Kirby Air Ride

"Kirby Air Ride included many different high-speed racing modes. The controls for this game may have been simple, but becoming a top-scoring Air Ride racer took lots of practice and strategy. Players who were good at handling their Air Ride machines and Kirby's Copy Abilities could look forward to unlocking special characters."

- Summary

Kirby Air Ride or カービィのエアライド (Kābī no Ea Raido, or Kirby's Airride) in Japan is a spin-off Kirby game released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003. It is a 3D racing game featuring three modes: Air Ride, Top Ride, and City Trial, each unique to one another. The game features a very simplistic control scheme, which involves (primarily) only the A Button and the Control Stick. The C-Stick adjusts the camera angle and the D-Pad zooms in/out on Kirby. Alternative controls are available, i.e. using the L and R Buttons for boosting.

Production
At first, the game was intended as a Nintendo 64 release, but was cancelled early in the making. It was later revised for the Nintendo GameCube and released in 2003. The game has become a Player's Choice and a Best Seller, as featured on recent case art. Kirby Air Ride also holds the distinction of being the only full-fledged Kirby racing game ever made.

Intro
Kirby races against two Broom Hatters. He swallows a Heat Phanphan and throws Fire on the ground, burning the two and KOing them. Then, actual game clips play. Suddenly, two Sword Knights appear in front of Kirby. With his Sword, he slices the two, KOing them. Kirby then flies off a ledge, where Meta Knight charges toward him, fading to white. Then, Kirby, along with Yellow, Red, and Blue Kirby, race off into the distance.

Gameplay
Kirby is the starting character, but Dedede and Meta Knight, as well as different color variations of the 3, are unlocked by ticking certain boxes in the Checklist. Dedede and Meta Knight are only available for use in the Free Run mode (while playing City Trial), always use the same vehicle, and if they crash, they cannot return to an upright position and are trapped in a permanent death state.

Modes
Kirby Air Ride is a racing game featuring various Air Ride Machines which serve as "vehicles" for the player. There are 3 playing modes: Air Ride, Top Ride, and City Trial.

Air Ride
In Air Ride, players can choose a machine, the number of racing opponents, and race in 1 of 9 different courses, one of which is unlockable. The player cannot race alone, however. At first, the only vehicle available is the Warp Star, but progress unlocks other Air Ride Machines and playable characters. The player can race in Time Attack mode, which is a race against time over as many laps as the player sets, or Free Run mode, which is a race against the player's best time.

Top Ride
In Top Ride mode, the camera is directly overhead the rider and Machine, and controls remain the same, but gliding is not enabled. Kirby is the only character choice for this mode and he has the option of using the Free Star or the Steer Star. Players have a choice of 7 courses. The player can race against opponents, against time, or against his/her best time.

City Trial
Players are given a set amount of time to wander around in a large city area. The main objective is to collect as many patches as possible to enhance his/her machine in order to give them an edge when they subsequently compete in the Stadiums. The player always has the option to abandon his/her machine in favor of another one at any time. The player can compete in Stadium mode, and Free Run mode lets players cruise around the city with unlimited machine use and no time constraints.

Courses (Air Ride)

 * Fantasy Meadows
 * Celestial Valley
 * Sky Sands
 * Frozen Hillside
 * Magma Flows
 * Beanstalk Park
 * Machine Passage
 * Checker Knights
 * Nebula Belt (unlockable)

Courses (Top Ride)

 * Grass
 * Sand
 * Sky
 * Fire
 * Light
 * Water
 * Metal

Stadiums

 * Drag Race 1
 * Drag Race 2
 * Drag Race 3
 * Drag Race 4
 * Destruction Derby 1
 * Destruction Derby 2
 * Destruction Derby 3
 * Destruction Derby 4
 * Destruction Derby 5
 * Air Glider
 * High Jump
 * Target Flight
 * Single Race
 * Kirby Melee 1
 * Kirby Melee 2
 * VS. King Dedede

Controls
The game's default control scheme involves the A Button, Control Stick, and C-Stick. The Control Stick steers vehicles, executes Quick-Spin attacks (rotate left/right), and descends/escalates non-Wheelies in flight (up/down, respectfully). The C-Stick adjusts the camera angle and zooms in/out on Kirby. All the Machines accelerate automatically. Holding down the A Button brakes and fills the Boost Gauge in the lower-right corner of the screen. Releasing the A Button will drain the Boost Gauge, and when the Gauge is full or near-full, the Machine will gain a burst of speed. If Kirby maintains the Boost Gauge at full for too long, it will burn out, causing Kirby to recharge.

By slowing down upon entering bends and flying out of them by boosting, players recover lost time spent turning and accelerate back to top speed. Boosting along straights, however, is counterintuitive; this results in an overall lower speed. Certain Machines have unique boost characteristics, such as using it to fuel up, or not boosting at all.

Air Ride Machines glide upon hitting ramps or ledges. While gliding, tilting the control stick up/down pitches the Machine down and up (respectively), and left/right banks the Machine left and right. Holding the A Button brings the Machine to the ground, cancelling the glide.

Players perform Quick-Spin attacks by quickly rotating the Control Stick left or right. This is the primary method of attacking. Ramming into other vehicles at high speeds damages opponents in City Trial. If timed right, the player is also able to dodge attacks. Copy Abilities also cause damage, and are obtained from non-player enemies, Copy Panels, and Red Boxes (in City Trial).

In City Trial mode, the player can hold button A and tilt down on the control stick to have the character jump out of his/her vehicle and find a new one to use. On foot, the character may run around and jump, and is able to perform up to 5 consecutive air jumps. When the character touches another machine, he will hop onto the machine automatically. If the player is playing as Kirby and he manages to grab a certain number of patches before this, he will cough up some patches as soon as he collected enough.

The C-stick in this game is used for rotating the camera around the Machine and zooming in and out. Full rotation is not enabled, and the camera cannot go into the 90-degree arc at the front of the Machine. In the Pause Screen, the player can rotate the camera in all 720 degrees, but the camera will not go into the ground or through the Machine.

Air Ride Machines
For the role of the Machines in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, see Air Ride Machine

Machines/Characters in both Air Ride and City Trial

 * Warp Star
 * Slick Star
 * Winged Star
 * Formula Star
 * Shadow Star
 * Swerve Star
 * Rocket Star
 * Wagon Star
 * Turbo Star
 * Jet Star
 * Bulk Star
 * Wheelie Bike
 * Wheelie Scooter
 * Meta Knight (Air Ride: All courses City Trial: Free Run only)


 * King Dedede (Air Ride: All courses City Trial: Free Run only)
 * Rex Wheelie

Top Ride-only Machines

 * Free Star
 * Steer Star

City Trial-only Machines

 * Dragoon
 * Hydra
 * Flight Warp Star
 * Compact Star

Machine Abilities

 * KAR_Patch_HP.pngHP: HP represents the amount of damage a Machine can sustain. The amount of HP left is shown by the Damage Bar on the upper right of the screen. On Air Ride matches with the Damage Gauge turned off, the Damage Bar is hidden, but vehicles can still sustain damage and be destroyed. Upon reaching zero HP, a Machine is destroyed. Having any non-zero HP lower than the maximum does not impact a Machine's performance, however.
 * KAR_Patch_TopSpeed.pngTop Speed: Top Speed is the highest speed a machine can attain. It is essential to have this on relatively straight courses such as Drag Races and the Single Race course Nebula Belt.
 * KAR_Patch_Boost.pngBoost: Boost determines a machine's automatic acceleration and the speed boost when releasing the charge from the Boost Meter. The higher the machine's boost rating, the sooner it can reach its top speed and the faster it goes when releasing a boost charge.
 * KAR_Patch_Charge.pngCharge: Charge determines the amount of time it takes fill up the Boost Gauge when Button A is held down. The higher the charge rating, the faster the Gauge fills.
 * KAR_Patch_Turn.pngTurn: Turn determines the maximum angular rotation a Machine can perform. The higher the turn rating, the faster and tighter it can turn.
 * KAR_Patch_Offense.pngOffense: Offense determines the amount of HP damage inflicted on other players upon contact. Offense is disregarded in game modes which do not involve HP bars. High offense gives more damage.
 * KAR_Patch_Defense.pngDefense: Defense determines the reduction of HP damage received when enemies collide into the player's Air Ride Machine. High defense means less damage received. Defense is disregarded in game modes which do not involve HP bars.
 * KAR_Patch_Weight.pngWeight: Weight determines the amount of time needed for a Machine to come to a stop and reduces the amount of skidding a Machine has while turning and stopping. Increases the mass of the Machine so it is less prone to being knocked around when damaged. Mass (affected by Weight) is taken into account when collision damage between two machines occur or when ramming into objects. Weight slightly affects top speed.
 * KAR_Patch_Glide.pngGlide: Gliding determines the length of time a flying Machine can remain airborne. The higher the gliding rating, the longer it can stay in the air, the higher the arc a Machine makes when taking off, and the easier it becomes to start gliding.
 * Wheelieriderjump.pngJump: Jump replaces Glide in wheeled Machines, i.e. Wheelie Bike, Rex Wheelie, Wheelie Scooter and King Dedede. Jump determines how high the Bike goes into the air when jumping.
 * Star Draft: This factor is inherent within every machine, and cannot be modified via Patches in City Trial. This determines how fast the machine accelerates while it is behind another machine, be it on the ground, on rails, or in the air. Whether machines have varying drafting ranges and angles is untested. Shadow Star has the highest drafting acceleration of all machines.

The interaction between Glide and Weight attributes of a machine are worthy of elaboration. They are not direct "counters" to each other. The only event where Weight is detrimental is in Air Glider, where the sole determining factor is air time, and Weight directly reduces air time and Glide directly increases it. In most other circumstances, a having a fair value of both makes a balanced machine, as both attributes affect more than just air time - Weight affects the amount of traction/skid and turning radius, whether a machine sustains damage in a collision with another one (the heavier the less likely), and Glide, via physics-related factors, determines how easy the machine takes off into the air, and both Weight and Glide affect how fast a machine rises through the air once it starts gliding. Machines made for gliding handle better on the ground and are speedier in the air, therefore too much of one of the attributes is likely to be detrimental to one of those aspects. The balance is determined by the event the machine is participating in - e.g. a Single Race on Checker Knights would demand a good balance, while glide-heavy tuning would be beneficial in Drag Races.

Kirby
He is the default character and his speed depends on his vehicle. Kirby can be used in all three modes of the game. He can also use copy abilities and collect patches.

Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, White, Purple, and Brown Kirbys are playable, but need to be unlocked in each of the three modes separately beforehand by completing certain Checklist objectives.

King Dedede
He is the most powerful character and has the highest HP of the three. Depending on how powerful the attack is, he deducts 8 - 10 HP per attack. Dedede's weapon of choice is his hammer. His main drawbacks are his low speed and high weight. King Dedede can only be used in the Free Ride mode of City Trial and Air Ride. The king cannot use copy abilities or collect patches.

Meta Knight
Meta Knight is quick and has powerful attacks. He is the fastest character in the game and uses his sword, Galaxia, to attack for high damage. He also glides extremly high, higher than the Winged Star and Flight Warp Star. However, he has very low defense and HP, so he can only take a few hits. Meta Knight can only be used in the Free Ride mode of City Trial and everywhere in Air Ride. He cannot use copy abilities or collect patches.

The player can play in different colored King Dededes and Meta Knights as well as Kirbys. The King Dededes and Meta Knights will still get represented by Kirby's color. For example, the second player's Meta Knight is green, but the background in the select screen is yellow.

Music
Kirby Air Ride has had its own soundtrack CD compilation released in August 2003. Only available in Japan, its title translates to Kirby's Airride Business Trip Sound Test

Reception
Kirby Air Ride sold 422,311 copies in Japan and 750,000 in the United States. Upon its release, it received mixed reviews from most websites and magazines, with many praising its clean presentation and the originality of the City Trial mode while criticizing its gameplay as being overly simple. It has an average score of 65% on GameRankings. Kirby Air Ride's similarity to other titles released for the GameCube around the same time (most notably F-Zero GX and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, both of which were also made by Nintendo) resulted in it being categorized as a rather throwaway title. Matt Casamassina of IGN said "this racer only comes recommended as a potential buy to parents who are shopping for their under-nine son or daughter." He also gave the game a 5.2 out of 10.

Trivia

 * This is the last Kirby game that the series creator, Masahiro Sakurai, would work on as part of HAL Laboratories. This was due to him publically criticizing Nintendo regarding circumstances during the development of the game. He would later return to work with HAL Laboratory to help develop Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * The US release was tied in to the first airing of the two Air-Ride-In-Style episodes of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. Even as the episodes were originally made as part of the final storyline, fans complained about the discontinuity. Comic adaptations were also released around the same time in various Nintendo Power issues.
 * Music as well as the environmental settings from the anime were used in this game, as well.
 * Green Kirby is seen on a Winged Star on the spine of the box art. Green Kirby is the only unlockable Kirby featured if one disregards Meta Knight.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl's main menu screen strikingly resembles Kirby Air Ride's, and therefore might have been based off this game.
 * The menu also has the same sound effects for selecting an option as Super Smash Bros. Melee.
 * One of the machines in Kirby Air Ride, the Dragoon, also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is a deadly weapon and instant KO if it hits the other players.
 * Some of the music was later used in Kirby Mass Attack.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the crowd "aahing" and the sound that plays when you cannot select something (such as attempting to play the slot machine with no coins) are used in this game. Also, Event 16 in this game is named "Kirby Air-raid."