Masahiro Sakurai revealed the first Kirby Air Riders details in an extensive Nintendo Direct on Tuesday, and explained why he decided to follow up Smash Bros. Ultimate with the racing sequel.
The 45-minute Direct broke down the gameplay modes and features of Air Riders, which is a sequel to the 2003 Nintendo Switch 2 [491 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/nintendo/nintendo-switch-2/”>Nintendo Switch 2 for $70/£60.
Sakurai opened the presentation by revealing that the game is developed by frequent collaborator Nintendo [5,507 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/nintendo/”>NintendoofAmerica
According to Sakurai, Air Riders was born following a “strong request” from Nintendo’s leadership that he explore a sequel to the GameCube original.
“You might be wondering why I ended up creating a new Kirby Air Ride game,” Sakurai said. “There was a strong request from Mr. [Shinya] Takahashi, head of software development at Nintendo, and Mr. [Satoshi] Mitsuhara, the president of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [200 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/games/super-smash-bros-ultimate/”>Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and wasn’t really able to get around to the request, but I managed to create a written proposal at high speed.”
See the official breakdown of Kirby Air Riders, via Nintendo, below:
Read below for more about the features and gameplay spotlighted by Mr. Sakurai:
- Riding Techniques: Each Air Ride machine, or “machine” for short, has different forms and traits. They usually hover above the ground and move forward automatically – no need to press any buttons or tilt the left Joy-Con 2 control stick forward to accelerate. Use the left stick to change direction by tilting it left or right.
- Boost Charge: By pressing the B Button, your machine will hit the ground, and you’ll start a Boost Charge and brake. Releasing the button activates a Boost Dash. As Mr. Sakurai explained, this is more than just a speed boost – by tilting the left stick and holding the Boost Charge button through sharp corners, you can perform drift manoeuvres which help you gain even more of a speed advantage.
- Specials: It takes more than speed and deft manoeuvring to get ahead of the competition, however. The Y Button is your “Special button,” and it activates your character’s unique Special move. Attack your rival riders and enemies to fill up your Special Gauge and, once full, unleash your Special. While most characters have one distinct Special, Kirby has four different Special moves – one for each colour Kirby you can play as. Combine certain Specials with attack techniques like Quick Spin, which is activated by wiggling the control stick, and you’ll be on your way to victory.
- Riders: Kirby Air Riders adds a strategic element to its mayhem by adding more importance to your choice of rider. Each rider in the game has their own unique traits which can impact their machine’s performance, including weight, durability, Specials, close range attacks and more. These factors can either give them an advantage or cause more unpredictability during the action depending on the environment you’re in. In fact, this is why Air Ride mode has you select your course first, then the rider and machine you want to use. In addition to the well-balanced pink puffball, your roster of riders includes familiar faces from the world of Kirby, like Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee, as well as enemies in the Kirby series like Cappy, Chef Kawasaki, Starman and more. And to keep you moving forward and keep your opponents on their toes, Kirby Air Riders also lets you mix and match riders and machines.
