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City Trial is one of the three game modes in the game Kirby Air Ride. It involves a group of two to four Kirbys riding their Air Ride Machines through an immense island city, gathering various power-ups called Patches and better Air Ride Machines for a competition in a Stadium event. The city is divided up into various sectors, each connected by a series of rails that can be ridden for quick transport between them. After a certain amount of time is spent exploring the city, 3–7 minutes depending on the options set beforehand (default is 5 minutes), a Stadium match begins, where the players can put their new, upgraded machines up against the other players in one of several different challenges.

All players begin on a Compact Star, an Air Ride Machine exclusive to this game mode with lackluster stats. However, strewn about the city are Air Ride Machines of every type that the players can find and ride. An important note is that when getting on a new machine, if a Player has collected more than 20 power-ups, the Machine will drop them until it has 20 (these can then be picked back up, though).

Besides the actual main City Trial mode, there are also two other options for play. First is the Stadium mode, which allows players to skip the City portion and compete in a stadium event immediately. None of the players are given the option of gathering power-ups in the city, but everyone is allowed to choose their vehicle. Second is the Free Run mode, which omits the timer and the stadium portion. It begins a match with a choice of vehicle. All the vehicles not chosen are placed in the city's underground (save for Meta Knight and King Dedede). There are no CPUs in Free Run, nor are there any Boxes. There is one Air Ride Machine that is exclusive to Free Run in City Trial, and that is the Flight Warp Star.

Mechanics[]

Boxes[]

Boxes are scattered around the city. The player may simply bump or quickspin them to break them and reveal items. Three different colored boxes are found in the city, giving a different type of item when broken.

  • KAR BlueBox
    Blue Boxes: Blue boxes give out either a power-up patch, a power-down patch, or Food. A blue box may contain at most 4 items, in any combination of patches and or food. All patches can be found in blue boxes, but very rarely, and most likely during Events.
  • KAR GreenBox
    Green Boxes: Green boxes contain Quick Fix items such as the Attack Up or Invincibility Candy, and the Special Offense Items such as Hyper Spin or Timer Bombs. All of these items vary and have different effects when touched, either helping or hindering the player.
  • KAR RedBox
    Red Boxes: Red boxes usually contain a random Copy Panel for the player to use when touched, but occasionally contain a Legendary Machine part (either of Hydra or Dragoon).

Food[]

Picking up different foods will recover the current Machine's HP by a fixed amount.

Image Food Item +HP
KAR Food Apple Apple 18
KAR Food Unknown Curry 30
KAR Food EnergyDrink Energy Drink 70
KAR Food Hamburger Hamburger 25
KAR Food HotDog Hot Dog** 25
MaxtomatoKAR Maxim Tomato 100%
KAR Food Omurice Omelette 30
KAR Food Onigiri Onigiri 20
KAR Food Cereal Ramen 30
KAR Food Turkey Roast Chicken 35
KAR Food IceCream Soft Cream 5
KAR Food Sushi Sushi 25
KAR Food Tempura Soba Tempura Soba* 25

* Only appears in the Japanese version
** Only appears in international versions

Events[]

KRtDLDX Maxim Tomato Main article: Events

Many things happen during City Trial, usually appearing about every 2–5 minutes. Because of this, only one or two events happen in each match.

Some of the events can be detrimental to the players, while others prove to be helpful. The Events that occur are selected randomly, and it is incredibly rare that the same event occurs twice in one match.

Event Description
Meteors Meteors will rain on the city. Players that come in contact with the falling meteors are instantly engulfed in flames and take massive damage. Once a meteor lands back away from it because it will have a "blast zone" around it that still causes great damage. However, there are two different outcomes once this event begins; either 8-10 small meteors, or 3-5 large meteors, will fall from the sky, each ending with a huge meteor at the end that drops patches. The final meteor that lands always leave behind a ring of patches, which can sometimes contain an All patch.
Air Ride Formation An assortment of 5 Air Ride Machines will fly over the city. If a player is quick, and lucky enough, to board one of the Machines, they will not lose any Patches if they have more than 20. The Machines eventually disappear after passing over the entire city-scape, however, by flying away at high speeds.
UFO An immense UFO (which resembles a Destroya) flies over the stage, casting a shadow beneath it. Located on the top of the UFO is an assortment of random patches, including a guaranteed All patch in the center. To get on top of it, one must either go to the Garden in the Sky via the volcano, and then from there fall on the UFO, or simply fly to the top of the UFO. Eventually, the ship reaches the edge of the stage and fades away.
Rubbery Items All items and boxes will start to bounce up and down. This has no impact on whatever is inside of them, but it does make them very difficult to smash open, even with the use of an ability. The only items that don't bounce are the Hydra and Dragoon machine parts. This can also be advantageous as the Red Boxes containing the parts do not bounce either When this event ends, it is common to find an All patch randomly on the map.
Amok Engine / Rowdy Charge Tank All Air Ride machines will speed out of control. This makes things like dilapidated houses and Boxes easy to break, but can be lethal if two racers collide. This lasts a very short time; about less than a minute. A good way to avoid speeding out of control is by stopping using charge, or by going on the grind rails, and wait the event out. However, if another player or bot rides the rails, it is highly possible both vehicles will be destroyed on impact. The music playing during this time is a remix of Green Greens. This is also played when traveling through a stage in Kirby: Planet Robobot.
Tac Tac appears with a bag of power-ups. The player can ram into him to make him drop power-ups. After being hit enough times (or if no one manages to find him), Tac flies away and the event comes to an abrupt end. The places Tac appears in are random, but he is usually hidden somewhere in the city's underground.
Dyna Blade Dyna Blade usually lands twice, each at one of 5 set locations. In order to attack her, Kirby must fly at her head to obtain power-ups, or throw Gordos or bombs at her. Attacking her eye will give an All power-up, but she will leave right away and drop some patches behind for the player to take.
Burning Rail Stations All of the rail stations catch fire. It may only last for about a minute but makes it virtually impossible to use the rails for quick travel without getting damaged if the player doesn't have the Invincibility Candy. If a player is grinding a railing at this time, it may be a good idea to charge (or brake with the Wagon Star) so as to stop until the event is over.
Fog Thick fog comes and covers the whole area for about a minute, which makes seeing anything over 3 meters ahead very difficult.
Fake Power-Ups When patches appear during this event, some might be fake and look different to normal patches. If the player hits one, that special attribute will go down (not always detrimental), but the air ride machine will take some damage as well.

The differences between a real power-up or patch and a fake one are listed below.
KAR Fake Boost Boost: The purple arrows are tilted
KAR Fake Charge Charge: The meter is lower
KAR Fake Defense Defense: Has a hollow center
KAR Fake Glide Glide: Has yellow dots
KAR Fake Offense Offense: The spikes are curved
KAR Fake TopSpeed Top Speed: Streams at bottom curve outward
KAR Fake Turn Turn: The arrow is missing
KAR Fake Weight Weight: Looks like a suitcase
HP and All up patches do not have a fake since all power-ups that involve fake items also have a gray patch counterpart.

Lighthouse The sun goes down and the light house turns on for about a minute. If Kirby goes under the light house's light, the air ride machine will be slowly repaired. It has no effect on machines without a rider, or machines at full health.
Same Item All boxes contain the same item. Red boxes that do not spin contain Legendary Air Ride Machine pieces.
Pillar An odd, glowing pillar appears somewhere in the City. When destroyed, it gives out many power-ups, and some Copy Panels such as Bomb and Mike.
Restoration Area Three or four big white glowing circles appear randomly in the city. They repair Kirby's machine as long as he is inside one of the circles and repair until the time is up or they use up their energy.
Secret Chamber in Castle Hall The square-shaped box in the Castle Hall opens and reveals six of the same power-up or food. However, the patches will disappear if the player doesn't make it to the Castle Hall in time.

Stadium[]

Once Kirby has spent enough time in the city, he will compete in a Stadium event.

Event Description
Air Glider Players accelerate, and then go off a ramp to glide as far as they can. Vehicles with high speed and a great glide rating will fare well in this stadium.
Destruction Derby Players try to destroy each other's vehicles as many times as possible on one of five stages. Vehicles with high offense, defense, and durability will prove to be an advantage in this stadium. It is not advisable to have too much Boost and Top Speed since the machine may get out of control.
Drag Race One of 4 variations of a straight course is selected for a quick race.
High Jump Players accelerate, and then go off a jump to jump as high as they can. There are 2 rounds, and the final result is the higher of the two.
Kirby Melee One of 2 enemy filled arenas is selected. The objective is to defeat as many of them as possible.
Target Flight Players accelerate down a hill, then aim for a target board with varying scores. There are 2 rounds, and the final result is a total of the two. As with the Metal Top Ride course, the music that plays is a remix of Cocoa Cave.
Single Race A random Air Ride course is selected for a 1-lap race.
VS. King Dedede A highly-difficult event. Players work together to defeat King Dedede. Victory is difficult, as his stats are 2-4 times what they normally are (varies by stat, not by match). Players have to defeat him within 90 seconds. Defeating him under 60 seconds is one of the objectives of the Checklist.

Areas[]

Green Canvas[]

Capture89

Whispy Woods in Kirby Air Ride

Whispy

Whispy Woods sheding a tear

Green Canvas appears along with Whispy Woods. It is small and it has two areas: overground and underground. In the overground, all of the trees are destroyable except for Whispy. If the players attack Whispy enough times, he'll eventually close one of his eyes and shed a tear, and will not react to further hits. From the surface, the underground area can be accessed through one of the two pitfalls around the place. Beneath the woods is a small network of tunnels, with pads that will propel a player up and back to ground level, and a model of what appears to be the city. The underground area can also be accessed if the player breaks a hole in a wall in the basement.

Electric Lounge[]

This lounge is located to the south in the center of the city if the player uses the map for direction. The Electric Lounge is made up of 4 floors. The first floor is green and has 3 panels that lead the player up into the second floor. Two panels in this level lead the player directly to the top. The second floor is blue, with a big hole in the center that leads the player back down into the first floor. There is a panel that leads the player to the third floor. It also has a rail station that leads the player into other parts of the city. The third floor is yellow, also with a hole in the center. It has one panel that leads into the last, red floor, on the top of the Electric Lounge. Seen to one corner of the lounge is a hole, that leads the player back to the center floor. Each floor (excluding the first one) also has boosters on the northern side, that can help the player fly back towards other parts of the city. The Electric Lounge rail system connects Green Canvas and City Wharf.

City Wharf[]

This place is located between two beaches. The wharf is located east of the city, to the right of the underground area and in between the Electric Lounge and Castle Hall. There are no quirks and turns in the wharf, unlike the Electric Lounge or Green Canvas; it's simply a gray road area that leads into the heart of the city, or out to the sea.

Castle Hall[]

Castle Hall is located on the northeastern part of the map, north of the City Wharf. Inside the Castle hall is a large room, with a rail station and a large closed chamber. On occasion, the chamber will open up, revealing patches or food for the player to take. The patches will disappear over time if the player isn't fast enough. Outside, the Castle Hall is white. If the player manages to go to the very top of the Castle Hall, there will be a flower on it. However, this is minor as this flower serves no purpose whatsoever. The Castle Hall's rail system connects Heat Top and City Wharf.

Heat Top[]

Heat Top is a hot area, with a smoking volcano in it. Dragons fly out of the lava, which will damage the machine if the player collides with them. 3 breakable walls are found in the base of the volcano. Two of them lead into a small chamber of 2 to 5 random patches and food, while one leads inside the volcano. It should be noted that the chambers locations and which wall leads inside of the volcano are randomized for each play through. There is another way to take, which is spiraling across the volcano until reaching the top of it. The player can see a rail leading inside the volcano and a bridge, which leads to the smoky volcano. If the player goes into the smoky volcano, he/she will end up in the highest place in the city, which is the Garden in the Sky.

Inside the volcano is a completely different environment. The inside is completely icy, with a tunnel that leads further or a pad that will launch the player into the Garden in the Sky the same manner as going into the actual volcano. If the player takes the rail, they will go through the icy tunnel, and then into a tunnel with dirt in it. If the player continues further, they can see the underground of the city. If the player goes into the underground of the city, he/she may not return back where they came from.

Garden in the Sky[]

There's a giant flying platform in the sky. It can be accessed by using the Heat Top launch pad or by flying up there. This area allows people to see the rest of the city, thus giving the advantage of flying to anywhere in the city easily. This place is also a reliable place to get to the U.F.O. during the U.F.O. event.

Dilapidated Houses[]

One section of the city is filled with giant, metal blocks, presumably old shacks. These blocks can be broken, though it's somewhat difficult to do so without an ample amount of Offense Patches or speed. By breaking all of the houses in one City Trial, a checklist box will be checked off, unlocking a Hydra piece. Rarely, a Legendary Air Ride Machine piece can be found while destroying the homes, and sometimes random items will drop from them as well. Other than that, the area serves no other purpose besides unlocking the piece, but it can be used to lose racers early in the game.

Checklist Tasks[]

Like the ones in Air Ride and Top Ride, the Checklist in City Trial has a total of 120 tasks.
The following table lists every Checklist task that unlocks something (indicated in-game by being colored orange upon completion). There are 44 of these tasks.

General[]

There are 3 tasks that record progress from completing other Checklist tasks.

City Trial[]

There are 63 tasks that record progress from City Trial. They have a variety of requirements.

Environmental tasks require the player to interact with parts of the city environment. There are 15 of these tasks.

Combat tasks require the player to damage or KO rivals. There are 6 of these tasks.

Player tasks require that all of the players do a particular task. There are 3 of these tasks.

Vehicle destruction tasks require the player to destroy a particular vehicle while riding on another particular vehicle. There are 8 of these tasks.

Food tasks require the player to eat a certain amount of a type of food in one race. There are 4 of these tasks.

Patch tasks require that the player collects a certain number of patches. There are 14 of these tasks.

Event tasks require that the player experience or interact with an event in the city. There are 8 of these tasks.

Misc tasks are not part of a large group of similar tasks. There are 5 of these tasks.

Stadium[]

There are 50 tasks that record progress from Stadium mode, and must be fulfilled by completing certain objectives in the corresponding Stadium. Only Drag Race 1, Destruction Derby 1, and Target Flight are available by default, meaning Drag Races 2 and 3, Destruction Derby 2, Air Glider, High Jump, Single Races 1-8, Kirby Melee 1, and VS. King Dedede are unlocked by playing it at the end of the City Trial.

Free Run[]

There are 4 tasks that record progress from Free Run.

Music[]

Db The following section contains transcluded content from the Database. Source: (viewedit • help)
City Trial
Citytrial
Theme in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros
Music aysAxCa4dfQ
Kirby's Dream Collection soundtrack
Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition
Music 70zZybChuEg
City Trial - Theme
Kirby Air Ride
Music TlUFOYNkyyg
City Trial - City Backside
Kirby Air Ride
Music CI2RzrKQeqA
City Trial is a game mode in Kirby Air Ride, in which Kirby has to navigate an enormous island-city on Air Ride Machines and power them up to compete in a Stadium Event.

Trivia[]

Spot 1

The first secret spot

Spot 2

The second secret spot

  • At the very top of Castle Hall and at the highest point of Heat Top are a pink flower and a white flower, respectively. Neither of them serve any purpose other than decoration.
  • The invisible barriers surrounding the city do not extend all the way to the top, and can be bypassed if a player gains enough speed and altitude.
  • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS features a similar mode called Smash Run. When revealing this mode, Masahiro Sakurai himself stated that it took inspiration from Kirby Air Ride’s City Trial.
  • In 2018, a unique speedrunning category known as "5 Hot Dog%" rose to some prominence, during which players attempt to collect 5 hot dogs in as little time as possible during a round of City Trial.[1]

References[]

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