Advanced Game Search
Kirby Air Riders

Kirby Air Riders

Nintendo
Released

Release Date: November 20, 2025

Racing, Nintendo Exclusive, Multiplayer, Singleplayer

A spin-off of the popular Kirby series, offered in a form of a racing game. Kirby: Air Riders allows us to play as Kirby and other Nintendo characters, participating in crazy races taking place on the ground, above the surface of the water and in the air. The game supports both singleplayer and multiplayer (local or online).

8.0

Gamepressure

8.2

OpenCritic

Rate It!
Ratings
[1:07] – Nintendo Direct 12.09.2025 Trailer Videos: 2
Screenshot Images: 81
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot

Kirby Air Ride, a racing spin-off of the popular platforming series titled Kirby, was released in 2003 and appeared on the Nintendo GameCube console. Years later, it received a sequel in the form of Kirby: Air Riders. Its development was overseen by the director of the Super Smash Bros. series - Masahiro Sakurai.

Gameplay

In Kirby: Air Riders we watch the action from a third-person perspective (TPP). The gameplay involves crazy racing.

Competitors

The game gives us a range of characters at our disposal. Apart from various color versions of Kirby, we're talking about such characters as Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee, Cappy, Chef Kawasaki, or Starman.

Read More

Game Series

Kirby Air Riders
Kirby Air Riders
Kirby Air Riders

23GAMES

Kirby Game Series

A series of platformers with a pink, balloon-like hero in the title role. The series was created by the Japanese studio HAL Laboratory, which develops it in cooperation with the Nintendo corporation.

Kirby Game Series

Features

8.0
great

ReviewKirby Air Riders

Kirby Air Riders review: Simple controls, surprising depth

Despite its design flaws and City Trial misses, Kirby Air Riders offers enough substance and charm to make it a game you’ll keep coming back to—whether for quick bursts of fun or to teach your friends something new when they come over.

Kirby Air Riders review: Simple controls, surprising depth
Kirby Air Riders review: Simple controls, surprising depth
Reviewed by:
Reviewed on:
Switch 2 Switch 2
Review date:
November 27, 2025

News

Kirby Air Riders release date revealed for November during 45-minute livestream

Kirby Air Riders release date revealed for November during 45-minute livestream

Game Director Masahiro Sakurai hosted a 45-minute livestream for Kirby Air Riders, which revealed a release date planned for this November.

video games

Matt Buckley

August 19, 2025

Kirby Air Riders release date revealed for November during 45-minute livestream
How to watch the Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct tomorrow and what to expect

How to watch the Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct tomorrow and what to expect

Nintendo announced a 45-minute Kirby Air Riders Direct for tomorrow, hosted by game director Masahiro Sakurai, which means the length shouldn't be a surprise.

video games

Matt Buckley

August 18, 2025

How to watch the Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct tomorrow and what to expect
Kirby Air Riders announced 22 years after the original

Kirby Air Riders announced 22 years after the original

After 22 years, a new Kirby Air Riders game will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in 2025. This was the secret project Sakurai was working on.

video games

Matt Buckley

April 2, 2025

Kirby Air Riders announced 22 years after the original

Ratings

Game Ratings for Kirby Air Riders Video Game.

8.0
great

ReviewKirby Air Riders

Kirby Air Riders review: Simple controls, surprising depth

Despite its design flaws and City Trial misses, Kirby Air Riders offers enough substance and charm to make it a game you’ll keep coming back to—whether for quick bursts of fun or to teach your friends something new when they come over.

Kirby Air Riders review: Simple controls, surprising depth
Kirby Air Riders review: Simple controls, surprising depth
Reviewed by:
Reviewed on:
Switch 2 Switch 2
Review date:
November 27, 2025
8.2

OpenCritic Rating

Game is Recomended by 86% of Critics. There are 98 Critic Reviews.

OpenCritic

NoobFeed: 80 / 100 by Nusrat Choity

Kirby Air Riders is a thrilling new take on a Kirby idea that fans have been missing for a long time. It successfully combines racing, arena exploration, and ability-driven combat into one experience. It keeps the original idea but brings everything up to date, from physics to visual design. The game lets you play aggressively, defensively, or experimentally, depending on the machine and abilities you choose. It does this by combining freeform combat with competitive racing.

Full Review

Checkpoint Gaming: 8.5 / 10

Kirby Air Riders is a surprise contender for kart racer of the year. Excelling well beyond its cult predecessor, the pink blob’s latest adventure is filled with some excellent and surprisingly deep racing where your skill, expertise and management are what put you ahead of the pack. Its courses are gorgeous and intricate, City Trial is aptly chaotic, and the brand new Road Trip mode is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure filled with strategy and risk vs reward events. With a lot to see, tick off and do, along with accessibility options to refine your experience, Kirby Air Riders is crafted to be the kart racing event of the year. Eat its dust, Mario Kart World.

Full Review

Game Informer: 8.5 / 10 by Charles Harte

Kirby Air Riders is an inflexible experience, forcing the player to learn its mechanics and engage with all its modes to get the most out of it, and it's a better game for it. Its gameplay is simple to learn but hard to master, and with such a variety of machines and modes, there are a lot of different definitions of what that mastery looks like. It's a game with a strong, unique identity that likely won't unseat your favorite racing game, but it isn't trying to. Kirby Air Riders is a star shining for no one but itself, and I can't help but respect it for that.

Full Review