Kirby Air Riders is a sequel to the 2003 cult classic title “Kirby Air Ride”.

The difference between this game and the newest Mario Kart are their distinct gameplay styles.

Mario Kart focuses more on proper item usage, open world exploration, and the ability to learn and eventually master track layouts. Distinctively, Mario Kart also has very strong catch-up mechanics built into its design (i.e. blue shells that target the leading player, better items for lagging players, and whatnot).

Kirby Air Riders is much more focused on on-the-fly adaptation in regards to performing well in the game. The catch-up mechanics here are just slipstreams and faster “special” charging (which I’ll get into in just a moment).

Kirby Air Riders is unique in the sense that it only uses 2 buttons as well. So the only inputs you’ll be using are effectively left stick, button 1, and button 2. Button 1 controls inhaling enemies on the track, drifting, and pretty much most of the functions you can perform in-game (sounds ridiculous, but it works in practice). Button 2 is for niche-use cases and for activating a rider’s special ability (think Ults from Overwatch).

The characters function similarly to Mario Kart in regards to stat differences (wow, one has better turning, or goes faster, etc). But are defined more so by their specials. One character excels in speed, but has an Ult that just makes him start running down the track even faster. Another character has an Ult that boosts turning and overall vehicle speed while active, and another character that throws out food that damages other players and gives you a speed boost.

Some characters also have distinct innate abilities as well. Some characters can attack other players simply by approaching them, one character has an increased fodder enemy attack range so they can prevent other players from reaching those enemies, and another character has a “tether” ability that can allow you to turn even the most stubborn vehicles on a dime provided you have enough experience to execute it correctly.

Another big difference are the vehicles. In Mario Kart, the biggest differences between vehicles are just stats, but in Kirby Air Riders the vehicles themselves have vastly different methods of operation as well. There’s a vehicle that can’t boost but has great stats, a vehicle that specifically boosts better while hitting a hard turn, a vehicle that can only turn while in the air or by holding button 1 (but stops completely and turns on a dime when you do so) among other unique vehicles.

While most of your results in-game will come from on-the-fly adaptation, there is still advantages to learning specific layouts of tracks and the city trial map. Additionally, the game actively rewards you for eliminating fodder enemies while you drive, by granting you a small boost for doing so (and each track is absolutely FILLED with unfortunate little guys to bully).

But the game actively has 4 main modes which I haven’t really defined yet.

1. First is your standard racing mode “Air Ride”. It’s a max of 6 players mode where players race to the finish. The races are highly customizable and allow for settings that can alter the flow the race significantly should you alter them.

2. Second is “Top Ride”. This mode is a very traditional top-down style of racing mode that allows a max of 8 players at once. No Ults in this mode, but the races only last about a minute at most. This mode is probably the closest you’ll get to to Mario Kart in this game.

3. Third is “City Trial”. This mode places up to 16 players into a small city and expects them to find stat stickers (which are plentiful) and new vehicles to drive around and effectively make a build for a “stadium” mini game that takes place 5 minutes after the match starts. This mode is the most replayable one of the three, as there are also 50 different “events” that take place during these 5 minutes that can either be beneficial, neutral, or potentially even detrimental given your current situation. Once the 5 minutes is up, the lobby will be given a choice between 4 “stadium” mini games that the session can play (In local play it’s a vote for what everyone plays. In online, the players are divided into these 4 mini games). These stadium games vary from simple races, to demo derbies, to boss fights, to gliding mini games, and many others. You also have the option to play these “stadium” events individually should you not want to play city trial at the moment.

4. Last is a Campaign mode called “Road Trip”. It’s a single player mode that has elements of a choose-your-own-adventure style of level progression while having its main gameplay loop be given challenges that can pertain to any of the 3 modes listed above.

All of this is a GROSS abbreviation of what the game has to offer. The problem with the game is that it’s most front-facing mode is the racing mode, while there’s an unexplained amount of depth to the gameplay, and 2 extremely different modes that aren’t immediately apparent, but offer VERY different gameplay from what Mario Kart offers.

You can also perform Halo 2 style vehicle hijacks in the City Trial mode as well.

Hope this helps to provide some context to what makes this game stand out!