Kirby is a uniquely wholesome Nintendo character, yet his games often have a quirky mean streak to them. They’re all about letting players absorb enemies and take on some wild powers to tear through vibrant stages with reckless abandon. That’s especially true with Kirby Air Riders, the long-awaited sequel to the GameCube classic racing game, Kirby Air Ride. Much like the original, it’s a fast-paced racing game starring Kirby and friends as they race through visually striking locales – it also happens to be one of the most chaotic racing games I’ve played in quite a while.
At PAX West 2025 in Seattle, I spent an hour playing Kirby Air Riders, reacquainting myself with the approachable yet surprisingly deep mechanics from the cult-favorite 2003 racing game. It’s certainly interesting to see game director Masuhiro Sakurai follow up Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with a Kirby racing game. Still, after playing Air Riders, this racer carries that similar ‘go-for-broke’ energy that runs deep in his previous games.
Like the original game, you race through a variety of stages inspired by the Kirby series. The sequel takes things further with an expanded roster of Kirby characters, such as Meta Knight and King Dedede, each with their own unique skills and stats as racers. While you race through traditional tracks, Air Riders – much like the original – also opens up free-for-all action stages and mini-games that test your skills in drifting, gliding, and the classic ability of sucking up to gain new powers.
Kirby Air Riders totally doubles down on what made the original so unique, and that’s what makes it such an incredibly bizarre take on a racing game. In many ways, Air Riders does to racing games what Smash Bros did for the fighting genre – injecting non-genre-conforming systems and concepts that may seem out of place for the type of game it wants to be.
However, playing Kirby Air Riders can take some getting used to, especially considering its fairly limited control scheme. Much like the original, acceleration happens automatically, and the game instead has you focus on managing movement and momentum with the control stick and a single button to engage boosts – and that’s all you need for controlling your chosen racer’s vehicle. But therein lies the nuance of playing; by managing momentum and speed, you can engage drifts and power spin attacks to overcome rivals on the track.
It pays to be aggressive in Kirby Air Riders, as you’ll gain speed by successfully…