Various patches appear before the players in City Trial
Patches (or Power Ups) are special items that appear in City Trial mode in Kirby Air Ride. They come in different colors and appearances that indicate what parameter they will power up. Their general purpose is to upgrade Kirby's Air Machine to heighten the player's chances of winning the Mini-game that is played after the map. They only appear in Blue Boxes and Green Boxes. But there are Red Boxes that can hold copy ability patches, or parts of a Legendary Air Ride Machines. If a power up is gray, it will downgrade Kirby's machine. There are three types besides ability Patches, one type stays on Kirby's machine for the entirety of the trial, a type that either maximizes or minimizes the machine's stats for a short moment, and the last gives Kirby a makeshift power, such as giving him a powerful cannon or letting him chuck Gordos.
The only ways to lose Patches are to either destroy Kirby's Air Machine or take a great amount of damage. In most cases only Type #1 Patches can be lost this way.
Type #1
These are the patches that stay on Kirby's machine until the end of the trial unless he get attacked a lot. They come out of Blue boxes, along with recovery items.
Offense
This Patch raises a machine's offense. Offense is important for disabling other machines faster and causing greater damage. This power-up is handy on stronger machines like the Shadow Star, or the Swerve Star for quick winning in a melee.
Defense
This one raises a machine's defense. Defense is good for withstanding high amounts of damage. A machine with good defense and health often prevails over the others. Its appearance is based off of a shield, an item used for protection. Putting this power up on a machine like Bulk Star, or the Rex Wheelie will make the player very hard to take out, especially in a melee.
Top Speed
This one raises a machine's top speed. Top Speed is good for winning drag races and avoiding opponents. It goes well with the Boost power up. Its appearance is based off of a meteor shooting at full speed. The player should get this power up to stars like the Winged Star to help with drag races.
Turn
This one aids a machine's handling. Turning is important for going past sharp corners and turns, as well as avoiding damage from the environment. Its appearance is an arrow turning at 360 degrees. When the player hops on a Star that doesn't turn well, like a Slick Star or a Swerve Star, the player should get plenty of these to make it handle better.
Charge
This one raises a machine's charging speed, making it charge faster. Charging is good for accelerating quicker and winning races. It is best combined with a Boost Patch. It is based off of a battery. The player should apply this to stars like the Bulk Star to make accelerating and winning a drag race a lot easier.
Boost
This one raises how much speed a machine gets when it lets out a boost after charging. Boosting is good for accelerating to top speed faster than normal. It looks like a dash panel. This power up should be applied to stars like the Formula Star for drag racing.
Glide
This one raises a machine's ability to glide. Gliding is good for getting to higher places easier. If Kirby lands perfectly after gliding, he will get a slight boost of speed. When Kirby gets this power up, his machine's weight will go down. It appears to be a pair of wings. The player should apply this power up to stars like the Rocket Star for excellent air time in the Air Glide Stadium. It is important to combine this with speed.
Weight
This one raises a machines weight. Weight is important for fast falling and prevents the machine of the player from being knocked back far when hit with an attack. When Kirby gets weight, he downgrades his machine's air time. It appears to be a weight. This power up was made for bikes and stars with poor gliding ability like the Rex Wheelie and the Bulk Star. Combining this with defense is important.
For stadium events prioritizing gliding ability, it is often desirable to pick up negative weight instead - the grey power-down version.
HP
This one raises a machine's stamina. It is one of the rarest and most important power ups in the game. Stamina is very important to a machine; if the machine's stamina is depleted, it will explode, and the player will have to find a new one. It appears to be a heart shape. The player should either give this to weaker machines like the Winged Star to make it more balanced, or give it to something with a naturally high HP to make them an absolute tank.
All
The All Patch raises every stat on a machine by one. It is the ultimate Patch, and is the rarest of them all. Only a few of them appear in an entire run through of City Trial. Most of these patches can be obtained through the events that occur throughout the city such as the Dyna Blade and U.F.O. events, or, very rarely, inside a Blue box or the Star Pedestal. 6 of them can appear at once in the castle's secret room, but they will disappear very quickly.
In stadium events such as Air Glider and High Jump, the all patch does very little to help the machine's performance in the event, as it raises both weight and glide equally.
Type #2
These types temporarily increases or decreases a machine's stat, depending on the symbol and coloration. These come from Green boxes.
Offense Max
This one maximizes a machine's offense. This should be used to quickly destroy other machines and boxes with ease before it wears off.
Defense Max
This one maximizes a machine's defense. With this, the player briefly doesn't need to worry about damage before it wears off.
Charge/Boost/Top Speed Max
This maximizes both a machine's charging speed, top speed and boost, allowing Kirby's Machine to travel much faster than his opponents. At full speed, Kirby's machine can break any destructible object by running into it.
All Max
This rare and glorious patch maximizes every stat on a machine for a brief period of time. It combines the power and benefits of each of the Patches mentioned above. It, like the regular All patch, can be used in any situation.
Type #3
These are the types that do nothing to the machine's stats, but temporarily gives Kirby a special ability.
Cannon
This one gives Kirby an orange cannon that he holds above his head and fires continuously until the time frame runs out. The player can easily break boxes and destroy other machines with this.
Panic Spin
This makes Kirby spin his machine out of control until the time frame runs out. This ability, although it somewhat hinders handling, also makes Kirby inapproachable and it becomes easier to destroy other machines and break boxes.
Sensor Bomb
Kirby will receive one mine to plant in the ground. If an unsuspecting victim goes over it, it will detonate on the victim nearly or completely demolishing the victims' health and possibly destroying the machine. The player needs to remember where the mine was planted so that it doesn't go off on Kirby, though. The bomb will detonate by itself after a period of inactivity. Some seconds after dropping, it will show circles to mark its location. It has however to be placed quickly, or it will be entirely invisible.
Golden Spikes (A.K.A. Gordos)
Kirby will receive three Gordos to throw at his opponents. Once thrown, they will grow to a titanic size and linger in the spot he threw them to for a brief period of time, then they disappear. They are one of the most feared and destructive power ups and can destroy a machine as heavy as the Rex Wheelie in as little as a single hit.
Sometimes a small Gordo is thrown instead. This occurs when Kirby's throw is interrupted (such as his machine being hit/destroyed while trying to throw the Gordo). However, these do the same amount of damage.
Invincibility Candy
Kirby will become invulnerable to all attacks. The player can use this to ride through a blast radius or a bunch of golden spikes and make it out virtually unscathed.
Type #4
These Patches also have nothing to do with the machine's stats. These are copy ability Patches. Because there are no enemies who give any copy abilities in City Trail, Kirby must rely on these small Patches that he finds in Red Boxes to gain his powers.
Bomb
This Patch bestows the Bomb ability when obtained. Kirby will be able to toss a single bomb in the direction he is facing using the R button. Press and hold the R button to increase the power guage, which denotes how far Kirby will throw the bomb. If not charged at all, Kirby will throw the bomb close to himself. If fully charged the bomb will be thrown very far away. If attacked while charging, there is a likely chance that Kirby will drop it immediately, causing it to explode at the spot where Kirby took damage.
After landing, Bomb causes an explosion that gradually gets bigger (and it gets big), dealing damage to any player that steps into its vicinity multiple times if they stay in it. In City Trial, Bomb can be used to break many boxes at once.
Fire
This Patch bestows the Fire ability when obtained. By pressing the A button, Kirby lets loose a ball of fire that can damage opponents as its flying. If the ball of fire hits no one and lands on the floor, it leaves behind a fiery spot that deals damage if an opponents speeds into it. The A button is the same button used to charge the boost meter and this changes how far Kirby will launch the ball of fire. The farther it is launched, the bigger the fire ball becomes and thus the bigger the fiery spot it creates.
Freeze
This Patch bestows the Freeze ability when obtained. Press and hold the A button for Kirby to surround himself in a cyclone of freezing wind, causing damage to nearby opponents and freezing them. This ability would have been a game breaker if it could keep hitting the same opponent multiple times. In order to counter this, Freeze is made that it can only hurt an opponent if they aren't already frozen. However, while frozen Kirby is still helpless and can still take damage from other attacks.
Sleep
This Patch bestows the Sleep ability when obtained. This causes Kirby to go into a deep sleep, you struggle using the joypad to wake up faster. If Kirby collides into a opponent while under Sleep, they will sleep as well. If both Kirbies are sleeping and slam into each other, the gameplay mechanics will decide the outcome, dealing collision damage to one Kirby or both. Very few times, both Kirbies will leave the confrontation unscathed. Colliding has been known to outright destroy a machine if done correctly (on purpose, but usually by accident), sometimes even KO'ing both participants.
Wheel
This Patch bestows the Wheel ability when obtained. Kirby and his Air Ride Machine transform into a Wheel, giving him all properties of the Wheelie class vehicles. Includes: Increased top speed, increased turn speed, increased attack power (spinning becomes quite deadly), boost pads and other ground-based items are touched automatically, and smaller collision size (unless the player is using the Compact Star or Wheelie Scooter, they are roughly the same size). When holding the A button to charge, anything directly in front of a Kirby with Wheel will start taking damage very rapidly. This can be quite dangerous however, since all other abilities outrange Wheel.
Wing
This Patch bestows the Wing ability when obtained. Kirby loses his Air Ride Machine and gains the ability of flight. Wing gives Kirby a high amount of speed and control during flight, making this a useful ability if a player is using an Air Ride Machine with lackluster flying capability. Wing cannot charge, but instead causes Kirby to stop moving as he puts his feet on the floor. Under most circumstances, spinning causes Kirby to lose some turning power and a lot of speed. Wing Kirby significantly reduces the trade-off.
Plasma
This Patch bestows the Plasma ability when obtained. Kirby starts to gather energy using any input from the d-pad or joystick. He can build five stages of power, each one stronger than the previous, but requiring more power to use. Pressing the R button uses the attack and resets the power gauge. Plasma has a hidden counter that counts how much power Plasma uses. When the counter hits a certain amount, Plasma is removed from Kirby automatically.
- Shoots three bullets in front of Kirby.
- Shoots a lot of bullets that are spread in front of Kirby.
- Shoot three bolts of plasma that travel far and fast.
- Shoot a homing plasma spear that travels very far and fast.
- Shoot a huge, homing sphere of plasma that is a little slow, but travels far.
Tornado
This Patch bestows the Tornado ability when obtained. Can be activated by doing a normal spin (pressing left and right or vice versa quickly multiple times) or by completely charging the boost guage. Tornado gives Kirby a much stronger spinning attack that lasts longer, has a higher attack range, and causes opponents hit to go flying. Like Freeze, Tornado could have become a game breaker if it could keep hitting the same opponent multiple times. In order to counter this, Tornado is given a "dizziness" effect and can only hurt an opponent if they aren't already "dizzy" and also lifts them. Tornado can cause a lot of jumble when hit which may cause the screen to spin as Kirby changes direction very quickly. While Kirby is dizzy he can still move, but the A button is disabled momentarily.
Sword
This Patch bestows the Sword ability when obtained. Kirby equips himself with a sword and slashes opponents (or boxes) in front of him. This ability is automatic; Sword activates so long as an attackable object is in front of Kirby. The attack range is pretty short (comparable to Freeze), but Sword lasts for a certain amount of time so players can attack as many times as one wishes. Does not sound particularly note worthy, but Sword is one of the best abilities in Kirby Air Ride.
Needle
This Patch bestows the Needle ability when obtained. Pressing the A button causes Kirby to cover himself in retractable spikes, dealing damage to any opponent within range. Holding the A button causes Kirby to keep the spikes out. Needle has a timer, so a player can use it as many times as one wishes. Needle may be the best ability in Kirby Air Ride due to its ability to be spammed generously. It is especially useful in defeating King Dedede very quickly in the event VS. King Dedede.
Mike
This Patch bestows the Mike ability when obtained. Kirby lets loose an amplified scream, dealing damage to all attackable objects (opponents, boxes, enemies, etc.) in a very wide area around him multiple times. If opponents are damaged, they are sent flying. Since every hit causes lift, opponents may be lifted to high heights depending on the current Air Ride Machine they are using. Mike does not do a lot of damage initially, but it is one of the most deadliest abilities when coupled with an Air Ride Machine with a lot of attack power.