Kirby Air Riders is nearly here: it's set to release exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 on November 20. Directed by Smash Bros. head Masahiro Sakurai, Kirby Air Riders is a racing game featuring characters from the world of Kirby. It offers battle arenas for vehicular combat, as well as standard tracks for racing. Kirby Air Riders is available for preorder now (see it at Amazon). And in case you're wondering if it's any good, check out our 8/10 Kirby Air Riders review for full details.
Kirby Air Riders
- Get it at Amazon - $69.99
- Get it at Best Buy - $69.99
- Get it at GameStop - $69.99
- Get it at Target - $69.99
- Get it at Nintendo eShop (Digital) - $69.99
There aren't any special or collector's editions for Kirby Air Riders, so the standard edition is your only choice. I, for one, find that sort of refreshing in a world where many games charge an extra $20 to play a few days early, which just seems distasteful to me.
We'll add more retailers as the listings go up, but for more immediate info as it live at other retailers, be sure to follow IGN Deals on X and Bluesky.
Kirby Air Riders amiibo
In addition to the game, a pair of Kirby Air Riders amiibo is also launching November 20. You can get Kirby and his Warp Star vehicle and Bandana Waddle Dee and his Winged Star vehicle. Scan them into the game to create a Figure Player that you can race in the game. You can even swap vehicles if you have both of them, and create new in-game FPs. Nintendo has said these two Kirby Air Riders amiibo are just the beginning, and more will release in the future.
Is the Game on the Cartridge?
If you buy a physical copy of Kirby Air Riders, you can rest assured that, yes, the full game will be contained on the cartridge itself.
This isn’t always the case with physical Switch 2 releases. Some boxes just come with a code to download the game. Others come with game-key cards, which don’t contain the game itself, but let you download it and are required to be in the system in order to play it. Finally, there are full game carts that come with the game on them. Kirby Air Riders is the latter, as are all first-party Nintendo games released so far.
What Is Kirby Air Riders?
Kirby Air Riders is a sequel to a GameCube game called Kirby Air Ride (note the lack of "ers" at the end) that came out in 2003. While the original game’s roster was mostly different versions of Kirby, this sequel lets you play as a number of other characters as well, including King Dedede, Meta Knight, Chef Kawasaki, and Bandana Waddle Dee. All of these characters will have Kirby’s patented copy ability, which lets them absorb and use the powers of their enemies.
And where the original game featured a single button to press during gameplay, this Switch 2 sequel has added a second button. The B button lets you boost, while the Y button lets you use special abilities. For more info, check out our coverage of everything announced at the Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct.
From our Kirby Air Riders review: "Kirby Air Riders is totally bizarre, and I love it for that. This unexpected sequel to a niche, single-button GameCube racer makes a significant leap forward. In fact, the improvement from Air Ride on GameCube to Air Riders on Switch 2 is so huge, it feels like jumping straight from Smash 64 to Ultimate with no sequels in between. It has an enormous amount of varied content, meaningful unlockables, in-depth customization, and an unrivaled attention to detail that make it hard to imagine a better realization of this formula."
More Preorder Guides
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
