Nintendo published an hour-long Kirby Air Riders direct today, its second this year, and it was jam-packed with new details about the upcoming racer straight from the game’s director, Masahiro Sakurai. He unveiled new modes for the games, additional racers and vehicles, new Copy Abilities, word of an online demo event next month, additional Kirby Air Riders Amiibo, and more.
There’s a lot to parse through, though, so let’s get right to it.
Everything Announced In Today’s Kirby Air Riders Direct
Below, we’ll break down everything we learned from this Kirby Air Riders direct, in the order Sakurai discussed each thing during the presentation.
Top Ride
Top Ride is unique isometric racing mode that was in Kirby Air Ride. It’s less of a full game mode and more of a minigame, but Sakurai explained it’s been heavily expanded on for the sequel, including the addition of all the regular Air Ride abilities and items making their way onto the track now. Each race is short and sweet, giving players a quick option for playing Kirby Air Riders.
Road Trip
Road Trip is a brand new mode in Kirby Air Riders. Choose your rider and set off on a cross-country/world journey as you play through a series of stages and complete challenges along the way. On the trip, you’ll select your objectives by moving from the left, middle, or right lane, and then you’ll need to complete things like timed races and more. Modes like Top Ride and Air Ride will appear on your Road Trip journey, too, and you can purchase new items at on-the-road shops and heal up at roadside cafes along the way.
The story stars Kirby, of course, but King Dedede, Starman, Waddle Dee, and many others, too. In the world of Kirby Air Riders, everyone has the ability to ride these special vehicles that fell from the sky, but when the vehicles start acting strangely, a road trip is in order.
The direct teases images of someone who appears to be the main villain of the Road Trip story (see above), but we’ll have to wait for the full game to learn more. Sakurai did reveal that we’ll meet characters like Magman, Elline, Tortuilding, Twister, King Golem, and Computer Virus on the Road Trip, though, and each character changes how the journey goes in unique ways.
Licenses and Online Interactivity
At the start of your Kirby Air Riders adventure, you will make a license. This allows other players to identify you and see your Class and associated Global Win Power, which determines your class placement. The higher your Global Win Power, the higher your Class, and Class determines your skill level and the other players you’ll race against in online modes. Air Ride, Top Ride, and City Trial will each have different classes.
You can also customize your license with unique cosmetics throughout your time playing Kirby Air Riders.
Kirby Air Riders will also feature an online area where you can interact with other players using emotes, hang out in a lobby, watch other matches on a large screen, listen to music via an in-game jukebox music player, and more.
Copy Abilities
During the presentation, Sakurai revealed the following Copy Abilities:
- Needle: Extend your needles by boost charging to hit nearby rivals with a spiky attack.
- Freeze: Cloak yourself in a freezing aura while boost charging; frozen foes will slide.
- Sleep: Get some well-earned rest, then wiggle the control stick to wake up.
- Fighter: Automatically kick nearby opponents; your Quick Spin will also get stronger.
- Drill: Boost charge to dig underground and dodge attacks; release for a jump attack.
- Flash: Perform a sparking rush with a boost dash and stun any enemies you hit.
- Missile: Automatically rocket forward on the road; tap the special button repeatedly for an explosion.
Air Ride Courses
These are the courses Sakurai revealed during today’s direct:
- Airtopia Ruins (New): A civilization from past ages, now derelict.
- Crystalline Fissure (New): Crystalline structures as far as the eye can see; magma and other hazards lurk underground.
- Steamgust Forge (New): An industrial area with a steampunk aesthetic; a generator hosts a fleet of all sorts of aircraft.
- Mystery ??? (New): Though Sakurai didn’t reveal the name or any details, video footage showcases a very futuristic, mechanical stage.
- The following 9 courses are returning from Kiry Air Ride:
- Fantasy Meadows
- Celestial Valley
- Sky Sands
- Frozen Hillside
- Magma Flows
- Beanstalk Park
- Machine Passage
- Checker Knights
- Nebula Belt
Sakurai says that, with all nine original Kirby Air Ride courses returning and the new Kirby Air Riders maps, there will be 18 courses for players to race on. He also revealed that the returning courses will first need to be unlocked by racing on the new courses, and that previous cruising speeds have been increased on them (compared to those in Kirby Air Ride).
Air Ride Relay is a new Air Ride mode variant that lets you select machines to race by the number of laps, and after each lap, you automatically switch to the next machine.
City Trial
During this section of the direct, Sakurai discussed City Trial, associated power-ups, and more.
- Speed Up: temporary speed boost.
- Dizzy Beam: messes with players’ controls when directed at them.
- Special Up: charges your special gauge.
- Item Catcher: vacuums up items within a ring surrounding you.
- Multi-Missile: lock onto enemies with multiple missiles.
- Size Up: become giant and gain a strength boost.
- Mega Cannon: destroys everything in front of you, including terrain.
Two legendary vehicles will be available to build during City Trial – the Dragoon and the Hydra – but to do so, you’ll need to collect all parts for each vehicle on the map. The Dragoon is a legendary machine that can fly freely all over the map, while the Hydra is a legendary machine that destroys everything in its path on the ground.
In City Trial Team Battles, you will split into two teams of six, and legendary parts collected for the Dragoon and the Hydra are shared within the team. Whoever collects the final legendary part will use the legendary machine.
City Trial will also feature a Free Run mode. In this mode, you can freely drive around Skyah with no time limit. Plus, there’s an underground parking lot that has every machine lined up for your use, and you can even use the pause menu to have any vehicle delivered to you.
The Flight Warp Star is a new machine exclusive to Free Run mode in City Trial. Its flight capabilities have been pushed to the max, and you can fly around Skyah freely. You can even leave contrails with this machine and check out your in-sky drawings with the Photo Mode. The Photo Mode is available in all of the other Kirby Air Riders modes, too.
New Riders
Here are the new Riders Sakurai revealed during today’s direct:
- Taranza: a clever arachnid with tight controls and unique web-slinging abilities.
- Lololo & Lalala: a duo of troublemakers who ride together as one; swap positions with a simple Quick Spin.
- Daroach: A sneaky, squeaky thief; scratch to snatch up rival Copy Abilities and then vanish in a flash.
- Rocky: small in size but super sturdy and won’t slip or shake easily.
- Rick: a fast hamster who can sprint on foot.
- Scarfy: a polite Rider until he loses his cool.
- Marx: a friendly face hiding dark and twisted schemes; a glass cannon Rider.
- Waddle Dee: a friendly, lightweight Rider with a tiny frame that makes for easy acceleration and smooth controls.
Transform Star And Other Machines
The Transform Star is a brand-new machine that combines a flying star with a bike star form, and with it, you can Quick Spin to shift between the two.
Other machines include the following:
- Formula Star: If you can maintain momentum and avoid slowing down, it can reach the highest top speeds.
- Hop Star: Each time you use a Quick Spin, it jumps.
- Jet Star: Accelerates quickly when lifting off the ground.
- Wheelie’s Scooter: A stylish minibike with high maneuverability.
- Bull Tank: A bulky tank with thick plates of armor; it charges forward without worrying about taking damage.
Like Kirby Air Ride, Riders will not talk in Kirby Air Riders, but when your machine is destroyed, it does let out a wail. Sakurai says the game’s voice work comes from announcers in various selectable languages, both male and female.
Stadium Collection
- Button Rush: Ride over buttons and battle for control of the area.
- High Jump: Tilt the left stick down and jump as high as you can.
- Big Battle: Grow huge and do your best to dominate the battle.
- Oval Circuit: Race around the closed circuit.
- Rail Panic: Navigate the grind rails to take the lead.
- Beam Gauntlet: Slip past the harmful lasers and reach the end.
- VS. Boss: Similar to Kirby Air Ride’s VS. King Dedede mode, Sakurai and the team at Nintendo have created the new Robo Dedede boss to fight in this exclusive mode. In King Dedede form, he looks like the infamous Kirby villain and walks around the map, attempting to stop you with his large, mechanical hammer. In Car form, he races around attempting to destroy your machine. Sakurai says there are several other bosses in the VS. Boss mode from the Kirby series of games.
Checklist and Main Menu
Sakurai says Kirby Air Riders features an expansive Checklist filled with objectives to complete in the game’s variety of modes. Each time you complete an objective on the Checklist, you’ll receive rewards and flip over squares in a large puzzle that will one day reveal an image. After completing an objective, adjacent squares will reveal the objectives you need to complete to flip them over, making it easy to target tasks and complete the image.
The Checklist can be found in the game’s Main Menu, which Sakurai detailed while discussing other new things like the Miles Shop.
In the Miles Shop, you can spend the Miles you collect from playing Kirby Air Riders’ various modes. In the shop, you can buy new vehicles, accessories, and more, but there’s nothing you can buy to improve a machine’s performance.
As you progress through the game’s solo and online modes, you’ll earn Gummies for rivals you defeat. Each rival you place higher than yields a Gummy of the machine they used in that race, and these Gummies are added to your collection, where you can view them all and interact with them in a separate menu using a special Kirby cursor.
To round out the Main Menu discussion, Sakurai showcased the game’s Music Player. Kirby Air Ride composer Shogo Sakai has returned to compose Kirby Air Riders, this time alongside Noriyuki Iwadare, who has worked on the Super Smash Bros. series and Kid Icarus: Uprising. You can change the likelihood of songs appearing in City Trial, and even listen to unique alternate versions of every track in the game.
Sakurai says the Kirby Air Riders music will be coming to the Nintendo Music app one day, too.
Headwear and Specials
Below, we’ll list the Headwear and Specials Sakurai revealed during today’s direct.
- Headwear:
- Red Cap
- Crown
- Silk Hat
- Ribbon
- Onigiri
- Sunglasses
- Bull Horns
- Floral Pin
- Topknot
Sakurai says these headwear pieces can be worn by any rider, but notes that Copy Ability Headwear picked up during gameplay will override your customizable Headwear.
- Specials:
- Golden Waddle Dee
- Mock Dark Matter
- Meteor Rocky
- Knuckle Rush
- Rip-Roaring Rick
- True-Form Marx
New Amiibo
Sakurai revealed three new Amiibo joining the already announced Kirby Air Riders Amiibo. The Kirby & Warp Star and Bandana Waddle Dee & Winged Star Amiibo will be available on November 20, the same day Kirby Air Riders launches. On March 5, 2026, the Meta Knight & Shadow Star Amiibo will be available, and later in 2026, the King Dedede & Tank Star and Chef Kawasaki & Hop Star Amiibo will be available for purchase.
For more details about these Amiibo, check out our story here.
Online Demo Event – Global Test Ride
To close out today’s Kirby Air Riders direct, Nintendo revealed details about an upcoming online demo event that will allow players to test out the game before it launches on November 20. The image above has the details you need.
For more details about this online demo event, check out our story here.
And that’s everything we learned about Kirby Air Riders in today’s Nintendo Direct. What are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments below!
