Kirby’s Airride

Description

Kirby’s Air Ride was Sakurai’s only Kirby title for the GameCube and took an unconventional approach to racing. It sees Kirby racing on a variety of vehicles called Air Ride Machines. All vehicles auto‑accelerate, leaving players to focus on steering, braking, drifting, and boosting. Kirby can inhale enemies or items mid‑race to gain temporary copy abilities, adding combat elements to the competition.

The game includes three main modes: Air Ride, Top Ride, and City Trial. Air Ride has traditional 3D races across varied tracks, with combat enabled and multiple machines to choose from, each with unique handling and stats. Top Ride switches to overhead‑view races on small, hazard‑filled tracks, with simplified controls and chaotic multiplayer. Finally City Trial is a free‑roaming mode where players explore a large city map, collect stat‑boosting patches and machine upgrades, and prepare for a random Stadium event at the end, such as drag races, destruction challenges, or distance glides. The game features an extensive checklist system that unlocks content through completing specific challenges.

Unsurprisingly, there is support for up to four players locally (split screen). However it is also one of only three GameCube titles Nintendo released with official LAN support (the others being Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and 1080° Avalanche). Using the GameCube Broadband Adaptor, multiple consoles can be linked over a network for local multiplayer over multiple consoles. In Kirby Air Ride, LAN mode supports up to four consoles, with one player per console if three or four systems are linked, or up to two players per console if only two systems are connected. This allowed for smoother performance and full‑screen play for each participant. All three main modes — Air Ride, Top Ride, and City Trial — are playable in LAN, making it possible to have large‑scale City Trial sessions with each player exploring independently.

At the time the games simplicity and limited track variety lead to a mixed response but in the subsequent years Kirby Air Ride has developed a strong cult following, especially in Japan. Particularly the City Trial’s open‑ended, competitive sandbox play, which remains a fan‑favourite and a frequent subject of calls for a modern revival, which was eventually heeded and announced in the Switch 2’s first year.