2025 has become the year of the kart racer thanks to a slate of high-profile examples like Mario Kart World and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds either already available or coming up soon, and being supported by smaller examples like a Garfield Kart sequel. Another title that will fit into this category is Kirby Air Riders, a game that just featured in its own, rather long, Direct showcase.
As part of the whopping 45-minute-long showcase, game director Masahiro Sakurai headlined to talk about all the different features and elements relating to the game, all on top of commenting on some of the topics we have all been curious about; like isn't Kirby Air Riders just another Mario Kart?
Sakurai commented on why he ended up making the game, going as far as to explain the following:
"There was a strong request from [Shinya] Takahashi, head of software development at Nintendo, and [Satoshi] Mitsuhara, the president of HAL Laboratory, Inc. at the time.
"At the time, I was working on the DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and wasn't really able to get around to the request. But I managed to complete a written proposal at high speed. I actually mentioned this on my YouTube channel, so I hope you check that video out."
He goes on to note: "The developer of the game is... Bandai Namco Studios not HAL Laboratory, Inc. My company, Sora Ltd., and Bandai Namco Studios, Inc., are the same tag team that worked on Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate."
Adding to this further, Sakurai rhetorically asks "if it's basically Mario Kart," and then proceeds to answer this query with the following: "You race and battle with familiar characters around courses with different features, or so they say. Okay, so it basically is like Mario Kart. I even mentioned this when I received the request to make the game. I asked them if they still wanted to do it. But as fans of the original know... the appeal of the game is not the races!"
So there you have it, there's the story as to how Kirby Air Riders landed in Sakurai's hands and also why you should be excited for it even if you do already have one brand-new kart racer to play on your Switch 2 console.
As for the release date for Kirby Air Riders, it will land exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on November 20.