Games

Kirby Air Riders Direct; Road Trip, Top Ride, Online Play, Demo Dates and Amiibo

24 October 2025
Nintendo Switch 2
11 min.
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Kirby Air Riders Direct; Road Trip, Top Ride, Online Play, Demo Dates and Amiibo

Summary:

Kirby Air Riders lands on Nintendo Switch 2 on November 20, bringing fast, chaotic action wrapped around a clear roadmap for how you’ll play with friends and unlock new toys over time. Today’s presentation from Masahiro Sakurai confirmed two headline modes—Road Trip, a story-driven challenge tour, and the top-down racer Top Ride—alongside fresh twists like Swap Relay and the Transform Star machine that shifts between flight and bike handling on command. Online play is built around a paddock lobby where multiple matches can run at once, plus a Class system and a personal License that showcases your style. If you want in early, a two-weekend Global Test Ride demo runs November 8–9 and November 15–16 with specific PT time slots, letting you try Lessons, three Air Ride courses, and City Trial with up to 16 players. Customization runs deep: earn Miles to shop for machines, decals and music; sell your creations in the Machine Market; build a showpiece garage; and collect Gummies as trophies from rivals you outplace. The Checklist returns with five tabs and no riders or machines locked behind the Online tab, so you can progress at your pace. New amiibo—including Meta Knight & Shadow Star on March 5, 2026—round out a package that revives GameCube nostalgia and layers in modern online structure, quality-of-life options, and playful flair from composers Shogo Sakai and Noriyuki Iwadare.

What’s new in today’s Kirby Air Riders Direct

Today’s presentation framed Kirby Air Riders as a celebration of speed and surprise that’s been tuned for Switch 2. The headline reveals focused on two pillars: a story-flavored Road Trip and the return of fan-favorite Top Ride. Around those, Sakurai outlined how online play flows through a lively paddock hub, how progression is tracked via a five-tab Checklist, and how players can tune the experience with button mapping, visual effect options, and a refreshed main menu. If you watched the earlier broadcast, this follow-up fills in the blanks with concrete systems—Global Win Power, color-coded Classes, Licenses—and a calendar you can act on today, from demo download timing to amiibo release windows. It’s a lot, but it’s designed so you can pick a lane: compete, collect, customize, or just hang out with friends while planning the next City Trial.

Release timing and how to watch the latest Direct replay

Kirby Air Riders launches on November 20, 2025, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. Pricing sits in line with other major first-party releases, and the store page is live if you prefer to pre-order digitally. Missed the broadcast? The full second Direct from October 23 is available to stream, and it’s worth watching to see Road Trip and Top Ride in motion, along with quick cuts of the Transform Star, Swap Relay, and the paddock. The replay also shows how the class colors appear on-screen, which helps you visualize matchmaking and your License presentation before you hop into the demo or full release.

Road Trip mode: a story with challenges and progression

Road Trip stitches together challenges from Air Ride, City Trial, and Top Ride, then tucks a narrative thread under the hood so your tour has purpose. You’ll drive races, battles, and Field Events while collecting machines and items that persist between challenges, which means the build you craft has weight beyond a single run. Expect cameos and rivals that make sense for Kirby’s world—Kirby, King Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee, Starman, and more—plus moments that hint at why everyone’s actually traveling together. The appeal is simple: bite-size goals add up to a meaningful route, and you can dip in for a few objectives or settle in for a longer leg of the journey without losing momentum. That structure also plays nicely with Switch 2’s quick-to-play vibe: short sessions move you forward, longer sessions let you chase perfect clears and optional objectives on the Checklist.

Top Ride returns: rules, abilities and online vs offline options

Top Ride drops the camera to a top-down angle and focuses on sharp reads and snappy inputs. You pick riders and machines separately, then use Quick Spins and Boost Charges to control space, with Copy Abilities like Flash electrifying your line to jolt anyone in the way. Items exclusive to this mode—think Kaboomb, Drift Flames, Drill Driver—add swing potential without turning races into pure chaos. Online, Top Ride supports up to eight players; offline, you can run with three friends on a single system alongside four CPUs. It’s the kind of mode that makes a great warm-up before City Trial or a low-stakes arena for learning a new machine’s quirks without worrying about long track layouts or dense route planning.

Air Ride highlights: Swap Relay and the Transform Star

Air Ride is still the series’ pulse, and Sakurai showed two twists that freshen the formula. Swap Relay lets you select a different machine for each lap, automatically handing you the next pick as you cross the line. It’s a deck-building mindset applied to racing: do you open with a stable all-rounder to bank a lead, then pivot to a high-risk closer for the final lap? The Transform Star adds unpredictability on the fly: it’s both a flying machine and a bike-style driver, and a rapid Left Stick motion toggles between modes mid-race. That one button-like action essentially gives you two handling models in one slot, letting you adapt to sections without waiting for a pit or an item. If you enjoy labbing builds, these two features are a playground.

The paddock: how the online lobby brings friends together

Instead of a static menu, online sessions gather in a paddock where your rider can move, emote, and strike poses while you set up matches. Multiple matches can run in the same paddock, so your group doesn’t need to disband when a subset wants to jump into Top Ride while others queue for City Trial. Music is swappable in the space, and it’s the spot to invite friends, tweak machines, and compare Licenses before you queue. Think of it as a social staging area; once you’ve used a lobby like this, a plain list of rooms feels dull by comparison.

Checklist tabs, unlocks and what’s not gated online

The Checklist returns and it’s delightfully literal: complete an objective, flip a box. Five tabs cover Air Ride, Top Ride, City Trial, Road Trip, and Online. The smart tweak here is structure and access. If you click an unopened box adjacent to one that’s already open, the game can send you straight to that objective with the right conditions set up, cutting the friction between “I want to do that” and actually doing it. Just as important, nothing major is stuck behind Online: no riders, no machines. That keeps the playing field fair for folks who prefer solo goals or couches full of local racers, while still giving online-only players a tab where their wins actually matter.

Online systems: Classes, Global Win Power, Licenses and Team Battles

Kirby Air Riders tracks your online footprint in a few clean ways. Class uses a rainbow of seven colors instead of letters, matching you with similarly leveled players and even nudging City Trial conditions as you climb. Global Win Power is a per-mode total of wins that rises as you play; it’s distinct from Class but shows on your License, which is your calling card in lobbies and races. Licenses are customizable with glitter effects, stickers, and a Street Name you craft from two preset terms, which keeps things playful without moderation headaches. Team Battles split City Trial into two teams of up to eight, and when you assemble Dragoon or Hydra parts, your teammates can share progress—whoever grabs the final piece gets to ride. In large lobbies (ten or more), the game can mirror the stadium so both teams battle under the same rules, keeping score comparisons fair.

Try it early: Global Test Ride dates, modes and limits

Two weekends are circled for hands-on time: November 8–9 and November 15–16 (Pacific Time). Each weekend features three six-hour windows, with start times at 12:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m., and 7:00 a.m. on alternating days. You can download the demo from the eShop beginning the afternoon of Friday, November 7. Inside the test, Lessons are always available—even outside the time windows—while Air Ride offers three courses (Floria Fields, Waveflow Waters, Mount Amberfalls), and City Trial supports up to 16 players with paddock access. The full game later expands that paddock capacity to 32. If you’ve pre-ordered digitally, you’ll spot an exclusive hat for the demo; it’s a fun perk that doesn’t transfer to the full release, keeping cosmetics fair at launch.

Customization: Miles, My Machine, Machine Market and garages

Everything you do earns Miles, the in-game currency you’ll spend on machines, decorations, License flair, music tracks, and headwear. Once you’ve collected parts and machines through play, purchases, and Checklist clears, you can dive into My Machine to layer decals, accessories, patterns, and effects until your ride feels truly yours. Then there’s the clever social economy: list your My Machine in the Machine Market for in-game currency and browse designs from other players. If your creation sells repeatedly, its price ticks up, signaling popularity—though you never lose the original. Round it out with a custom garage that functions like a showroom, and invite friends from the paddock to stop by. It’s half personalization, half community gallery.

Collectibles: Gummies and how to earn them

Gummies are tiny machine-shaped trophies you earn for finishing ahead of rivals. Outplace someone, and you pocket a model of their machine—simple, satisfying, and a little cheeky. Because they’re tied to performance, Gummies become a visual diary of your best streaks, and launching them skyward is pure Kirby. If you’re a collector at heart, this is the loop that will keep you running “one more race” long after your checklist is full.

Music and audio: My Music options and announcer voices

Composers Shogo Sakai and Noriyuki Iwadare bring heritage from Kirby Air Ride and the Smash series, and it shows in the breadth of tracks you can slot into City Trial via My Music. You’ll curate playlists from across the Kirby catalog, including bonus and hidden tracks, which adds a cozy “your vibe, your lobby” feel to the paddock and free-explore sessions. There are also selectable announcer voices in different languages and styles, feeding race commentary and Road Trip narration. If you’re streaming or just capturing clips for friends, those VO options add character without overwhelming the soundscape.

Amiibo lineup and dates, plus Figure Player training

The amiibo line expands in pairs that match riders with their machines. The newest set spotlights Meta Knight & Shadow Star (arriving March 5, 2026), with King Dedede & Tank Star and Chef Kawasaki & Hop Star slated later in 2026. These figures are larger than typical amiibo and use magnetic attachments so you can swap riders and machines freely; the combinations you place on the base show up in-game. You can also train a Figure Player tied to your amiibo, leveling it up through play. If you enjoy the tactile side of Nintendo’s ecosystem, these feel like display pieces that also unlock a few novel setups on the track.

Returning tracks, Stadiums, bosses and legendary machines

Nine Air Ride courses from the GameCube era return—fantasy greens to cosmic highways—bringing the total course count to 18. City Trial gets a new power-up, the Mega Cannon, and Stadiums reappear to cap off sessions with high-stakes tests. Boss battles add spectacle, and the sizzle reel teased Robo Dedede, who shifts between a familiar Dedede form and a wild car mode. Dragoon and Hydra are back as legendary machines you can rebuild, turning scavenger hunts into race-winning payoffs. It’s reassuring: the team hasn’t lost the series’ toy-box energy while layering in new systems built for longer legs online.

Practical buying advice and where to start on day one

If you want a clean ramp, start with Lessons to lock in fundamentals, then tackle Top Ride to build comfort with Copy Abilities and Quick Spins in short bursts. From there, jump into Road Trip for steady unlocks that feed your Checklist and your early Miles balance. Save City Trial for when you’re ready to embrace noise—either with friends in a paddock or matchmaking that hits your Class color. Keep an eye on the Machine Market once you’ve earned a few decorations; selling a popular design is an easy way to fund your soundtrack habit in My Music. And if you’re collecting amiibo, mark March 5, 2026 for Meta Knight & Shadow Star and plan for the remaining two packs later in the year.

Performance, controls and comfort touches to keep in mind

Switch 2’s horsepower lets Kirby Air Riders lean into sharper effects and clean readability at speed, and the team supports that with options you can toggle: remappable buttons, visual effect tuning, and main-menu organization that reduces downtime between modes. Those small quality-of-life choices matter more than they seem, especially in lobbies where friends drift between activities. If you’re a settings tinkerer, you’ll appreciate how quickly the game lets you jump back to the track after a tweak, rather than burying sliders under nested menus.

Who this is for: veterans, city-trial diehards, and first-timers

Veterans get a modern online backbone and more ways to express style through machines, Licenses, and garages. City Trial diehards get Stadiums, a fresh power-up, and team rules that scale cleanly to big lobbies. First-timers get straightforward on-ramps like Lessons and Free Run, where you can practice without pressure and set a personal best before you ever queue. The end result feels welcoming without dulling the series’ sly, bouncy chaos—the best of both worlds for a release that has to bridge nostalgia and novelty.

How to plan your two Global Test Ride weekends

Mark the PT windows and convert them to your local time so you don’t miss your preferred slot. Try one session of each mode to get a feel for netcode and pacing, then spend remaining time in City Trial and the paddock to understand how social flow works. If you’re sensitive to controls, dedicate a short window to button-mapping tests and a separate window to audio—pick announcer voices you actually enjoy hearing in the background. Finally, experiment with a couple of machines and at least one Transform Star session; it’s the quickest way to decide whether you love the two-form handling or prefer a single-focus build.

Final pulse check before launch

Kirby Air Riders looks set for a confident November landing: a strong mix of approachable modes, expressive systems for competitive and creative players, and a demo that lets everyone get their hands on the core feel weeks early. Whether you’re showing up for Road Trip’s story beats, Top Ride’s tight skirmishes, or City Trial’s signature playground, the structure around it—Classes, Licenses, paddock, and the Checklist—should keep the loop lively long past week one. If your plan is “play, collect, customize,” you’re absolutely the target here.

Conclusion

Kirby Air Riders makes the old feel new by pairing classic chaos with modern online structure, generous customization, and a demo plan that invites everyone to taste the speed before launch. Circle November 20 for the full release, pencil in the November 8–9 and 15–16 sessions for early laps, and—if display shelves matter—save a spot for Meta Knight & Shadow Star in March. We’ll see you on the starting line.

FAQs
  • When does Kirby Air Riders release on Switch 2? — The game launches on November 20, 2025, with the official store page live for pre-orders.
  • What modes can I try in the Global Test Ride? — Lessons are always available, while the timed windows include Air Ride (three courses) and City Trial with paddock access for up to 16 players.
  • Is anything locked behind online play? — No riders or machines are gated by the Online tab of the Checklist, so you won’t miss core unlocks if you prefer solo or local play.
  • How does Global Win Power differ from Class? — Class is a color-coded matchmaking tier, while Global Win Power is a per-mode total of wins that appears on your License but doesn’t affect Class directly.
  • When do the new amiibo arrive? — Meta Knight & Shadow Star arrives March 5, 2026; King Dedede & Tank Star and Chef Kawasaki & Hop Star follow later in 2026.
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