...Yeah, you bet I revisited this game because of the recent unveiling of Kirby Air Riders, which appeared as a very unexpected but welcome surprise to those who had played the original Kirby Air Ride.
Since this game has three separate modes that offer something unique, I'll go into them one by one.
Air Ride: That's the name of the game
The first mode you are lead to, pure racing over several courses to your heart's content. And since everyone is Kirby, you can also inhale enemies with powerups to use them in order to attack other racers or go faster than normal.
As the title implied, you only use ONE button for everything - hold ANY button down to charge a boost while slowing down [like a drift], use ANY button to inhale enemies and spit them, use ANY button to fastfall on the floor and even stomp on boost pads if there are nearby...whatever button you use will all be useful for a context-specific purpose.
This doesn't mean that the game is SUPER simple though, between the track design, the CPUs having the potential to be quite tough to overcome in higher dificulties, and how you obviously have to steer [or glide mid-air] your star as well as you can. Although even the handling can vary depending of the machines you unlock and use.
There's quite the variety of machines to play with as you unlock them, such as the Winged Star [excels at gliding], the Slick Star [slightly faster but way more slippery to control], the Wagon Star [seems to be a bit better...except for being unable to charge] or the Swerve Star [which is absurd - super high speed but cannot turn at all unless you use the charge].
Despite the seemingly simple controls though, getting a good hold of first place against high difficulty CPUs is actually quite tough and requires a fair amount of practice with not just the track, but also with how your machine handles in order to avoid any speed loss, as the other CPUs will keep cruising efortlessly ahead should you let them.
Top Ride: Bite-sized Racing
Top Ride is a much more simple mode that could be said to be closer to a minigame than an ambitious racing game, as the tracks available are all short and therefore are set by default at five to seven laps.
Rather than having multiple machines to choose from, you instead get the Free Star or the Steer Star, which are essentially control options. The Free Star lets you go to wherever you point the stick at, while the Steer Star behaves like, say, Micro Machines, where you only steer left and right with the stick.
As you may have noticed already, the camera is set to a top down perspective, with it zooming in or out depending of how close together the racers are. There are seven tracks available with one or two gimmicks each [aside from Grass being simple enough] that can force you to change your route, either to avoid a hazard or to take a newly opened shortcut.
Unlike Air Ride, there are no normal enemies spawning here, and instead you may get power-ups from item icons that spawn out of nowhere, although they may hinder you either directly [specifically that one item that puts a big tire behind you] or indirectly [another players gets a boost item and is able to speed away through it].
This is definitely one that you'll have to replay a lot despite its short nature to fill out the checklist though, as there are some conditions that are cool to run into [beating a race in 1st place without picking up any items WITHOUT disabling them, or 1st without using the Boost], even though they can be cheesed if you want to...and then there's a few others that may be a bit more tediously specific.
Got to mention the way you unlock Purple Kirby in Top Ride, which is to play 50 multiplayer races. If you don't happen to have someone to play this game with, then you better be ready to pick up two controllers and start doing one lap races over and over...or at least set it to fast forward with an emulator if you are using one.
City Trial: The one everyone talks about
Because not even the titular Air Ride mode happens to be the most well known aspect of this game for the fans.
No, that title goes to the City Trial mode, which to be fair, repurposes your standard racing abilities for an open area where you get powerups in order to have better chances at a random event after the timer ends.
Everyone starts with the weaker Compact Star for the purpose of letting everyone find a different machine on the city, as you can get out of any Star you're riding and run around until you find a new one - also handy if your machine is too damaged and see a new one to pick up nearby.
Building a good machine overall can be useful for covering most Stadium games, but if you see a hint of a certain type of Stadium being favored [although apparently a few fake ones exist, so be wary of them], you could try to build a machine tailor made for that, like getting a lot of Top Speed items for a Drag Race event.
City Trial runs can vary in how they go, between where item and even legendary machine boxes spawn, special events that help or hinder you, and of course, what ends up being the Stadium event once the timer is over and you're off to use your customized machine.
You can keep an eye for the red boxes, as these should contain legendary machine pieces, and if you get all three pieces...
You get the legendary machine - either the Dragoon or the Hydra [this one is the Hydra] which stand out by far above the rest with incredible stats. Although the Hydra requires you to charge it beforehand if you start an even from a standstill or brake too much into stopping with this thing, but it zooms by VERY fast when it can move.
By default, the Stadium event is set to be random, but you can select one to be preset if you have seen it before - such as Destruction Derby [fight each other for points], Drag Race or Target Flight.
...And in an act of comedy from the game, the moment I get the Hydra, it throws me into Target Flight.
I could have got more than 50 points had I not tried to go for the 100 target that opens and closes on the first round - because of course, it closed itself right as I approached it.
...And that's probably a detail to point out with City Trial: You explore, you get items or even a new machine, and at the end of the day, unless you configured it otherwise, what will end up being the event is completely up in the air, so you may get a machine that's not particularly advantageous or even ill-equipped compared to the rest if the stadium event isn't the right one.
Conclusion
Kirby Air Ride is kind of an oddball in regards to single player progression. I already mentioned the checklist before, but besides some stuff you can unlock [most notable would be one more race track in Air Ride mode + other machines], most you can get from playing it would be stuff on the Checklist that either gives you nothing or just unlocks more options to fiddle with.
Air Ride and Top Ride have Time Attack modes, so you could mess with those alone if you want to test your driving skills without CPUs on the way or if racing VS CPUs isn't enough anymore, but City Trial in particular feels like requires an open mind to enjoy the exploring phase [you can make it shorter or longer too] before the random Stadium Event that may or may not favor you.
I think I'd compare City Trial to playing Mario Party - not that its equal in skill...but more so in how more fun the dynamic can be with friends between trying to attack each other as well as see what comes up at the end, the same way you'd see what minigame comes up after every round.
But most Mario Party games give you a single player campaign of sorts to at least give you an excuse to play through all the boards [including unlock the final board and get minigames for free play], while Kirby Air Ride doesn't really push you into doing anything particular - you get the modes and what you do with them is up to you, besides having a guide at hand for things to try on the Checklist.
That is probably why it feels weird as a single player game since there isn't a Grand Prix for the race mode or challenges you'd be told about beforehand in City Trial [outside of playing with RetroAchievements], as there's a good chance the freeform structure and checklist were designed for naturally getting all those things while playing in multiplayer, just like that Purple Kirby unlock in Top Ride.
...So unfortunately, I can't say I've seen the absolute best of this game yet due to being stuck on single player limbo, but I can respect the idea this game was going for, as the stories of this game being the bomb in multiplayer incline me to believe that the game indeed is WAY more fun if you can gather your friends for it, more so thanks to the intentionally simple nature of the controls for people to pick up, play and fight each other.
Thanks for reading, and see you next time.
Spanish translation with DeepL. All screenshots were captured by myself.
Español
...Sí, claro que volví a jugar a este juego debido al reciente lanzamiento de Kirby Air Riders, que fue una sorpresa muy inesperada pero bienvenida para aquellos que habían jugado al Kirby Air Ride original.
Dado que este juego tiene tres modos independientes que ofrecen algo único, los analizaré uno por uno.
Air Ride: ese es el nombre del juego.
El primer modo al que se accede es una carrera pura en varios circuitos para disfrutar al máximo. Y como todos son Kirby, también puedes inhalar enemigos con potenciadores para usarlos con el fin de atacar a otros corredores o ir más rápido de lo normal.
Como indica el título, solo se usa UN botón para todo: mantén pulsado CUALQUIER botón para cargar un impulso mientras reduces la velocidad [como un derrape], usa CUALQUIER botón para inhalar enemigos y escupirlos, usa CUALQUIER botón para caer rápidamente al suelo e incluso pisar las plataformas de impulso si hay alguna cerca... Cualquier botón que uses será útil para un propósito específico según el contexto.
Sin embargo, esto no significa que el juego sea SUPER sencillo, entre el diseño de las pistas, las CPU que pueden ser bastante difíciles de superar en los niveles de dificultad más altos y la necesidad obvia de dirigir [o planear en el aire] tu estrella lo mejor que puedas. Aunque incluso el manejo puede variar dependiendo de las máquinas que desbloquees y uses.
Hay una gran variedad de máquinas con las que jugar a medida que las desbloqueas, como la Winged Star [excelente para planear], la Slick Star [un poco más rápida pero mucho más resbaladiza de controlar], la Wagon Star [parece ser un poco mejor... excepto por no poder cargar] o la Swerve Star [que es absurda: tiene una velocidad súper alta, pero no puede girar en absoluto a menos que uses la carga].
A pesar de que los controles parecen sencillos, conseguir el primer puesto frente a CPU de alta dificultad es bastante difícil y requiere bastante práctica, no solo con la pista, sino también con el manejo de la máquina para evitar cualquier pérdida de velocidad, ya que las otras CPU seguirán avanzando sin esfuerzo si se lo permites.
Top Ride: Carreras en pequeñas dosis
Top Ride es un modo mucho más sencillo que podría decirse que se acerca más a un minijuego que a un ambicioso juego de carreras, ya que las pistas disponibles son todas cortas y, por lo tanto, están configuradas por defecto en cinco o siete vueltas.
En lugar de tener varias máquinas entre las que elegir, se obtiene la Free Star o la Steer Star, que son esencialmente opciones de control. Free Star te permite ir a donde apuntes con la palanca, mientras que Steer Star se comporta como, por ejemplo, Micro Machines, donde solo se gira a la izquierda y a la derecha con la palanca.
Como ya habrás notado, la cámara está configurada en una perspectiva cenital, con zoom in o zoom out dependiendo de lo cerca que estén los corredores. Hay siete pistas disponibles con uno o dos trucos cada una [aparte de Grass, que es bastante sencilla] que pueden obligarte a cambiar de ruta, ya sea para evitar un peligro o para tomar un atajo recién abierto.
A diferencia de Air Ride, aquí no aparecen enemigos normales, sino que puedes obtener potenciadores de iconos de objetos que aparecen de la nada, aunque pueden obstaculizarte directamente [concretamente, ese objeto que coloca un gran neumático detrás de ti] o indirectamente [otro jugador obtiene un objeto de impulso y es capaz de acelerar a través de él].
Sin duda, este es uno de esos juegos que tendrás que volver a jugar muchas veces a pesar de su brevedad para completar la lista de objetivos, ya que hay algunas condiciones que son muy interesantes de cumplir [ganar una carrera en primer lugar sin recoger ningún objeto SIN desactivarlos, o quedar primero sin usar el Boost], aunque se pueden hacer trampas si se quiere... y luego hay algunas otras que pueden ser un poco más tediosas y específicas.
Hay que mencionar la forma de desbloquear a Purple Kirby en Top Ride, que es jugar 50 carreras multijugador. Si no tienes a nadie con quien jugar a este juego, más vale que te prepares para coger dos mandos y empezar a hacer carreras de una vuelta una y otra vez... o al menos configurarlo en avance rápido con un emulador, si es que utilizas uno.
City Trial: ¡El que está en boca de todos!
Porque ni siquiera el modo Air Ride es el aspecto más conocido de este juego para los aficionados.
No, ese título se lo lleva el modo City Trial, que, para ser justos, reutiliza tus habilidades de carrera estándar para un área abierta en la que obtienes potenciadores con el fin de tener más posibilidades en un evento aleatorio una vez que finaliza el tiempo.
Todo el mundo empieza con el Compact Star, más débil, con el fin de que todos puedan encontrar una máquina diferente en la ciudad, ya que puedes salir de cualquier Star en el que estés montado y correr hasta encontrar uno nuevo, lo que también resulta útil si tu máquina está demasiado dañada y ves una nueva cerca que puedes recoger.
Construir una buena máquina en general puede ser útil para cubrir la mayoría de los juegos del estadio, pero si ves indicios de que se favorece un determinado tipo de estadio [aunque aparentemente existen algunos falsos, así que ten cuidado con ellos], podrías intentar construir una máquina a medida para ello, como conseguir muchos objetos de velocidad máxima para una carrera de aceleración.
Las pruebas urbanas pueden variar en cuanto a su desarrollo, desde el lugar donde aparecen los objetos e incluso las cajas de máquinas legendarias, hasta los eventos especiales que te ayudan o te dificultan la tarea y, por supuesto, lo que acaba siendo el evento del estadio una vez que se acaba el tiempo y te dispones a utilizar tu máquina personalizada.
Puedes estar atento a las cajas rojas, ya que estas deberían contener piezas de máquinas legendarias, y si consigues las tres piezas...
Obtienes la máquina legendaria, ya sea el Dragoon o el Hydra [este es el Hydra], que destacan por encima del resto con unas estadísticas increíbles. Aunque el Hydra requiere que lo cargues de antemano si empiezas un evento desde parado o frenas demasiado hasta detenerte con esta cosa, pero vuela MUY rápido cuando puede moverse.
Por defecto, el evento del estadio está configurado para ser aleatorio, pero puedes seleccionar uno preestablecido si lo has visto antes, como Destruction Derby [luchar entre sí por puntos], Drag Race o Target Flight....
Y, en un acto cómico del juego, en el momento en que consigo la Hydra, me lanza a Target Fli