Kirby Air Riders Is The Game I Wanted Mario Kart World To Be

Mario Kart World wasn’t the bold evolution I was hoping for. Yes, it boasted a gorgeous open world filled to the brim with easter eggs and references to Nintendo’s iconic history, but there was also bugger all to do in the thing. Yes, you could complete some pretty standard karting challenges to earn Princess Peach coins and a number of adorable bumper stickers, but unless you were happy to stop and stare at environments for hours, that’s where the entertainment stopped.

The Grand Prix was incredibly fun, while Knockout Tour might be the best thing this series has ever done mechanically. But as someone with little interest in online play or perfecting shortcuts and its myriad other new mechanics, there isn’t much left for me in Mario Kart World right now. I’m holding out for additional characters, tracks, and outfits in future downloadable content, but for the time being I’m far more smitten with Kirby Air Riders.

Is Kirby Air Riders Better Than Mario Kart World?

As with any of these debates, this is subjective. Kirby Air Riders has you race against other opponents on fast and frantic tracks, but is executed at a dramatically different pace compared to Mario Kart World. There is an instant sense of universe-shifting speed as you burst round corners, use a range of different items, and travel so fast you can jump from planet to planet with ease.

You also don’t push the thumbstick to move forward, with the game instead placing you in a constant state of motion, so you can instead focus on using items, mastering corner drifts or boosts, and taking out other players. It’s a kart racer, but in some ways, it also isn’t. I’m having a hard time describing it given I’ve only played for a few hours so far, but the sheer amount of depth on display is already pretty excellent.

Reaching the end of a course in first place is an exercise in mastering track layout, drifting in all the right places, and knowing when to best make use of items and ramps. The automatic acceleration could make some assume it plays itself, but I wish that was the case.

Every machine you pick and racer you choose has a tangible impact on how you move on each course, while these can also be customised and upgraded to your liking with new unlocks. I feel like I’m learning more about the game and being rewarded for it all the time, which is sadly not how I felt when playing Mario Kart World.

Aside from new costumes, most of which you will have unlocked for your favourites after just a couple of hours, you have to dedicate yourself to the meta if you want to feel truly invested. In the base experience, Kirby Air Riders simply has more to offer — at least for a player like me in search of immediate gratification.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life In Kirby Air Riders

But I think what has tickled my fancy most in Kirby Air Riders is the level of variety. I didn’t play the GameCube original, how much of it feels entirely new. Whether I’m playing as a hamster called Rick or a sentient boulder with the power to drive, every race is a bold new discovery. This is especially true when it comes to Top Ride.

If you ever played any of the classic top-down Micro Machines titles, you’ll feel right at home here. You use the thumbstick to steer your character while employing a similar chain of items and boosts to the main mode, although most races here will take under a minute. There is something so utterly moreish about Top Ride that I sat down to play one race and didn’t walk away for hours.

You’re also unlocking more characters, vehicles, and general cosmetics all the time too, in a way that seems far more complementary than anything found in Mario Kart World. Most of the modes — including online play — come with sticker sheets where you unlock squares by completing specific goals and challenges. Most races turned into a swift dopamine rush of earning new stickers while ensuring I was focusing enough to remain in first place. Air Riders fortunately doesn’t have a Blue Shell equivalent capable of screwing you over, and in many cases I was able to go from last place to first simply by locking in and playing well.

Chances are my opinion on Kirby Air Riders will evolve with time much like it did with Mario Kart World, but I can’t deny that I’m both having more fun with it and find its characters and modes so much more experimental and enjoyable. It’s unlike any other kart racer I have ever played, if you can call it that at all, and there’s still so much left to uncover.

Kirby Air Riders

Systems

Released

November 20, 2025

ESRB

Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence

Developer(s)

HAL Laboratory

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

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