Kirby Air Riders Reviews

Kirby Air Riders is ranked in the 86th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
80 / 100
Nov 20, 2025

You’ve got to give it to Masahiro Sakurai for taking a deceptively simple concept and turning it into something so engaging. Between the different game modes and the variety of challenges within each, there’s almost always something to figure out or experiment with. The gameplay can get hectic quickly, but that’s part of its appeal. With the new Road Trip mode adding a sense of progression, even if the story itself doesn’t quite grab you, Kirby Air Riders is a game where even a single race can leave you grinning and thinking about the next one.

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8 / 10.0
Nov 19, 2025

Kirby Air Riders is a fast, fun spiritual sequel that blends arcade racing with light Smash-style chaos. Its four modes offer variety, the sense of speed is great, and multiplayer shines. The solo content is thinner and some challenges repeat, but overall it’s a joyful, polished return for the series.

Review in French | Read full review

65%
Nov 19, 2025

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Review in German | Read full review

Nov 19, 2025

Kirby Air Riders is a game that is simple to control but offers a good level of depth in its gameplay. With four game modes that interpret the design in very different ways, it is an explosive game that grabs your attention as quickly as the speed of the races.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

7 / 10
Nov 19, 2025

A chaotic, vibrant combat racer with excellent visuals and multiplayer potential, shining strongest in Air Ride and City Trial, but stumbling slightly with uneven pacing and weaker modes. Fun, frantic, but occasionally overwhelming.

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9 / 10.0
Nov 19, 2025

Kirby Air Riders might not be for everyone, but everyone should absolutely try it. It is frantic and often a little overwhelming, but once the rhythm sets in, this is a fun and accessible racer that encompasses Masahiro Sakurai’s vast imagination.

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CNET
Scott Stein
Unscored
Nov 19, 2025

You want a game that's fast? That pinballs you around and gets to incomprehensible speeds? Go go go go go go. That's Kirby Air Riders. It's Mario Kart on 70 shots of espresso.

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8 / 10.0
Nov 19, 2025

Kirby Air Riders oozes Sakurais design philosophy and feels like a Smash Bros game turned into a racer. It excels at pick-up-and-play and chaotic multiplayer fun for parties but sadly runs out of steam rather quickly.

Review in German | Read full review

Nov 19, 2025

Kirby Air Riders is perhaps the most chaotic game I have ever played. The racing game stands out thanks to its minimalist controls, which force me to rethink my approach. The races on the crazy tracks are ultra-fast and addictive – even in the cute Top Ride mode with its bird's-eye view. The heart of the game, City Trial, is chaos in perfection. It's incredibly fun to collect power-ups and knock out opponents on the open battlefield. The feeling of having assembled an extremely powerful machine that I can barely control is priceless. The approach of doing away with annoying live service rubbish is commendable. The downside of this decision is that in some modes, I would like to see more content that will never materialize.

Review in German | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Nov 19, 2025

Kirby Air Riders shares a lot of the same DNA as its predecessor, and it's a sequel that belongs in this era. The simplistic controls might not be for everyone, but if you can look past that, you've got a competent racer that does its own thing instead of attempting to battle it out against Mario Kart World.

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