Kirby Air Riders, All the News from Direct 2

The second Nintendo Direct dedicated to Kirby Air Riders has just concluded. Another 60 minutes in the company of director Masahiro Sakurai, who, in his usual style, illustrated numerous unreleased details for the next chapter of the racing game set in the Kirby universe. The presentation opened with great fanfare with the return of the Top Ride mode, which adopts a top-down view gameplay formula. The mechanics related to Riders and vehicles are the same as in Air Ride mode, the circuits are wider and can host a maximum of 8 players, both locally (4 actual players, plus 4 CPUs) and online.

There are also new selectable characters, including historical bosses and iconic enemies, new vehicles with unique properties, and new copy abilities to wreak havoc on the track. We therefore have new circuits, 18 in total, of which 9 are brand new and all 9 are from the original Kirby Air Ride for GameCube, restored for the occasion. Then there's the Road Trip mode, a sort of roguelike variant that combines the three main game modes (Air Ride, Top Ride, and City Trial) in challenges of various kinds, and will even be tied to a story, with the usual lore repercussions that would make the most acclaimed cosmic horrors pale in comparison.

Anything else? Online lobbies to meet other users and decide the next match, Time Attack and Free Run modes to test yourself against the clock (unfortunately without online leaderboards), new in-game events, new mini-games, boss battles, the immense checklist with hundreds of objectives and rewards to unlock, the ability to customize Riders, player cards, and vehicles, complete with an in-game and online store where you can sell your designs. And then a plethora of options to customize your experience, including controls, music, and accessibility, Amiibo, which you can train like in Super Smash Bros, gummies, practically the dog tags of defeated players on the network, and even a Gran Turismo-style garage where you can display your collection and invite people. We've certainly forgotten something, and most likely Sakurai has other surprises in store.

In this regard, it seems that there will be no DLC, the package will be complete from day one, and there are no plans to make the series a recurring franchise (meaning we'll have to wait another 20 years for a third installment, Editor's Note). From November 8th to 16th, it will be possible to try a demo of the title via the Global Test Ride. Kirby Air Riders will debut next November 20th exclusively on Switch 2. Here's the full video of today's Direct.