Kirby Air Riders - Review Thread

CentralScrutinizer said:
Unfortunately I think Metroid Prime 4 won't be as good as the original trilogy and Nintendo is pushing it out in december to get it out. Seems like the game is only seeing the light of day to make good on a promise because the backlash of cancelling it would be too large. I am excited to play it and I will buy it day one; however, I am being realistic. The writing is on the wall regarding the qualit of that game. I will gladly eat crow if it reviews high.
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I understand they delayed it up until the last possible spot without having to announce a delay... but come on. Metroid is going to have a higher metacritic score than this and it's going to sell much more consoles than this. Nobody was clamoring for the turd that is kirby air ride to get polished, but people eagerly waithed 8 years for this game.

Deserved more from their own publisher.
 
Hyet said:
Nintendo devoted literal hours of multiple Directs for a game in the 7s while Prime 4 rots in the sidelines with anemic promotion and conflicting hands on previews

This people.
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How much do you want to see of a game before actually playing it?? I swear some of you want a 12 hour playthrough of the game, this game needed explaining and the directs was just Sakurai sitting there playing it, I swear people like you are so weird about this thing.
 
Topher said:
Is it just me or is Metro more often than not the review that comes in with a shockingly low score?
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Click baiting losers.

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NeoIkaruGAF said:
Every glowing review: This is so much better than Mario Kart!

Also, look at all those review outlets not wanting to go against the Mario Kart dogpiling bandwagon.
Meanwhile, watch KAR sell 1/250th of MKW and people screaming injustice.
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I really want to get this game, and I KNOW it has insane content..but I think something about that $70 is turning me off a bit (which is crazy because it's the most content packed game on Switch 2).

I think if this were priced at $60 it would be flying off shelves
 
This is the biggest waste of Nintendo resources and Sakurais time.

Get this crap out of his system then get him back into the dungeon to make a new smash game.

No one gives a flying fuck about Kirby bro.
 
Arsic said:
This is the biggest waste of Nintendo resources and Sakurais time.

Get this crap out of his system then get him back into the dungeon to make a new smash game.

No one gives a flying fuck about Kirby bro.
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Making this game was a Sakurai idea… Also…
jmzbl25rX8R6nRRM.jpeg
 
Seems to be scoring pretty much exactly in line with expectations.

I thought I'd like it, but the demo showed me that I'm not built for the kind of chaos this series offer anymore.

Very cool to see a sequel to such a niche title 20+ years later though.
 
Seems like Gaf is so oblivious to anything not AAA or ultra-popular AA and indie. I'm surprised we even got a thread for this game. I would never expect it to understand a game like this. So apparent when I consistently see comparisons to MK.
 
Loved the first game and can't wait to play this tomorrow. Never understood the poor reviews but I'm glad to see this one is reviewing well.
 
LordOcidax said:
Making this game was a Sakurai idea… Also…
jmzbl25rX8R6nRRM.jpeg
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That's my post is inferring to. Nintendo owed him a "passion project" title so he would be refreshed to want to do a new smash title. Creatively I'm sure he doesn't want to feel like all I do is smash games but let's be real 99.99% of people would rather have a new smash game over this. Myself included.

The demo was massively underwhelming but some folks are just desperate for software to play on their new switch 2. Can't blame them.
 
ShadyAcshuns said:
Seems like Gaf is so oblivious to anything not AAA or ultra-popular AA and indie. I'm surprised we even got a thread for this game. I would never expect it to understand a game like this. So apparent when I consistently see comparisons to MK.
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Thing is: if GAF, a enthusiast community hardly cares for this the mainstream is not gonna save it.

This game looks like a simple concept with an approachable brand behind it but it's weird and confusing in every way possible. This is not gona take off in any way in the global market.
 
Hyet said:
Thing is: if GAF, a enthusiast community hardly cares for this the mainstream is not gonna save it.

This game looks like a simple concept with an approachable brand behind it but it's weird and confusing in every way possible. This is not gona take off in any way in the global market.
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That's a very myopic take. Surely you are aware that GAF is a bubble?
 
ShadyAcshuns said:
Seems like Gaf is so oblivious to anything not AAA or ultra-popular AA and indie. I'm surprised we even got a thread for this game. I would never expect it to understand a game like this. So apparent when I consistently see comparisons to MK.
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There was one of those Directs where Sakurai recalled questioning the merit of making this game. Nintendo asked if he'd like to do a Switch 2 sequel to that (shitty old) Kirby racing game (that nobody really liked), and he said are you sure that's a good idea, you're already launching with Mario Kart?
 
I like the effort having been put into this Kirby-game based on what I saw in the two Nintendo directs. Plus it is nice to get some fresh new games from Nintendo as we enter the end of november and beginning of december, with Kirby and Metroid. I am ready for both.
 
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Arsic said:
That's my post is inferring to. Nintendo owed him a "passion project" title so he would be refreshed to want to do a new smash title. Creatively I'm sure he doesn't want to feel like all I do is smash games but let's be real 99.99% of people would rather have a new smash game over this. Myself included.

The demo was massively underwhelming but some folks are just desperate for software to play on their new switch 2. Can't blame them.
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Smash 100% is going to happen eventually on Switch 2. This game is not for me neither, but looks like a lot of people are loving this game too… Is good to see when Nintendo support this kind of project.
 
It stands head and shoulders above World eh? That's kinda crazy, sure it's the opinion of just a few reviewers but still.
 
ShadyAcshuns said:
That's a very myopic take. Surely you are aware that GAF is a bubble?
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Regardless of this, you honestly think you can show a casual gamer or a parent 30 seconds of Kirby Air Riders and they'll be able to tell you what the game's about and why it could be fun? They can't do TV ads for this game. There is no way it reaches the mass market.

They needed a movie runtime worth of directs to explain it.
And that's for the kind of people that tune in to nintendo directs.

It could have a 100 metascore and it still would stuggle to do good sales.
 
Hyet said:
Regardless of this, you honestly think you can show a casual gamer or a parent 30 seconds of Kirby Air Riders and they'll be able to tell you what the game's about and why it could be fun? They can't do TV ads for this game. There is no way it reaches the mass market.

They needed a movie runtime worth of directs to explain it.
And that's for the kind of people that tune in to nintendo directs.

It could have a 100 metascore and it still would stuggle to do good sales.
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The game is the best selling Switch 2 on Amazon US and Eshop right now… Also the game is trending on tiktok right now with a positive reception which is more important than any tv ads… Like i said before, not my type of game, don't be surprised if end up selling more than Prime 4…
 
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Stafford said:
It stands head and shoulders above World eh? That's kinda crazy, sure it's the opinion of just a few reviewers but still.
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They're pretty different games despite technically being in the same genre. It's almost like comparing Street Fighter to Smash Bros, or Gears of War to Splatoon.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
The Cuphead of Kirby games, at least to some of these review outlets.
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Sakurai-led Kirby games honestly have plenty of good challenge, often in optional things. He just hasn't been in charge of one since 2003's Air Ride, which is kind of crazy.
 
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Rran said:
They're pretty different games despite technically being in the same genre. It's almost like comparing Street Fighter to Smash Bros, or Gears of War to Splatoon.

Sakurai-led Kirby games honestly have plenty of good challenge, often in optional things. He just hasn't been in charge of one since 2003's Air Ride, which is kind of crazy.
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That is a really good example.
 
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Hyet said:
Regardless of this, you honestly think you can show a casual gamer or a parent 30 seconds of Kirby Air Riders and they'll be able to tell you what the game's about and why it could be fun? They can't do TV ads for this game. There is no way it reaches the mass market.

They needed a movie runtime worth of directs to explain it.
And that's for the kind of people that tune in to nintendo directs.

It could have a 100 metascore and it still would stuggle to do good sales.
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And that's fine. It'll likely outsell a game like Ghost of Yotei, and according to Gaf that's just fine. It'll do fine with its target audience.
calistan said:
There was one of those Directs where Sakurai recalled questioning the merit of making this game. Nintendo asked if he'd like to do a Switch 2 sequel to that (shitty old) Kirby racing game (that nobody really liked), and he said are you sure that's a good idea, you're already launching with Mario Kart?
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Not sure what you are trying to say here.
 
Game's not for me, but it seems like the type of experience that a handful of people are gonna absolutely love. Otherwise, feels kinda like an average racing game.

I personally wish Sakurai hadn't spent his time on this, but maybe it's the refresh he needed before he sinks the next 4 years into Smash.

Hear that, Sakurai?
Get To Work GIF by Kanpai Pandas
 
It always felt like this series should have been an arcade game with a cool but weird control device.

Put it right next to that Mario Kart machine.
 
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ShadyAcshuns said:
And that's fine. It'll likely outsell a game like Ghost of Yotei, and according to Gaf that's just fine. It'll do fine with its target audience.
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Thing is the target audience is who liked Kirby Air ride on GC.

That's not much.

Even if we account for the market expansion since then, NS2 hasn't outsold de GC yet.

And deb costs much more now on top of that.

Bad business
 
Hyet said:
Thing is the target audience is who liked Kirby Air ride on GC.

That's not much.

Even if we account for the market expansion since then, NS2 hasn't outsold de GC yet.

And deb costs much more now on top of that.

Bad business
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Do you think that AirRiders is going to fail in terms of sales?
 
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LordOcidax said:
Do you think that AirRiders is going to fail in terms of sales?
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I don't know what constitutes a failture in terms of sales, don't know Nintendo's goals

It will surely be a sucess in Japan but It will fall off the top 15 best sellers in América and Europe before the calendar year ends

And It will stay there.
 
Arsic said:
This is the biggest waste of Nintendo resources and Sakurais time.

Get this crap out of his system then get him back into the dungeon to make a new smash game.

No one gives a flying fuck about Kirby bro.
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It's a sabbatical in between Smash's.
 
Hyet said:
I don't know what constitutes a failture in terms of sales, don't know Nintendo's goals

It will surely be a sucess in Japan but It will fall off the top 15 best sellers in América and Europe before the calendar year ends

And It will stay there.
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That's an unclear take, but i think the game is going to surpass 4M in the future and thats not a "struggle" by any metric.
 
Hyet said:
Thing is the target audience is who liked Kirby Air ride on GC.

That's not much.

Even if we account for the market expansion since then, NS2 hasn't outsold de GC yet.

And deb costs much more now on top of that.

Bad business
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I remember when people said Animal Crossing New Horizons wouldn't sell, and that it "only appeals to girls" nonsense. Not saying I think it'll sell amazingly, but there are a lot of Sakurai fans out there (I'm not one of them btw).
 
City Trials is a lot of fun. I'm not sure it's $70 of fun, but the network test was enough to make me find out.
 
March Climber said:
It always felt like this series should have been an arcade game with a cool but weird control device.
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You're onto something.

Maybe it should have been gyro only. And designed with that in mind. Fits the airship design at least.

Albeit that's not a weird control these days but at least you wouldn't have to buy another controller. And the game does control uniquely as it with a regular controller.

Otherwise trackball? Bongos? Bongos could then also be used with some NSO GC releases. ...?
 
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