'Kirby Air Riders' Is Coming to Switch 2 and It’s ‘Basically Like Mario Kart'

More than 2 decades aft Kirby Air Ride launched connected GameCube, Kirby Air Riders is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 connected Nov 20. Director Masahiro Sakurai announced the quality successful a Nintendo Direct that aired today, alongside a elaborate look astatine the upcoming racing game. “It fundamentally is similar Mario Kart,” Sakurai says.

The sequel is besides the archetypal Kirby rubric to beryllium directed by instrumentality favourite Sakurai since the original.

“Oh dear,” Sakurai said during the Direct. “Why is making a crippled truthful hard?”

Air Riders expands connected the original, which came retired successful 2003, with much characters, modes, and caller controls beyond the azygous fastener players utilized to boost. “This clip we’ve added a 2nd button,” Sakurai said. “Unfortunately.” While the archetypal crippled featured antithetic versions of Kirby to play, Air Riders adds King Dedede, Meta Knight, and adjacent lesser known characters similar Starman, each of which tin usage transcript abilities similar Kirby. Each quality has a peculiar determination that tin boost their speed, onslaught different racers, oregon activate abilities similar turning into a elephantine snowball. The crippled allows up to 8 quality players locally oregon 16 online.

In summation to accepted races, Air Riders features City Trial mode, wherever players volition request to upgrade their rides arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable by gathering powerups, stealing caller machines, and attacking opponents. Random tract events volition springiness players the accidental to articulation and play abbreviated races and battles; players person lone 5 minutes to upgrade their machines arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable earlier entering Stadiums, wherever the main competitions instrumentality place.

The crippled is being developed with Bandai Namco Studios and Sora LTD—teams that worked connected Super Smash Bros. Ultimate—instead of longtime Kirby developer HAL Laboratory.

Sakurai, creator of some Kirby and the Super Smash Bros. series, has had his manus successful a fewer projects implicit the past fewer years. In summation to wrapping up enactment connected Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, helium besides enjoyed a tally arsenic a YouTuber. For much than 2 years, helium published implicit 250 videos connected his channel, Mashiro Sakurai connected Creating Games, astir crippled development. In his finale episode, helium revealed that he’d been moving connected a caller game. Today, helium confirmed that task is Kirby Air Riders.

Kirby Air Riders joins a fairly airy first-party motorboat lineup for Switch 2 and is the 2nd large racing crippled to motorboat this twelvemonth for the console, pursuing Mario Kart World. Sakurai says adjacent helium pointed retired the 2 games’ similarity erstwhile asked to enactment connected it, but added that “the entreaty of the crippled is not really the races.” Air Riders is bigger connected its modes that connection much than conscionable a dash to the finish.

Nintendo is expected to denote much details, including the game’s price, aboriginal this year. A hands-on demo volition beryllium playable astatine PAX West successful Seattle Aug 29-Sep 1.