Kirby Air Ride

I am not sure just what it is that this game has, but it's got it! It didn't get great reviews, but it looked fun to me, and I bought it for my kids---well, it's been played far more than any of the other (too many) video games we have!

There are 3 basic modes---a standard racing mode, a overhead view racing mode and City Mode, which takes more explaining! The standard mode uses Kirbys riding on different vehicles, going VERY fast on different kinds of courses. Kirby can eat enemies and take their powers for a while. You can race each other, or the computer. All you really do is steer and slow down in order to power up for a boost. It's very simple to control Kirby, and you get a great feeling of being half out of control while still in control!

The overhead mode is kind of retro looking. You race a little Kirby around and around a small track (there are several different ones). The track looks like those little car tracks from the 70s. There are bonus items you can eat up as you race, some boost you, some hurt others.

The City Mode is what we play the most. It's WEIRD but fun! It's a city full of odd things---a section of trees, a section of run down buildings, a waterwheel, a castle, a subway, lots of underground areas---all sort of minimalistically portrayed! The real goal is to break open all kinds of boxes and get power up items, like better turning or better speed. In the standard mode, you have 5 minutes to do this. You can find different vehicles lying around, and ride them instead of your starting one. Then, after the 5 minutes, you compete in a random pick of one of 20 or so stadium events---a long jump, a race, a melee match, etc. It's fun as you might have collected items for a race, which do you no good in what you are actually doing, so all have a chance!

The most fun of this game is trying to finish the grids with records! There are a huge 128 boxes to fill in for EACH mode! Some are things like getting a certain score, but others are out there, like finishing with your time all a certain number on the seconds! We haven't filled all the boxes in any of the modes yet! But we have had fun trying---it's so neat to see after you finish a section if any of the little boxes get filled in! We are simple people, I guess---we enjoy that a lot!

If I had any complaint about the game, I guess I wish there were more unlockable tracks or modes---I love that, although I don't know why---I guess it gives you something to aim for!

All in all, a super game!

I got this game the first day it came out, and boy was I excited. This game is every bit as fun as I expected. Over 300 goals to reach, a ton of different vehicles, and, of course, META-KNIGHT AS A PLAYABLE CHARACTER!

There are three modes to this game-
Air ride- Normal racing
Top Ride- Mini-racing
City Trial- Upgrade your machine in a limited amount of time, and see how good it does in a random challenge

I've noticed this game getting quite a few bad reviews. Don't listen to them. If you're a Kirby fan or a fan of Racing games, get this game.

Remember kids, just because a game is E rated, dosn't mean it's kiddy!

To be honest, when I bought this game, I was a bit doubtful. One-button controls didn't seem like all that great an idea, and I was considering buying F-zero instead. Nevertheless, I am a big fan of Kirby, having played most of his games, even weird spinoffs like Kirby's Dream Course, (basically Kirby Golf), so I decided on the less traditional game. I was glad I did. Lacking a storyline but not much else, this game leaves F-zero far behind in sheer variety of gameplay. If you get tired of the Normal Race and Time Attack modes, which each feature plenty of unlockables, you can compete in entirely separate top-view racing (I got used to the controls for this pretty quickly, considering). Also available is the vast City Trial, almost a game on its own, in which you race to boost your vehicle's attributes, such as speed, steering, etc., then battle in a random multiplayer contest. It will take any player a long time to complete every objective of this game, so even without other players it is extremely fun. One thing is for sure: If this is meant for kids, they must be kids who have really good reflexes.