Kirby Air Riders - Jan 6 26

Описание: We recently had a collaboration between Kirby and Kura Sushi—I attempted to get the three-cup set, but they ran out on the very first day, though I got a little acrylic stand depicting Kirby and a Waddle Dee carrying sushi (tuna for Kirby, salmon for Waddle Dee). Kind of bugs me that it only features Kirby and Waddle Dee though, not even King Dedede or Meta Knight. Meta Knight I could see as not fitting the Kura brand image too much, as he isn’t quite as associated with food or the youngest Kirby audiences, though King Dedede is. Of the main characters in the Kirby series, Dedede has always been my favorite.

With Kirby rescuing Waddle Dees in Kirby and the Forgotten Land though, and Kirby hanging out with a Waddle Dee as a friend in the Kura Sushi merchandise, is Waddle Dee still considered an enemy?

00:00 - Match #1
Air Ride
Course: Airtopia Ruins
Character: Meta Knight
Machine: Wagon Star
Meta Knight in this game (whose omission would be really jarring) would likely count out Galacta Knight and Morpho Knight, as they follow Meta Knight’s design template despite being separate characters. He is a pretty convenient character to use as he automatically attacks anyone who comes near, and I feel the same way about other auto-attacking characters like King Dedede. It does become less practical if people spread out as a race goes on though, like this one.

02:58 - Match #2
Air Ride
Course: Magma Flows
Character: Lololo & Lalala
Machine: Rex Wheelie
Shows how much I know about the Kirby series that I didn’t realize Lololo and Lalala were boss characters until after this game came out, though I know about the original game on the NES that they’re based on, also about pushing cubes. As for this race, I think I’m starting to make more sense of this course, though what to do on a bike in the lava pool section still eludes me.

05:33 - Match #3
Air Ride
Course: Floria Fields
Character: Waddle Dee
Machine: Battle Chariot
My apologies for the bit skipped on the opening countdown—I accidentally ended the recording there and restarted it. Random wants me to get used to the Battle Chariot, whether I want to or not, though there are much more complicated vehicles to learn. Floria Fields is the shortest, simplest course in the game, and with so little standing in the way of the racers, less than 2 seconds separate 1st place from last place. This was crazy!

07:44 - Match #4
Air Ride
Course: Steamgust Forge
Character: Waddle Doo
Machine: Vampire Star
The Vampire Star’s nature of having bad stats but improving dramatically for a second each time you attack an enemy or an opponent means you need to keep reasonably close to the pack, with a pattern of overtaking and falling behind. Though I tend not to do that well with this machine, I appreciate how a racer coming up from behind can also get attacked, as with Ashley (Meta Knight) at the end of the first lap.

10:04 - Match #5
Air Ride
Course: Celestial Valley
Character: Gooey
Machine: Warp Star
I don’t think I’ve put up a race in Celestial Valley until now…and I think it is also the last Air Ride course for me to put up, so after this one, I’ll have shown all of them. This time, I was able to avoid falling off in the bridge area before the mines. I don’t know why, but I tend to fall off there, especially if I’m not using a Star type machine.

13:52 - Match #6
Top Ride
Course: Cave
Character: Susie
Machine: Formula Star
Getting the Steel Ball powerup at the beginning feels so unfair…also, that wall that comes down can be cursed sometimes. I thought it goes down if you touch it, but it didn’t happen on the second and third laps for me here.

15:37 - Match #7
Top Ride
Course: Cyber
Character: Gooey
Machine: Paper Star
The Paper Star can fly far and long…which means its greatest asset is of no use on a racetrack like Cyber, which has no air time. It also corners very well, meaning I accidentally oversteered on a turn and lost a lot of time. It has been happening to me more often on this mode lately…

17:12 - Match #8
Top Ride
Course: Flower
Character: King Dedede
Machine: Vampire Star
In turn, I think this is the last Top Ride course to show, which is the simplest, easiest one. Races get very intense here for the same reason they do in Floria Fields! There are also some pretty strong powerups here, such as a guaranteed Steel Ball one, though I haven’t completely memorized where they are and on which laps.

18:21 - Match #9
Top Ride
Course: Air
Character: Rocky
Machine: Transform Star
I need to practice on avoiding that whirlwind before the rails. It causes you to lose time, doesn’t it? It always gets me when it’s on the outer edge of the turn.