Nintendo recently held a dedicated Nintendo Direct presentation, offering a deep dive into Kirby Air Riders, the latest project from Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai. Before detailing Kirby`s new adventure, Sakurai shared an interesting behind-the-scenes thought: he initially worried that Kirby Air Riders would bear too strong a resemblance to Nintendo`s other popular racing series, Mario Kart.
Sakurai voiced these concerns at the outset of the presentation, mentioning to both Nintendo corporate president Shinya Takahashi and then-president of HAL Laboratory Satoshi Mitsuhara that he saw clear similarities between Air Riders and Mario Kart. He candidly admitted, “OK, so it is basically Mario Kart.”
He recalled bringing up this point when the request to develop the game first came in, questioning if they still wanted to proceed. Sakurai emphasized that, for fans familiar with the original Kirby Air Ride, the game`s core appeal isn`t solely in the racing itself.
The 45-minute showcase for Kirby Air Riders unveiled numerous specifics about the upcoming title. This included a look at the characters and vehicles available for players, as well as Skyah, the floating island that serves as the game`s primary setting. The presentation also provided extensive details on various game modes, prominently featuring the City Trial mode which supports up to 16 players.
Kirby Air Riders is scheduled for an exclusive launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on November 20.
Note: Content related to advertisements, interactive elements, external links, video embeds, and image galleries found in the original source has been omitted as per instructions.