Kirby has long been one of my favorite video game series. The mechanics are simple, yet deep, and the games are incredibly fun. Most critics seem to agree that the games are pretty good... with the exception of one game: Kirby Air Ride.
Most reviews of this game range from meh to bad. I've never understood why; It's not the best game ever, nor is it the best game in the series, but it's fun nonetheless.
Anyway, onto the review...
Story
Um....It's never really explained. 4 Kirbys decide to go racing. Somehow King Dedede and Meta Knight get involved. So...yeah. that's it. But really, it's Kirby. What were you expecting?
Gameplay
Depends on what mode you're playing. The first mode, Air Ride, is a straightforward racing mode. You're given a choice of 8 courses at the start, with 1 unlockable. Initially there's only 1 Star to choose from, but there are many more to unlock, including a playable Meta Kinght and King Dedede.
Acceleration is automatic. Steering can be done with either the analog stick or directional pad. There's technically only one button; the A, L, and R buttons can be used to stop and charge, releasing for a brief speed boost. It's general purpose is to help get around tight corners. The only other move is a spin attack performed by mashing the control stick left and right quickly. Occasionally, if you have enough momentum(which you usually do) and run off a ramp(or hit a bump if you're kart is especially light) you will start to glide. it's only temporary, with average glide time varying from kart to kart. charging causes you're kart to lose altitude. It's a neat little gimmick that helps set this game apart from other racers.
Being a Kirby spinoff, it obviously has copy abilities. Pressing a charge button near an enemy inhales it; any powerless enemies will be spat out as stars. powered enemies will give you their abilities. As is usual, swallowing two enemies produces a random ability. The abilities range from regulars like sword and fire to rarely seen abilities like wing and plasma.
The third mode, city trial, has the same driving mechanics as Air ride mode, with the addition of a stamina bar and the ability to get off your kart. This is probably the mode you'll come back to most often.
City Trial drops you and up to 3 other Kirbys into a moderately sized city and lets you go for the next 5-7 minutes. During this time you have to collect powerups for the various attributes of your kart. There are various other karts scattered about which can be swapped for yours. they don't like to sit around for long, though.
To spice things up a bit, random events will occasionally happen, ranging from exciting things like meteor showers to boring things like a lighthouse turning on. Some are throwbacks to older Kirby games, like appearances by TAC and Dyna Blade.
After the time limit runs out you're transported to a random stadium event to compete with the other players. These range from a single race to a battle against a giant King Dedede.
The one mode in the game you probably won't come back to this one often. Its' a top down race, as opposed to the behind the back perspective of the other modes It's mechanics are pretty similar to the others, except from a top-down perspective.
The Shiny Stuff(Graphics and Sound)
The graphics are bright and colorful, as should be expected from a kirby game. There's a nice variety of areas, from an icy race course to a volcano. Overall, no real wow factor, but I wasn't expecting much.
Hey look, it's the Wind fish!
There's some nice music here too. Some nice original pieces like the frozen hillside(course pictured above) and checker knights are complimented by remixes of older songs(some aren't even remixed).
Almost forgot to mention: This was one of the few games to use the Gamecube LAN adapter. Unlike Mario Kart, the other racing game to use it, there are no real benefits to using it except to avoid having to squint to see the part of your screen allocated to you. Of course, thanks to various tunneling applications, this means the game can technically be played online. Imagine that.
Overall
I definitely recommend this game. It's really fun, especially with a whole bunch of friends. It's a bit simple,yes, and top ride is pretty forgettable, but it's still fun. Definitely look for this one, especially if you are a Kirby fan.
