Kirby Air Riders director Masahiro Sakurai recently commented on the upcoming kart racer’s progress and reflected on the original Kirby Air Ride and the late Satoru Iwata. Many exciting first-party Nintendo games were announced during April’s Switch 2 Direct, including a long-awaited sequel to 2003’s Kirby Air Ride. Kirby Air Riders will launch on the Nintendo Switch 2 at some point in 2025, with Bandai Namco helping Masahiro Sakurai with development as it has done with the Super Smash Bros. series.
Speaking of Super Smash Bros., it is rumored that Nintendo granted Mashiro Sakurai permission to work on Kirby Air Riders as a bargaining chip for eventually developing the next Super Smash Bros. entry for the Switch 2 - which hasn't been announced in any official capacity yet. Kirby Air Riders has reportedly been a passion project for Sakurai after working on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for so long, and he is joining up with original Kirby developer HAL Laboratory for the first time since 2004’s Kirby and the Amazing Mirror for the Game Boy Advance.
Related Kirby Air Riders Developer Confirmed
A recent update from Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai has revealed another developer involved with the highly-anticipated Kirby Air Riders.
PostsMasahiro Sakurai recently took to Twitter to give fans a small update on Kirby Air Riders to celebrate the anniversary of the original Kirby Air Ride on the Nintendo GameCube. He simply says that Kirby Air Riders is “shaping up to be something great,” which isn’t much but is a promising sign for fans of Sakurai’s previous work.
Sakurai Says Kirby Air Riders Is Shaping Up to Be ‘Something Great’
Sakurai also took a moment to reflect on the late Satoru Iwata, the former Nintendo President who passed away from complications from bile duct cancer on July 11, 2015. Before he took his leadership position, Iwata worked as a part-time programmer for HAL Laboratory alongside Sakurai, with some of his work being the early Kirby games. Sakurai notes that he and Iwata were 10 years apart in age, and he will soon be as old as Iwata was when he passed away 10 years ago.
CloseThere still isn’t much information known about Kirby Air Riders at this time, aside from what could be gathered from the game’s initial announcement trailer. Fans have naturally been speculating about how Kirby Air Riders could build on its 2003 GameCube predecessor by adding new playable characters and retaining popular modes like City Trial. Fans might get to see these features in action when Kirby Air Riders launches on the Switch 2 in 2025, which is already shaping up to be a banner year for mascot kart racers thanks to Mario Kart World and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.
