Kirby Air Riders for Nintendo Switch 2 gives a GameCube classic a sequel

By Willa Rowe Published April 2, 2025

Mario Kart World wasn’t the only racing game announced for Switch 2 during today. Near the end of the lengthy Direct, Nintendo also revealed Kirby Air Riders. The sequel to the 2003 GameCube cult classic won’t be a launch title for the Switch 2, but it is still set to release before the end of the year.

The reveal trailer itself didn’t show off any gameplay, but we did get a nice look at Kirby in all his pink puffy glory riding on a star and racing against some foes. The original Kirby Air Ride was directed by Masahiro Sakurai, who has more recently been hard at work directing all the Super Smash Bros. games since Brawl. Sakurai is returning for Kirby Air Riders, so fans of the cult classic can feel relaxed knowing the title is in good hands.

What made the original Kirby Air Ride so unique are the simplistic controls. Unlike other racers, there is no input for making your vehicle move forward. All the player had to do was control the direction of motion and do all other interactions (which included braking, boosting, and sucking up enemies) with the A button. The highlight of the game was it’s City Trial mode which set players loose in a large map and tasked them with navigating obstacles and random events while collecting upgrades in order to face off in a random final battle at the end of a time limit. Hopefully Kirby Air Riders will keep the simplicity and novelty of the original game when it comes to Nintendo Switch 2 later this year.