuous, and the game won’t hesitate to tell you about it.

A warning to stop pushing forward popped up at least seven times in my 30-minute demo, and yes, I felt the shame every time. Once I could get my head around that, I had to relearn how to turn. It sounds silly, but Kirby Air Riders’ movement is all about agility and mastering the art of corners. There is a charging ability to boost forward from a static position, but drifting around corners with a well-timed tap is a skillset of its own.

The only other element to worry about is how you can displace your rivals on the track, and that’s done by harnessing your chosen character’s special abilities. Kirby can inhale objects and certain power-ups to wreak havoc on other racers, while others can reduce players to mashed-up pulp with a wicked sword ultimate attack. It’s just as kinetic as it sounds, and it’s always a visual delight to see unfold. Different outfits yield other powers to play with, too.

For our preview, the bulk of it is spent in City Trial, a fast-paced open-world game mode that throws every racer into a moderately sized map. Returning from the original game, City Trial is expanded upon greatly this time around. From underground caves to volcanoes to rooftops with hidden jumpads, the map is a fantastic playground to inhabit. Like the first game, blue, red, and green boxes are all over the place; each of them contains various advantages, which are crucial for facing off in mini-events.

It all leads to the stadium event, which is the ultimate show of everything you’ve learned so far. In some cases, you’re working together while also trying to dethrone each other is a huge rush. What I really dig about stadium events is that they’re randomized, and it adds a factor of luck to the victories, rather than sheer domination. Of course, some players will take to Kirby Air Riders easily, but this aspect keeps it approachable to less experienced racing game players.

Switching Air Ride Machines is super easy, too. A quick tap of the Y-button leaps you into a new ride, and it’s recommended to keep experimenting with them. Some vehicles fit certain situations better, and all of them are equally as fun to use. I do wonder how long that awe will last after launch, though. The initial wave of overwhelming speed is a lot to experience, but I’m not sure if I’d be playing Kirby Air Riders beyond a few sessions with my friends.

Despite that, there’s no denying it: Kirby Air Riders is one of the most energetic games I’ve played in years. Every aspect of the game is dialled up to 11, from its pulsating soundtrack to the audacious visual flair it revels in. You can play Kirby Air Riders on November 20, 2025. That leaves you enough time to dive back into the best Kirby games ever made.

For more Gamescom coverage, I also spent time playing Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, testing the Xbox Ally, and interviewing PUBG: Mobile producer Rick Li.