With Nintendo’s track record of making surprising announcements during its biggest Directs, fans were certainly expecting shocking and important reveals to come out of the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct. Some of those reveals were of particular interest to Kirby fans, who are now looking forward to the Switch 2 version of Kirby and the Forgotten Land. However, the announcement of Kirby Air Riders, a sequel to the GameCube racing game Kirby Air Ride, was easily the biggest reveal for the pink puffball’s supporters.
Kirby Air Ride was originally released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003, and some critics considered it a throwaway title when compared to games like Mario Kart: Double Dash and F-Zero GX. Despite its lukewarm critical reception, Kirby Air Ride remains a cult classic, and its game modes and vehicle variety led to action-packed races that kept the whimsical charm of Kirby. Its sequel, Air Riders is being directed by series creator Masahiro Sakurai, and it is slated for a 2025 release. While there are plenty of possibilities for what Air Riders may or may not include, one of the original game modes needs to appear. Kirby Air Riders won’t live up to its name if it doesn’t have City Trial.
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The Switch 2 Direct Forgot About a Beloved Nintendo Franchise
The long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 Direct finally delivered a detailed look at the next-gen console, from hardware specs to a packed lineup of upcoming games. But while many fans came away excited, others—particularly fans of Nintendo’s cozier franchises—felt a little let down. Chief among the disappointments was the complete absence of Animal Crossing, one of Nintendo’s most beloved and successful series. Given that it’s been five years since the launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, many assumed a new entry might be revealed at the Switch 2 showcase. Which would have made perfect sense—New Horizons was a major system-seller for the original Switch and remains a cultural touchstone. Yet Nintendo didn’t mention the franchise at all, not even to announce an upgraded version of New Horizons for the new hardware.
Kirby Air Riders Wouldn’t Be the Same Without City Trial
Kirby Air Ride featured several simple yet memorable game modes. Air Ride was a mode in which players could race any machine they had unlocked against CPUs or other players, while Top Ride offered a unique, top-down race and featured unique vehicles with their own control schemes. The third mode in this GameCube racer was City Trial, a mode in which players would be dropped into a scenic city that was filled with patches that could be used to power up air ride machines. Fans would gather these power-ups within a set time limit, in order to build their perfect vehicles, before taking on a randomized challenge at the end. With events and legendary air ride machines to discover, City Trial was entirely different each time players made their way through it.
City Trial is Kirby Air Ride’s Most Memorable Mode
Out of the three modes Kirby Air Ride offered, City Trial has proven to be the most memorable, and many players have admitted that it is responsible for most of their playtime with the game. In the 20 years since the game’s release, only one experience has come close to what City Trial offered. Smash Run, found in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, adapts the experience to better suit the famous fighting game. It scratches the itch, but it’s been over a decade since Smash Run itself came out. Fans have lamented the lack of a sequel to Air Ride for twice that time, and now that one’s on the way, the inclusion of City Trial may make or break the new installment.
Sakurai made a video about Kirby Air Ride‘s development on his YouTube channel. In it, he states that City Trial truly represented the versatility that the racing game offered. There’s a strong chance that the returning director understands how important City Trial is to the title and its players, so the timed sandbox mode may return. Kirby Air Riders doesn’t have a release date yet, and there’s plenty of time for players to learn more about the Switch 2 racer in the months ahead. Hopefully, one thing that players will learn is that the fan-favorite City Trial mode will be part of the experience.
- Released
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2025
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo