Kirby Air Riders - Nov 29 25 B

Описание: I actually didn’t know how to change modes in online matches from the menu, so the Air Ride and Top Ride races were different sessions, though one immediately after the other. This is why there are no City Trial matches in this session, though the next Kirby Air Riders video I have planned will focus exclusively on City Trial. More on that mode later, but suffice to say that if Sonic Racing CrossWorlds diverges from Mario Kart World in certain ways, then Kirby Air Riders diverges in the opposite direction.

00:03 - Match #1
Air Ride
Course: Galactic Nova
Character: King Dedede
Machine: Hop Star
The gimmick with the Hop Star is that it takes a short leap into the air with each time you do a Quick Spin, a melee-range attack all characters can use without slowing down or having a Copy Ability. It can be usd to jump over short obstacles or evade attacks, though I didn’t use it much for this one because I’m not good enough to know when hopping would be useful nor do so instinctively.

02:47 - Match #2
Air Ride
Course: Magma Flows
Character: Susie
Machine: Wheelie Bike
Magma Flows is the fifth course in the original Kirby Air Ride, and I am HORRENDOUS at it. I don’t know why, but I’m usually trailing far behind while other people seem able to navigate it without a problem. The computer players also smoke me on the default difficulty. Though it seemed someone here struggled even more.

05:14 - Match #3
Air Ride
Course: Checker Knights
Character: Meta Knight
Machine: Wagon Star
This is the eighth course fin the original Kirby Air Ride, and it is widely considered the hardest one in the game, full of sharp turns and ways to slow you down, set on a surreal place even by Kirby standards as a stylized castle floating above a lake, with an underwater portion showing a city with rainbow shimmers. The course slightly differs between its first and second laps, which threw me off both times as the tutorial run through Checker Knights uses its second lap configuration. Like many other courses in the sub-series, the music here is fully orchestrated and remains, to me, one of the highlights of the Gamecube library.

08:27 - Match #4
Air Ride
Course: Steamgust Forge
Character: Daroach
Machine: Paper Star
Planet Popstar apparently has a steampunk area—were there any steampunk courses in the Mario Kart series? In any case, I don’t kow if it was an inherent trait of the Paper Star or I was aiming too high, but I went from 2nd to 5th in the last portion of the second lap with the airships. I don’t know the course too well though.

12:02 - Match #5
Air Ride
Course: Machine Passage
Character: Rick
Machine: Jet Star
This is the seventh course in the original Kirby Air Riders and is set within a factory and its corridors. I am also terrible at this course, but not as bad as Magma Flows. The vehicle this time is the Jet Star, which gets faster as it takes off from ramps and remains in midair. There are probably many such opportunities to go airborne in Machine Massage, but I’m not good enough to identify them. I do like the use of the didgeridoo in the music though.

14:20 - Match #6
Air Ride
Course: Mount Amberfalls
Character: Kirby
Machine: Transform Star
One of the last courses in Kirby Air Riders (the last one by default, second-last once you unlock Galactic Nova), this takes place as a single lap down a mountain, full of switchback roads. Kind of reminds me of Snowboard Kids. This IS a stage that I know decently well thanks to struggling with some challenges on it in the Road Trip mode,

16:40 - Match #7
Top Ride
Course: Nova
Character: Lololo & Lalala
Machine: Winged Star
This is the Top Ride course that pertains to Galactic Nova, and it features the crystal heart found towards the end, which gives a big speed boost. I missed it in the second lap, but I remembered it and hit both it and the Dash Pad at the end of the second lap, which was the edge I needed.

17:59 - Match #8
Top Ride
Course: Flow
Character: Daroach
Machine: Formula Star
The tide goes in and out on this course, moving things around. The Formula Star relies on using Boost Dashes to slingshot around and has an incredibly high top speed when done so, but it will lose momentum quickly and stop if you don’t keep doing them. It worked very well here…until I lost control.

19:27 - Match #9
Top Ride
Course: Cave
Character: Chef Kawasaki
Machine: Jet Star
The racers kind of spread apart over this race, and our ranks were more or less set in stone (no pun intended considering this course is in a cave). However, I wanted to stick around to see everyone finish. You can see the progress on the top middle on the results screen.