Kirby Air Riders brings Sakurai's Smash experience to the Switch 2 racing game

When I watch a great match in a fighting game like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, my reaction is equally awe and confusing. Pure speed and supermove movements are so fast that I can only understand the percentage I see, and the person who masters the chaos must be a different species. Kirby Air Riders is just that: Bubble gum colorful candies for speed, agility and action, which feels overwhelmed, but is still fun.

My hands-on experience on GamesCom started with some tutorials showing the ropes that handle your ride. This ride will automatically accelerate, which seems to hint at simplicity, but there are still many tips and good controls to handle your ride. Drifting on nails around the corner requires precise timing, and when you jump, you can get a speed boost with a clean landing point – which means if you are up the mountain, tilt the racer slightly to parallel. For the limited time of the presentation, these mechanics feel easy and easy to master, but have enough depth to make the skill ceiling look high.

This is the sequel to Kirby's air flight, but moves toward the air Rider It is important. With a special emphasis on the characters themselves and their unique power, this is what I feel most acutely about Masahiro Sakurai’s experience in the Smash Bros. series. It feels like this evolution and brings the spirit of balancing different forces into a new racing environment.

After the tutorial, I play Two different characters: Magalor, Kirby's opponent returning to Dreamland; and a recurring Kirby enemy Starman. The riders seem to handle it slightly differently, but the main difference is their special moves. Magalor activates a huge beam of light that shoots behind him, hitting all opponents on his tail. Starman's special, by contrast, isn't an offensive tool at all. Instead, when the special offer is activated, he can fly into the air with your regular spin attack under command. This seems to be mainly suitable for reaching high places, although you can use it to dodge, at the expense of some speed.

The demonstration focuses on the urban experiment mode, which is divided into two parts. First, you want to explore the vast hub area to gather power and switch weak starter vehicles for better vehicles. Here is a layer of strategy, as the various icons you collect will increase defense, weight, enhancement, and more. You can use these to make up for any weaknesses of a racer, or you can make aspects of nature stronger. After the first phase is over, everyone's total power supply will be calculated and your build will enter the second phase. I can imagine that as players become more familiar with the game, competitive players will begin to optimize the combination of racers and air rides, which type of icons they should prioritize.

In the first phase, the manufacturing you manufacture has a great impact on the competitiveness of the second phase. Once all players have mastered their power, they can choose one of four game types and the game will recommend a game optimized for your build. Some are more combat-centric, while others are more focused on racing. I chose the recommended mode in the first race, which is a battle/race fusion with Magalor and keeps my performance. In my second game, I chose a mode that I didn't recommend (mainly to keep groupings with other human players in our closing ceremony) and showed my unoptimized build on almost pure racing tracks. Plus, Starman's vertical force isn't the best choice for regular races around an elliptical track, but maybe I just have to be good.

Both stages feel very fast, so they both reward skilled matches despite one about being ready to build. And, even from my limited experience, it’s easy to see how to choose a rider, find ways to ride and collect electricity, which can lead to fierce Kirby Aviation Rider elements, as advanced aviator riders players explore different options to optimize their competitive advantage.

For casual players like me, Kirby Aviation riders seem like a great experience to play with friends, especially in the sofa co-op, cheering for the noisy party atmosphere. But I suspect another layer of the game will be with the speed and skill of fighting games and seems to be destined to participate in the competitive phase.