Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - Hier 03:03

Kirby Air Riders – Review

Even though we have seen quite a few good titles being released on the Switch 2 during the last few months, such as Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World, many still argue that the current lineup is still too limited to warrant purchasing Nintendo’s new hybrid gaming device. Today, we are quite happy to announce that the lineup has been further expanded with Kirby Air Riders, which proved to be an absolute blast. As we didn’t play the first game back in 2003, we didn’t know what to expect, but we were very pleasantly surprised. Story To our surprise, Kirby Air Riders actually has a dedicated story mode wrapped in a roguelite-ish format. You’ll play through very short races and events to unlock more of the story sequences. The gist is that a long time ago, a sentient machine named Zorah crash-landed on the planet Popstar. Zorah is sadly immobile and wishes to be able to move. This wish is granted, but not in a way many would expect. The wish caused Air Ride machines to come into existence, and these machines could only be controlled by Riders. While everything seemed peaceful at first, with Riders becoming a part of daily life, it seemed things turned south rather quickly. One Rider may possess the power to actually destroy the planet, and it’s up to you to stop this from happening. The story is mainly told via cinematics after completing ‘chapters’ in the Road Trip mode. Graphics Kirby Air Riders is a good-looking Switch 2 release, with many different well-designed tracks, cute characters, and interesting vehicles. The latter can even be heavily customized, making sure that when playing online, you’ll be treated to many unique designs. We quite enjoyed exploring all the different themed tracks, as they all have attractive backdrops and enough clutter to make them interesting. The tracks in the Top Ride mode were a lot more simplistic and somewhat reminded us of the retro Micro Machines games. Even so, the tracks still looked good, albeit a lot smaller. Kirby Air Riders is an action-packed experience, yet we didn’t notice any slowdowns during hectic battles or when things simply got a lot more crowded. Sound The sound design of Kirby Air Riders is nicely handled. You’ll get captivating music during the races and an announcer voicing a few lines here and there during the events. There is also quite a bit of voice acting in the cinematics you’ll unlock when playing through the Road Trip mode. Other than that, iconic Kirby tunes and sound effects return here, making it a proper Kirby experience. Gameplay In essence, Kirby Air Riders is a racing game, albeit on steroids. The game is action-packed, a bit over the top, too hectic at times, and chaotic, but it all felt highly entertaining. Depending on the mode you end up choosing, you’ll play through reasonably short races where you’ll be able to pummel your opponents, while drifting, boosting, stealing powers, and so on. It’s a real Kirby experience in a Mario Kart setting. If you love both franchises, you’ll love what’s on offer here too. While the game does have different modes on offer, they all boil down to the same thing: finish first in races or clear specific conditions in non-race events. Air Ride and Top Ride are the most straightforward modes where you simply pick a character, a vehicle, and a track, and you’re good to go. In City Trial, you’ll have five minutes to scramble around an open-world-like area where you must collect upgrades for your vehicle, to have the best vehicle possible to duke it out in a race at the end. Road Trip is pretty much the story mode of the game, where you play through a roguelite-like mode where you have to select stages and clear chapters for story progress. Here you’ll also find more levels with specific conditions, such as killing enemies or destroying crates. Racing in the game does feel a lot different than a typical Mario Kart experience. For example, your vehicle moves automatically, and a lot of vehicles have different conditions. Some may need you to constantly boost it to keep it from stalling, while others may not be able to boost at all. Boosting, or drifting even, works differently here, as you’ll actually brake in turns, and sometimes come to a complete halt to perform a boost. The game is very easy to get into, but the different vehicle conditions in combination with the fast-paced gameplay do take some time to master. We personally enjoyed the chaotic nature of the races, while still being able to rely on our own skills as well. There’s also a bit of a community feel in the game, thanks to the customization of your rides, which has already amounted to many cool designs that can be viewed online. This is certainly a cool addition, and you’ll be able to squeeze a lot of extra hours out of the game like this. That being said, we did feel the content itself was sometimes perhaps a bit too limited, as some races felt really short, especially in the Road Trip mode. Some events could be cleared in a matter of seconds, meaning the loading times in between were actually longer than the event itself. We simply wanted a few more tracks and a few longer ones. Even so, there is still enough to do to sink sufficient hours into the experience, but we hope that more content is added via updates as well. Luckily, there is quite a bit of unlockable content that you can get by simply playing the game and clearing challenges. Conclusion Kirby Air Riders is a fun kart-like racer that is able to set itself apart from its well-known sibling, Mario Kart. The game offers action-packed races that can be enjoyed with multiple players locally or online, but also quite a bit of single-player content where you can unlock new characters and rides. The addition of an actual story in a game such as this proved to be a nice touch, and it adds a lot of play value for those looking for a single-player experience. If you’re a fan of Kirby and you also like Mario Kart, then picking this one up is a no-brainer.