Kirby Air Riders: release date, trailers, gameplay, and more

By Jesse Lennox Updated August 19, 2025

The list of upcoming Switch 2 games is packed with major Nintendo franchises. The system launched with Mario Kart World, and a month later, we got Donkey Kong Bananza, but there’s one other beloved mascot we learned will be hitting the system this year. Kirby Air Riders is a sequel to the cult-classic GameCube game Kirby Air Ride, both of which are directed by the legendary Masahiro Sakurai of Smash Bros. fame. Since this is likely most people’s first exposure to this Kirby spin-off, some might write it off as the lesser of Nintendo’s racing franchises but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Here’s everything you need to know about Kirby Air Riders.

Kirby Air Riders will be available on November 20, 2025.

Kirby Air Riders will not be a cross-gen game and is coming exclusively to the Nintendo Switch 2. If you want to get in on the action, you will need to make the upgrade.

The brief trailer for Kirby Air Riders we saw during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct didn’t feature any real gameplay but just a cinematic teasing the game’s existence. It opens with a falling star that Kirby struggles to grasp and power up to begin piloting. He then hits a lush green course and starts racing against other Kirby variants before the title drop.

Despite being a sequel, the original Kirby Air Ride didn’t have a story, and we don’t suspect this one will be any different. If it does, there’s nothing hinted or spoken about it out there at this time.

The Kirby Air Riders Direct revealed the roster of characters we will be able to play as, which is a first for the series.

The list of confirmed riders includes:

Like Mario Kart, each rider has different stats and abilities to consider. However, with a bigger roster, now all characters are able to use the copy ability to keep things fair.

There will also be a variety of machine types to pick this time that have different stats and ways to use the boost button.

Our first look at the gameplay looks very much like the original, but much faster, more colorful, and thrilling.

You will pick your machine and rider for each race, which will accelerate automatically. The first button players need to pay attention to is the Boost Charge button, which can be held to charge up a speed boost and use it to drift around corners.

Air Riders has added a second button called Special. A special gauge can be charged and then used with the Special button to unleash a character-specific special move. It is also used to swap machines in City Trails mode.

Gliding is back, but not a huge component of the game and only comes into play after hitting ramps.

Air Ride mode is the main racing mode of the game, featuring up to six racers per race competing for first place in single or multiple lap races. You can also alter the speed of races to make it easier for new players.

The tracks shown off include:

City Trial is back and better than ever in Riders. Now, the mode is set on Skyah, a floating island. This is the only City Trials map, but it is incredibly vast and has a variety of environments.

The mode works mostly the same as before. Players will drive around the map and collect power ups and change machines until the time runs out, and a Stadium Event starts to determine the winner. While 4 players could play in the original, this time up to 16 players online can compete in City Trials at once, or 8 locally.

You can preorder Kirby Air Riders ahead of its November 20 release date through the official Nintendo store. Unlike some upcoming video games, this game will stick to the $70 price tag.