Gaming Target - GameCube: Kirby's Air Ride

Written by D'Marcus Beatty on August 20, 2003

First Impressions: Somewhere between Mario Kart and Twisted MetalЕ

Kirby, Nintendo's little amorous jelly-ball with the voracious appetite, is back in another adventure. This time, however, instead of running around and eating his enemies, he's racing around tracksЕ eating his enemies.

Kirby's Air Ride, originally a N64 title, is now making its way to the Gamecube, giving Kirby the chance to take his enemy absorption powers to the races. Vehicles aren't the typical sort, consisting of things like stars, motorcycle wheels, jet birds, and other unconventional means of locomotion. As stated before, Kirby's trademark enemy eating is still present, giving him the ability to suck up foes and take their abilities.

Kirby's Air Ride is going to have three modes. The first mode, Air Ride, will be the standard third person racing. Players will choose a vehicle and then race against computer-controlled opponents. Top down will be just as the name implies, a top down view racing mode. The multiplayer mode will be a collection of racing games that will support up to four players, and up to eight players if you and your friends are willing and able to use LAN connectivity. Actually, this game will be the first to take advantage of LAN connectivity.

Controls for Kirby's Air Ride will be as simple as Kirby's appearance. A button will have a triple function, serving to trigger Kirby's sucking ability, to slow down your vehicle when approaching turns, and to charge up your speed burst. This may seem confusing, but the game will be able to distinguish between functions by taking into account the speed and length of your button presses. A simple pressing up of the control stick will control acceleration. The control stick also serves another purpose by adjusting your pitch when your character is either launched off of a cliff or is speeding off of an accelerator pad.

The enemies that Kirby can УborrowФ powers from will be marked by bubbles floating near them, giving our heroic puffball a chance to choose the most profitable Уmeals.Ф Some of the abilities that Kirby will take advantage of include spikes, fire, electricity, even Link's sword, which will swing automatically when Kirby gets close to enemies. All of the powers will be limited in their use, however, and will disappear after a preset duration of time or a certain number of uses.