WhenNintendoannounced a 45-minute Nintendo Direct solely for Kirby Air Riders, people scoffed: how could you talk about this one game for nearly an hour?
As someone who played the original Kirby Air Ride, one of the mostunderrated games the GameCubesaw, I can argue that 45 minutes isn’t enough.
The original game’s main attraction, Air Ride racers, were a little too simplistic on the GameCube, though they appear to be getting a nice facelift in terms of gameplay for theNintendo Switch 2release. That’s not why we’re here, though. We’re here for City Trial.
On the original Kirby Air Ride,City Trialwas a party mode where four players had a limited time to explore a city, upgrade their vehicle, and prepare for a random mini-game. It was pure chaos as you stopped at nothing to obtain these upgrades, dealing with not only random events taking place in the city, but your opponents as well. Thankfully, it’s back for Kirby Air Riders and looking better than ever.
Kirby Air Riders' Trial Mode Has A New Map, Supports 16 Players, and Features New Mini Games
Much to the pleasure of fans everywhere, notably the Nintendo Direct stream chat, City Trial is back with an all-new map: Skyah, a giant floating island that feels similar to the original City Trial map while offering new secrets to discover.
Up to 16 players can participate in City Trial together, with up to eight able to play on local wireless. You can still add computer-controlled characters to reach the 16-player limit.
Sakurai took the time to announce some new features coming to City Trial, most notably the Short Race and Dustup Derby.
For Short Race, a race track will appear during City Trial, kickstarting a literal short race for those who can enter the starting area on a sectioned-off portion of the map. Those outside of the race will be unable to interfere with them. Once the race completes, you’ll get power-ups based on your finish. Dustup Derby is a demolition derby between participants to battle for fame, fortune, and power-ups.
We were also given a tour of the local areas available in Skyah.
Bosses will appear as well, including Dyna Blade, Kracko, and more. If that wasn’t enough, there are tons of other events occurring, secrets to discover, and more.
We also have a glimpse of some of the Stadiums that await us after theCity Trialis up. Good news: they’re still randomly chosen, though now you can vote between four available Stadiums to participate in. Sometimes, however, City Trial will let you know what themini-gameStadium is. Stadiums only support up to eight players, so if too many people participate in the same one, the game will split them into two groups.
Here’s a quick recap of the Stadiums showcased during today’s Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct:
Kirby Air Riders releases for the Nintendo Switch 2 on November 20th, 2025.
