Kirby Air Ride [Game Concepts]
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- Kirby Air Ride was actually my first time making consecutive games on a single console!
At this point, I was doing supervising work for numerous projects including the Kirby anime series, so why did I go back to being a director? I'll touch on that, the concept behind the game, and the struggles we faced in this episode.
By the way, I went independent after finishing my work on Kirby Air Ride.
![Development Secrets of the Original Kirby [Grab Bag]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZUY2AtBD6Sk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Development Secrets of the Original Kirby [Grab Bag]](/img/tr.png)
![Kirby Super Star [Game Concepts]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PkeETXCSn5M/mqdefault.jpg)
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Sakurai talking about Kirby Air Ride in 2023 is something I didn’t know I needed
and the anime!
Almost 20 years of Air Ride, how the time has passed
and Kirby of the Stars
I can't believe sakurai swooped in after a year of development and led the devteam to rewrite the code in 3.5 months. Legendary.
Hey, if all the assets are already prepared, may as well rewrite the code from scratch.
It's fascinating how this mirrors Iwata's own story with Earthbound and Pokémon
Wow, isn't it great that some asshole showed up and forced the actual development team to work overtime for an unnecessary code rewrite.
@@Kyleology He said in the video that none of the warp stars worked right so it sounds necessary. He also said the lead programmer directly requested help
@@Kyleology bro they literally asked him for help lmao
I still own the game to this day ever since it was released on GameCube. Played the hell out of City Trial mode and gotten every achievement. Best times.
That's awesome man. Also props for not selling it.
Same here! My sisters and I like to revisit the game every now and then and still have a blast playing it
Same! It never gets old :)
I still remember playing it for the first time and having issues with the time runs
I just bought a new wii because my first one was donated by my parents. I was lucky to have kept my kirby air ride hidden so I still have it.
So unfortunate that this game has become so expensive. Hopefully a rerelease could bring a solution.
It's still worth it.
This game is a gem.
I don't think anyone at Nintendo even looks at this.
He should make a 2!
But it's free
I went to a retro game store a month ago, and I saw a disc only copy of this game for only $60. It was sadly very scratched, so Top Ride doesn’t work at all, but I later got a separate case for it, and I’m glad I was able to experience the game.
Kirby Air Ride was and continues to be one of my favorite games, especially City Trial! There is something so satisfying about all the possible ways you can build up an Air Ride that makes each game feel refreshing and satisfying to play, and even moreso with friends! I hope someday we see another title with that kind of game essence, I’m glad to see it is a favorite of Sakurai as well!
Something that makes City Trial feel endlessly replayable to me is just me challenging myself to get all my stats as high as humanly possible. There's no in-game metric that shows your highest stats on a single run, but I like to do it anyway to achieve the (likely) impossible feat of maxing out everything.
One of my favorite things about Kirby Air Ride is the Main Menu Music.
It goes so unbelievably hard, ESPECIALLY the bassline. I love it.
Starting to notice that there are typefaces and mechanics that appear in every post-N64 game that had Sakurai working on it. I recognise the checklist system, alongside its visual design to be almost identical to something I saw in Smash 3DS. I even recognised the typeface of the damage numbers in Kid Icarus Uprising to be the same as the numbers in Smash 3DS.
Sakurai loves to use DF Mincho (by DynaFont), especially the W12 and W14 variants for a serif typeface, and DF Gothic for a sans serif. He's also used Fontworks' Rodin Pro for a few things.
Only one I'm not 100% sure of is what got used for under the damage indicators in Brawl. I just can't match the 'K' glyph to anything...
@@budgetcoinhunter casually saving this comment for my research on my KAR UHD texture pack updates. You might have just given me some significant help here! This is a long shot, but do you know what font is used for the stat totals when pausing in City Trial mode?
That's my favorite thing about sakurai games. His distinct style is all over the entire interface, and is impossible to ignore.
And the menu of this game has the same sound effects of melee but with a different tone.
@@budgetcoinhunterDoes that font apply to both Japanese logograms and Romanized characters?
Greatest game to never get a sequel
i agree paul
That bit about the graphics and sound design needing to hit that "Kirby feel" really struck a cord with me. I always felt the Kirby games where Sakurai-san was not involved always felt off. The ones he was involved with always felt more punchy, concrete and actiony, so to speak. Whereas the ones by others tended to feel a lot more soft and aesoteric.
Kirby Air Ride is a good example of that Kirby feel I love so much.
Despite Kirby being a rather cute character, he still feels like a tough little guy that can throw hands as opposed to a cuddly fluffball that wouldn't hurt a fly.
Awesome to see Sakurai pulled an Iwata and personally saved the game during technical mishaps. Truly a legend.
3.5 months? Thank you Sakurai and your team so much. This game was an important part of growing up for me and many others.
That Sakurai touch is focusing on tiny details that make the biggest difference.
@KayFiOS What about the Flagship titles felt “realistic?” We’re dealing with an enchanted mirror and anthropomorphic rats.
The moveset thing was an interesting case-they were like a middle ground between the Dark Matter Saga’s single move abilities and Super Star’s expansive movepools, and I really enjoyed how specialized they still felt.
I still like them, but yeah it definitely feels like the newer Kirby games are about being even more cutesy, squishy, and soft
@KayFiOS The original Adventure first stage was also a generic grassy field level, though, just with 8-bit art rather than 32-bit art.
Dream Land’s look has changed quite a lot over the years, and while I vaguely see the realistic environment kind of thing, the GBA Titles and Squeak Squad still feel totally in line with the series imo. Even with a touch more realism, they still feel cartoony and almost dreamlike.
@KayFiOS I think that's a really interesting take; obviously as a kid I didn't even know they were by a different company, but the Flagship games were by far my favorites in the series. I loved the artstyle, and to this day I still absolutely love finding all the collectables (especially the spray paints; I always wanted them in other games)
Plus imo, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror specifically just has the best level design and gameplay in the series. The Metroidvania style suits Kirby so well
We need Kirby's air ride 2 asap
Nahh, we really don't.
We need a lot of things asap, but this game is not one of them. What you need asap is leaving the house, getting a degree, traveling the world and in general a life asap.
@@Abner_Aharoni Jeez, just let the guy dream
@@novustaIks7525 Yes we do
@@novustaIks7525 Yes, we do
"Next we'll be talking about Meteos"
We're almost there folks. From Sakurai's crown jewel straight into his Magnum Opus.
"Hey guys, it's me Meteos"
I'm so excited for Meteos next! One of the most original and complete puzzle games out there
STAR FORCE FANS REPRESENT!
I hope we eventually get Star Force 4
@@SharonisCarin321 You both have good taste in video games. Thumbs up. Since they're porting Battle Network, maybe they'll port Star Force, too? A man can dream.
The minute I saw the title "Kirby Air Ride" from this channel I clicked on it instantly.
Best racing game I ever played on a Nintendo console. Especially with that legendary city trial!!
"Best racing game on a Nintendo console" lmao you must have played only 3 racing games then. This game was mediocre, its no coincidence it sold poorly and got quickly forgotten.
Yeah right, this game was already swallowed by F-Zero GX which released the same year 😂
What are these bot users in the comments?
@@SALTYTOAD000 “Sold poorly and Quickly forgotten”
Funniest thing I’ve read in a minute. It’s one of the most requested Nintendo Gamecube rereleases and got the Player’s Choice label.
@@SALTYTOAD000 F-Zero doesn't have City Trial, therefore Kirby Air Ride is better
A big feel for me I grew up poor and didn't own a gamecube when this game came out. But I enter a contest for a copy and won and my sis actually went and got me the gamecube to play this and Smash bros, but I put so many more hours into Air Ride. Amazing game, I played it all through high school as a comfort game. There isn't really anything like the City Trial experience with friends.
Just seeing you talk about the anime brings me immense joy, many childhood memories, I love the show so much. I really wanna watch it again someday! I also wish they referenced it more in games, Escargoon deserves to appear!
Well, Escargoon appeared in Kirby Quest in Mass Attack.
@@FenexTheFox Kirby Mass Attack is one of my favorite Kirby games. It's not, nor doesn't beat Super Star Ultra, but to me it really felt like Kirby...to me at least. In the 2000s Kirby had this very defined feel and personality, and I feel Mass Attack really did well in capturing what Kirby was at the time. I enjoyed the Escargoon appearance, as well as Customer Service in Strato Patrol EOS, it was such a neat surprise. I really wish the whole gang would appear again, idk how the rights are though with it, but hopefully not too impossible.
Some kind people posted all the episodes on RUclips. I won't link it here, but search Hoshi no kaabii.
@@grambam36 it is really easy to find the episodes on yt
@@ArcaJ bruh the English dub is the pinnacle of voice acting, just hear king dedede and escargot for one second, I’ll never understand why people never want to listen to the dubs, even when they’re super good bah
One of my favorite parts about Kirby air ride is how it’s almost a natural evolution of melees menu and ui it really feels like the half step between that and brawl
1:10 By the way, he's talking about the cancelled Kirby GCN game which was basically the predecessor to Kirby's Return to Dreamland in many ways.
Some music themes even stayed all the way through, like the Arena theme which was the Main Theme of Kirby GCN you heard in the earliest footage. Some riffs of this theme are still there in present themes like in "The Adventure Begins" and "Sky Tower", but the full unedited version can be heard as the title theme of *The Arena* and throughout bosses in both Arenas (with the exception of special bosses and mini bosses like the Lor Starcutter, Magolor, Galacta Knight, HR-D3 and the Grand Doomer+Doomers)
One of the fanfares from the Kirby GCN game was later remixed in Return to Dream Land too, and surprisingly enough, the original version was also used in the 3DS Kirby games and Kirby Star Allies.
There's an artbook with concept art from the GCN Kirby that further clarify it's its own thing, including menus that have that unmistakable signature Sakurai design. I wish we could get to see it, but all matters considered, elements from the discarded proposals reappeared in later games.
The N64/GC development difficulties were such a shame, especially how unlikely for these concepts to reappear again. But what we got is still awesome.
I remember reading an extremely brief plot synopsis for the game about something that involved King Dedede basically stealing Kirby's Warp Star possibly just for his own intentions and whatnot. I remember being extremely hyped for it when I watched that one infamous trailer from ign. Alas, it never came into fruition until Kirby's Return to Dream Land came around. A great game and all but to think that this was Kirby's only game for the Nintendo GameCube while the other mascots themselves had multiple titles on it must've absolutely sucked *(no pun intended)* royally for Kirby fans.
@@lordkaijux5262 Yeah, when people cite the Gamecube as one of Nintendo’s best consoles because of how much first party stuff there was, I understand it, but as a huge Kirby fan I feel nothing for the Gamecube beyond Air Ride.
Road to Victory probably wasn't intended as the main theme of the game, it was just chosen for the trailer. If you look at the file names for each track in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, you can see that a lot of them were intended for the original Nintendo GameCube build of the game, such as The Adventure Begins, Sky Tower and Fly! Kirby of the Stars to name a few.
The feeling of assembling the legendary machines in city trial is one of the greatest highs I’ve experienced in gaming
I had no idea Sakurai also oversaw the anime! That makes a lot of sense, in retrospect. What a legend, working on 2 amazing end-results around the same time!
Thank you for making this wonderful game, Sakurai. It's one of my top 5 all time games. I've had so much fun with it over the years. The handling of the game and the vehicles feels amazing. So many hours spent in city trial. So much fun!
Kirby Air Ride had such genius game design. Be it simple, but effective controls, Various game modes, especially City Trial, the Checklist, etc. Even now I appreciate every aspect of the game! ^^
Masahiro Sakurai acknowledging the existence of the Kirby anime on his channel was not something I was expecting
Please Sakurai-san, talk more about the anime in another episode.
We'll like to know more about the process of making an anime from a videogame.
That would make for a great "Grab Bag" episode
Agreed
I'd love for an episode where he talks about the involvement with the anime! Hopefully he'll take requests on the subject, I'd love to know what aspects of it came from him or his feedback
I would love that!!
Kirby Air Ride is to me the most underrated and unexplored party game ever made. City trial feels almost like 3D, real-time action Mario Party, as players all skirt around a board, gathering items and trying to gain an advantage for the upcoming minigame. I hope some day they return to the concept and give all the ideas more depth
Kirby air ride is still one of my favorite racing games and would love to see a return. If anything, I would love to see the city trial come back. I would play that by myself endlessly for hours. It would be great to see this portion of the game come back with Internet, connectivity and being able to play with anyone across the world or with friends.
I remember playing around in City Trial with my best friend, one of us hid their machine and the other one tried to find it. My favourite spot was inside the vulcano
5:29 I'm glad Sakurai knows how much people love and continue to play the game to this day. There really is nothing else like it and that's why I and many others would love a sequel or successor that expands on it. Hopefully any indie devs trying their hand at this task will be able to end up with a better game by watching this channel!
There's an Air Ride-inspired indie game in development right now called Town of Trials! It's looking really good so far!
@@cinda4524 I'm rooting for a different one called soul riders.
@@TeltStory What Is soul riders?
Lol
One summer, around when I was 10, I played a TON of Kirby Air Ride in an empty classroom at the school my mom worked at. It was on one of those TV's teachers would roll into the classroom for videos. It was pretty awesome x3
City Trial was so fun and replayable! I really wish that alone could come back in some way.
My sister and I loved Kirby Air Ride growing up! Loved City Trial and even Free Run mode where you could experiment with every Air Ride Machine. The City was a massive playground to run around and play. Thank you Mr. Sakurai for creating Kirby and Super Smash Bros!!!
Kirby Air Ride was my introduction to video games
I still have my copy today. Great times
Thank You!
Easily one of the most fun Gamecube and multiplayer games of its time. Spent countless hours playing the City Trial mode with friends, on the weekends. Pleasant surprise to see it be discussed, nearly 20 years later.
If there's one thing I'm thankful to Kirby Air Ride, it's the City Trial mode. It laid the groundwork for what would eventually become my favorite Smash 3DS mode, Smash Run. Sadly, due to the infinite loading glitch, my play sessions are often cut short at the final battle. I hope there's still time for an update to fix this, but I realize time is short at this point.
Never had that infinite loading glitch but I feel for you as a fellow Smash Run enjoyer.
i really grinded smash run and loaded my custom characters onto my university's wii u, the smash group were really surprised with them, guess they play it much. man it was such a fun mode
oh dude, smash run is FUN to play when you want short bursts of play! making character setups for smash run specifically, making all players random and failing then making a setup that evens their setbacks...only 8 of my characters have not done a smash run.
I wonder if the data transfer between 3DS systems had something to do with the infinite loading showing up. The transfer failed far into the process once, so I wonder if there's any chance of data corruption being the issue.
Kirby Air Ride is one of my favorite GameCube games EASILY! Loved this video!!
Thank You again Sakurai-san for such a wonderfully fun game concept that is City Trial along with the other underestimated modes
This was my first Kirby game growing up! Definitely a strange place to start, but it still does a great job evoking the same charm of the mainline games.
I absolutely loved this game as a kid, I remember playing it as a 6 year old and wanting to explore every scenario and complete every achievement. City Trial was my absolute favourite!
Thank you for making Kirby Sakurai! I love the little pink guy so much!
I love this game, it's intuitive, simple, unique and fun, it was my little sister's favorite video game, we were obsessed with completing all the checklist in the city trial. I remember having many days playing with her during our childhood seeing her smile and having fun. We played again after many years with our little brother (6yo) and we enjoyed it so much, unfortunately my sister passed away a year ago, I miss her so much, but this game brings me back to my dear sister. I just have to say thank you to the entire developer team for creating such a lovely and fun game and giving me the chance to make beautiful memories.
YES!!! Sakurai’s video on my favorite game uploaded on my birthday! Thank you!!!!
I love Kirby air ride it's always been one of my favorites!
Thank you for such a great game sakurai!
Ahh, so he hasn't forgotten about Air Ride... We need another Kirby Air Ride! さくらいさん！！🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
of course he didnt dmbass, this entire series is about his works
@@ausgod538 be nice
@@ausgod538 be nice
Thank you Sakurai for the video. Please make a Kirby Air Ride sequel!
I remember seeing this game at a Walmart GameCube display, and I hung around to play it while my parents did their Christmas shopping. I’d never heard of the game before, but I was glued to that spot. Eventually they had to pull me away from the display, and I ended up getting the game for Christmas that year.
Good times.
the checklist grid is so underrated and overlooked, it's so satisfying to unlock a challenge and be able to see the requirements for the cardinally adjacent boxes
Kirby Air Ride is one of the best games I ever played. I'm still playing it sometimes and it always puts a smile on my face. I actually would like to hear Sakurai talk about the anime a bit as well. I'm curious why they opted Kirby to say "Poyo" in the anime when he hardly ever says it in the games. I know, the anime is supposed to be non-canon but this is actually a point I always wondered about.
I would love to hear more about the anime! I was completely obsessed with that show growing up
This was one of my favorite games growing up. I’ve been hoping for a sequel for 20 years.
Kirby is my favorite series and i think air ride deserved better. i hope to see more Kirby spinoffs like this in the future! the idea of a Kirby star racing game is epic!
The Checklist unlock sound is permanently burned into my memory
thank you for talking about this game sakurai. this is my favorite game of all time and i love analyzing and researching it. this is such cool information, especially hearing it from you. take care!
This was one of my favorite games when I was younger! How I wish there would be a Kirby Air Ride 2…!
Thank you for the video!
My love for this game has resurged recently when i got introduced to the conpetitive scene for Air Ride
One of my all-time favorite games! It's still a refreshing experience graphically and gameplay-wise two decades later.
I’m so glad to read these comments and find so much love for Kirby Air Ride. This was one of my favorites on GameCube, but if you were around when it released you’ll remember it was not received well *at all* when it launched. The simple joy of this game flew over most people’s heads at a time when GTA3 was trending the industry towards games with mature themes and massive amounts of content.
Kirby's Air Ride is one of the standout racing game experiences I had in life and I could feel it's inspiration as a player. I had many hours of fun with the game and introduced it to many friends. Thank you and the Dec team for such a fun experience.
City Trial is one of the most addicting game modes ever, even to this day! I'm always up for a round!
how is everything this man makes solid gold
I absolutely love these stories of video game development from Sakurai. I could listen to him tell these stories every day. Thank you, Mr. Sakurai!
I had no idea Sakurai had a hand in the anime but that explains why I loved it so much growing up! Kirby Air Ride is still one of my all time favorite games and I hope we get to see City Trial return in some form again one day!
I have a lot of nostalgia towards this game and the Kirby anime. I’m glad you get to talk about some behind the scenes while making both at once.
This is one of my most beloved games of all time, and one of the few gamecube games that I still play to this day. It was great learning about it's development and what was behind the game. I hope we get to see a sequel one day.
I had no idea that Air Ride was your personal baby! Truly, I am thankful that you and your team were skilled enough to create this.
This is my favorite video on this channel so far. This one felt so much like a story, can't wait for more!
It’s nice to see him talk about his hungry pink son. Especially one of his most well known games
This game has always been so special. Made an effort to repurchase a physical copy after many years just to make sure I had it in my collection! I remember seeing this game in a cabinet at the dentist’s office, of all places, growing up, and ever since then it really stuck with me.
I don't have anything to contribute really i just have to say over my hundreds of subs after over 10 years on youtube this is lowkey my favorite channel out of all them. Keep up the good work!
God I love this game. Easily one of my favorites of all time. I’d die to see another air ride.
I'd love to see Sakurai make an episode on the Kirby anime. Sure, it's not a game; but I'm really curious about his involvment in a different medium.
thatd be a fun grab bag
This game shaped a portion of my childhood, and it's really interesting to get some behind the scenes.
Thank you for creating such a wonderful part of my childhood :))
Please be in charge of Kirby Air Ride 2 if there ever were to be a sequel. ❤ The game just wouldn't be the same without your involvement and there's so much potential.
Thanks a lot Mister Sakurai for making my childhood so great with this title and the anime🙏
This was my first Kirby game, I had so much good memories playing solo & with my friends doing the city trial mode over and over again, desperately trying to get the dragoon and hydra pieces.
The anime is probably one of the first I've ever watched as a kid, and that picked my interest into the japanese culture.
Only 52 episodes were dubbed in my country, and I remember seeking for the other ones on RUclips, in japanese and english without understanding any words.
Thanks for the video, the trivias and everything.
Much love and greetings from France 🇫🇷
Kirby Air Ride was one of my favorite games when I was a kid. The amount of variety that is in the game is one of its major points between the different game modes, vehicles and once you unlock them even the Kirby colors. I remember unlocking the white Kirby as a kid with no idea how I actually did it but it was the only color I used afterward because it still felt like I earned it. I really love the idea of trying customizable choices to in game acivements (amazing mirror did this too I think) because once you have it unlocked it really drives home that its yours and it makes it special. Thanks for the amazing games.
Yesss! Been waiting for this one. Air Ride is an overlooked gem with a perfect formula that I can't believe has never been tried again. A roguelike collectathon racing game is simply brilliant. I cannot believe the final iteration was created in 3.5 months!!
I’m happy you’re talking about one of my childhood staple games on its 20th anniversary! Hoping for a sequel or remaster one day soon
it's been 20 years... please... I NEED KIRBY AIR RIDE 😭
My friends and I easily put triple digit hours into this game. It's so good and we love it a lot. Thank you for all of your work on it
I'm so excited to watch this video! Thanks Sakurai!
Kirby Air Ride is one of my favorite Gamecube games, even nearly 20 years later, mostly thanks to City Trial.
I appreciate you bringing up the cancelled Gamecube game, by the way. That has always been such a mystery to Kirby fans, myself included.
Can't wait till the Meteos video! I was hooked on that game as a kid, and nobody could beat me at it haha, mostly because I used to exploit speeding up the blocks falling. Also the music and characters, and the fact it had a campaign mode, all made the game that much better. Underrated!
amazing as always, sakurai! thanks for the insight!
I've never played Air Ride, but it looks like an excellent racing game and its OST is incredible. Also, I never expected to hear him mention the Kirby anime and the canceled GCN title. These videos are great to watch.
Loved this episode, lots of interesting stuff!
Thanks for talking about one of my favorite games of all time! I still play it regularly, and it's the reason my gamecube is the only non-current gen system stays hooked up :D
I love learning about the behind-the-scenes of these classic Kirby games
City Trial Was a Personal favorite of mine It's pretty crazy how you manage to do all this work (or at least the ones you get involved in within 4 months) but you persevered and championed the day
Safe to say you did something pretty special with the limited time available to you thanks for introducing this info to us.
Air Ride really feels like Mr. Sakurai put everything he had into it and it shows to this day.
Kirby Air Ride is the most important game to me. It is timeless. City Trial is my favorite mode, you truly outdid yourself Mr. Sakurai. I am impressed that you turned the game around in 3.5 months, even with the art assets finished. Please, I hope someday we may see a port of Kirby Air Ride. Or... a remaster.. (laugh) Thank you, Mr. Sakurai.
Sakurai-san, thanks to you and your team for Kirby Air Ride. It brought a lot of joy to my friends and I, and the City Trial mode is still one of a kind!
I can't wait for the discussion on Meteos, that was a fantastic game!
Despite some of its flaws, Kirby Air Ride still remains one of my all time favorite games off the GameCube, which is ironic because the gamecube just so happens to be my all time favorite Nintendo console and my older siblings still have a blast playing it to this day. Magnificent job Sakurai sensei.
Yes, I cannot wait for the Meteos video. It’s such an underrated game.
I had to comment on this just to say this: Every once in a while, I get a craving for this game, I'll play nothing but it for roughly a month at a time, and _nothing else_ will do. This was the best non-traditional racing/non-Mario Kart-style racing game I've ever played.
A very lovely video.
I'm sure this is one game that people wouldn't mind a port of!
very important and smart tips on this video, one of the best from this channel, thanks
If Kirby Air Ride was done in 3.5 months, a Kirby Air Ride 2 should be doable within a year lol
God... I still have my original copy of Air Ride. It's... strange. The game came out the same year my dad's dad died. And often I wonder if that has something to do with how my copy feels to me sometimes.
I haven't played it in a while, but that's happened before. Sometimes, when I return to the game after such windows of time, it almost feels like it... expresses itself to me somehow. Like sometimes it'll excitedly greet me back with good RNG, or give me bad RNG as if it were mad at me for not playing in so long. Sometimes I'll audibly sat I looking for something like Top Speed or Turn, and I'll immediately find it. I bet I could even think up a plausible and possible game of City Trial in my head.
Make of all that what you will; it's weird. It's not even all the weird. There's still more weird.
Like how I'm... like how I...
I'm genuinely scared of the Flying Meteors event. Every time it came used to be an instant pause and end game for me, no matter how good the round was going. I.. I think I would... cry. Not long ago I had found/listened to a video that played the entire soundtrack, but... to this day I couldn't listen to that event's theme song without experiencing... I don't even know what, fear? Panic? I had to skip it.
Air Ride is very likely my first Kirby game, up there with Epic Yarn and Mass Attack as what I call my "Kirby Nostalgia Trio". And don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly love all three of them. Last night, I kept my DS charging as I listened to Mass Attack's _Fly Far Far Away_ on loop until my morning alarm rang. That along with Necro Nebula are really good songs to sleep to. Bit this is a video about Air Ride, so....
I might as well talk about the three songs they share.
Sky Sands has got to be my favorite of the three. I briefly ascended higher than I already was when I heard it near the end of this video. And the course itself is... sad. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who noticed this or not, but the course is a dead, dried-up ocean, baked to vaporization by the many bright suns in the sky. I mean, hell, the starting/finishing line is just straight-up a massive leviathan skeleton. After a couple turns, you come across the last remaining pool of water, split in half by a thin strip of sand and practically surrounded with pale coral. A turn later and you're in some kind of ancient building with more of what look like sea-shelves, into which piles of sand pour from various ceiling holes. Immediately outside this is... a crab. That functions as a moving ramp. And immediately after _that_ are... statues of the Sun and Moon? Well, I suppose that could be a nod to the tides, but the important part here is that the path to the moon statue (and more obviously the tight moving S-turn) is lined with large rotating seashells, of which only the tops are visible.
A few turns and an optional secret passage later, the stretch before the vertical section is walled by.... petrified waves. Don't ask me how that happened. But what takes you up the vertical section are two more spinning seashells, and then the turn immediately after _that_ is filled with breakable dead trees of coral.
Of course, finally is the Last stretch before the finish line with the falling walls, but still. Almost every turn you take is practically filled with evidence that the course used to be an ocean. It's... sad. And perhaps serene? Sky Sands is really the only course I've inspected on such a close and thorough way.
Frozen Hillside is, well, slightly different. My nostalgic association with it lies less in Air Ride and more in Smash Brawl and Mass Attack (as Icy Realm). In Brawl, I once tried to build a stage based around the name "frozen hillside", and used that track for it. For some reason I had left a narrow space open at the bottom of the hill for spikes. Idk why, even as I tried to recreate the stage in Ultimate replacing the spikes with lava.
In Mass Attack, however...
Icy Realm is a beautiful remix of the song, don't get me wrong, and I enjoy it as much as I do most other songs. But the stage it plays in? Ohhhh boy.
I avoid it.
I also avoid...
- the rising quicksand stage in Sandy Canyon
- the rising lava stage in Volcano Valley
- the rolling angry stump stage in Green Grounds
- the angry massive serpent fish in Dedede Resort
- The Skull Tower
- The Birdee tree
- The gulpy ghost/shadowbite
*-and this freakin' ice dino.*
...As well as Epic Yarn's rising lava or collapsing ceiling on Lava Landing or Cozy Cabin respectively
And the rising energy in Sonic Heroes' Power Plant.
And the beetle robots in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle's Egg Quarters.
And the final stretches of both that game's Final Rush and Cosmic Wall.
_-Ig I just never liked undamagable instakill moving hazards ok--_
Anyway-
Magma Flows.... exists, I guess. I have the least association with it. It's course is absolutely overflowing with my favorite colors, red and black, and I like the lava dragons and the dragon statue thingy. I like aiming for it. That's... kind of it, I think. I like going the higher route right before the dragon lava pool, and I like reaching that little floating bit of rock. I guess those are things to say about it
Anyway I've rambled long enough I think and while I do definitely have plenty more to say, my type speed is lagging like crazy and this comment is already long and weird as it is. So thank you, Sakurai, for seeing to it that this wonderful, unique, impactful, cute racing platform has been brought to the likes of me and countless others who've enjoyed it as much as I have or more. Peace.
Kirby Airide was the very first game I ever played, and even to this day it remains one of my favorite games of all time. Thank you Sakurai for creating this masterpiece
Kirby Air Ride was one of my favorites as a kid. My brothers and I spent hours playing City Trial and trying to collect all of the achievements on the checklists. I think that’s why I strive to 100% the games I play
"BABE, BUST OUT THE POPCORN- THE AIR RIDE VIDEO IS OUT!!!!!!"