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Kirby Air Riders review: A brilliant Switch 2 race game full of fun modes

Nintendo has brough back that cute little pink blob of a character for a Mario Kart style race game that is surprisingly full of modes and mini games

[Kirby Air Riders]

Kirby Air Riders

Well this is a pleasant surprise of a racing game.

I was expecting another Mario Kart clone on the Nintendo Switch 2 - and it is that.

But the amount of content in Kirby Air Riders is excellent.

And it elevates this title above the norm and makes it a must-buy for fans of frantic, fast paced competitive cartoon racers.

The premise is simple enough; a kart racer featuring Nintendos odd little pink blob and his pals.

All controlled with the usual thumbstick direction knob and a single button for everything else, like boosts to your speed and spin attacks.

But once you get under the hood theres loads more to this speedster of a game than it seems.

[You can take on computer controlled rivals or other folk online]

You can take on computer controlled rivals or other folk online

Youve got your classic Air Ride single player-vs-bots races like Mario Kart and also multiplayer online against real foes on the internet.

But there are also loads of mini games packed in there too and an open world city to explore and fight in.

Called Skyah, players can travel around collecting power-ups and going through random events in the various regions within a time limit.

Afterwards, they will compete in one of four randomly selected Stadiums using the power-ups and machine they obtained to battle it out Smash Bros-style in a war where only one winner emerges.

Its brilliant fun and really mixes up the formula so that its less about racing and more about building a set of skills to become the top brawler on wheels.

The stadia have a host of small-game challenges.

They range from jumping your air rider across an overpass, while trying to land on the highest numbered square to win, to a race through tight laser beams against rivals.

[It's colourful cartoon fun and action packed]

It's colourful cartoon fun and action packed

Each is varied, well designed and appealing on the eye with cutesy Nintendo graphics.

Youve also got Road Trip, which is a story-like mode where you travel forward encountering different challenges like time attack races against the clock, tight oval-shaped courses to race and top-down mini drives.

Its repetitive but a nice addition to an already-packed game.

The controls tend to handle well with the very basic one-button design, up there with Mario Kart.

And on-screen visuals are bright, colourful and fluid as you fly your air racer machine around at speed, smashing rivals and dashing to the finish line.

Plenty of modes, plenty of unlocks, this is a full and fun package of wild racing.

VERDICT 4.5/5

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