More than two decades after Kirby Air Ride launched on GameCube, Kirby Air Riders is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on Nov 20. Director Masahiro Sakurai announced the news in a Nintendo Direct that aired today, alongside a detailed look at the upcoming racing game. “It basically is like Mario Kart,” Sakurai says.
The sequel is also the first Kirby title to be directed by fan favorite Sakurai since the original.
“Oh dear,” Sakurai said during the Direct. “Why is making a game so hard?”
Air Riders expands on the original, which came out in 2003, with more characters, modes, and new controls beyond the single button players used to boost. “This time we’ve added a second button,” Sakurai said. “Unfortunately.” While the original game featured different versions of Kirby to play, Air Riders adds King Dedede, Meta Knight, and even lesser known characters like Starman, all of which can use copy abilities like Kirby. Each character has a special move that can boost their speed, attack other racers, or activate abilities like turning into a giant snowball. The game allows up to eight human players locally or 16 online.
In addition to traditional races, Air Riders features City Trial mode, where players will need to upgrade their rides as quickly as possible by gathering powerups, stealing new machines, and attacking opponents. Random field events will give players the chance to join and play short races and battles; players have only five minutes to upgrade their machines as much as possible before entering Stadiums, where the main competitions take place.
The game is being developed with Bandai Namco Studios and Sora LTD—teams that worked on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate—instead of longtime Kirby developer HAL Laboratory.
Sakurai, creator of both Kirby and the Super Smash Bros. series, has had his hand in a few projects over the past few years. In addition to wrapping up work on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he also enjoyed a run as a YouTuber. For more than two years, he published over 250 videos on his channel, Mashiro Sakurai on Creating Games, about game development. In his finale episode, he revealed that he’d been working on a new game. Today, he confirmed that project is Kirby Air Riders.
Kirby Air Riders joins a fairly light first-party launch lineup for Switch 2 and is the second major racing game to launch this year for the console, following Mario Kart World. Sakurai says even he pointed out the two games’ similarity when asked to work on it, but added that “the appeal of the game is not actually the races.” Air Riders is bigger on its modes that offer more than just a dash to the finish.
Nintendo is expected to announce more details, including the game’s price, later this year. A hands-on demo will be playable at PAX West in Seattle Aug 29-Sep 1.
