User Reviews
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 Start your Warp Stars- Kirby's Air Ride |  4.0
0 comments |
by  Oceanic Sun
| Nov 6, 2007 |
THE GOOD:
• Interesting and smoothly designed courses
• Multiple character choice
• The ability to absorb enemy powers
• Multiplayer compatibilityTHE BAD:
Unfortunately the game gets somewhat repetitive after a while of game play. Also, there is no exact story unfortunately, but that also leaves you with freedom whilst playing. SUMMARY:
Start your Warp Stars, Kirby is back in a new game, a racing one. With the ability to absorb enemy powers as well as using them against your foes, this is a must buy for fans of the Kirby series, as well as those who enjoy racing titles. There is a large amount of work to do in this game, as well as just relaxing and having fun.
City Trial:
For those of you who just like monkeying around, City Trial will be your best friend. There is also a Free-Run option where you can drive around the city on your favourite Warp Star. You can also unlock other colours of Kirby by completing items of on the City Trial Check List. By doing so, you can unlock Brown, Purple, Green as well as other colours of Kirby for just playing around in Free Run. You can also unlock multiple colours for a Timed Run in City Trial with Events activated. After completing various parts of the City Trial Checklist, you then have the option to use Metaknight or King Dedede whilst in City Trial. After completing certain events, you can use the legendary machines called Dragoon and Hydra.
Racing Mode:
Although it's not specifically noted as that, this title would catch people's eyes more commonly. This is where you will spend most of your time whilst playing the game. Although there is no main story, you can still hone your racing skills whilst driving your favourite Kirby Air Ride machine. Racing against friends or foes, this is a great way to spend your time. You can try beat your best time in Time Trials, or just get a low time to boast to your friends.
Stadium Games:
There is a unique option in this game that enables you to play Stadium Games, or if you prefer the term, Mini Games. You can unlock many of these by completing events in City Trial, as well as getting higher scores on the multiple Stadium Games. Many of these include Destruction Dirby, Drag Racing and Target Flight.
My Opinion:
I personally think this is a great game. People of many ages enjoy playing this game, you also get your money back in fun. This game can also teach you to learn from your mistakes. It may get repetitive at times, but overall it is very good.
Ending Statement:
• Graphics;
Good and clean-cut, these are crystal clear as well as worth looking at. You get a visual pleasure as well as entertainment.
I truly recommend getting this game even if you are not a large Kirby fan. |
| 5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Kirby Rides On |  4.3
0 comments |
by  Insanity Prevails
from , Staffordshire, England | Jul 3, 2007 |
Nintendo's first pink puffball Kirby makes another appearance for the company, this time not as a platformer but in the form of a racing game.
First let's address the presentation presented. Graphically the game is typically colourful and clean. It's all too easy though to perceive this as "simplistic", so anyone looking for blowaway graphics are probably going to be disappointed. It's cheerful rather than awe inspiring.
The sounds suffer a similar program. The effects heard feel a little generic, with simple swishes, bops and booms peppering the gameplay. The soundtracks are nice but don't leave a notable impression.
So, looking from the outside, the impression given is that of "average". However, playing the game gives quite a different impression. So, let's go into that now.
Perhaps the first thing to address here is the control style, which is vital in any game. This game goes the risky route of using just the analogue stick and the A button. While very simple on paper it oddly translates well into practice. Kirby accelerates on his own with steering to the analogue stick. A quick spin attack can be executed with a side to side snap of the stick.
Everything else is assigned to the A button. It is used to charge up the boost gauge of the chosen craft, but this also slows the vehicle down as well. The A button also activates certain track features, such as switches, and also for swallowing enemies and using some of the abilities. This presents a forced choice between maintaining speed or bearing a moment's speed loss in the hope of gaining an edge if it works. A player cannot be reckless or they'll cost themselves a lot.
Now that we've covered the control let's check out the game modes. Kirby's Air Ride delivers 3 game modes, all of which deliver quite different playing experiences.
First of all is Air Ride. This would be considered the "standard" racing mode. You start off with the warpstar as the only selectable vehicle, which is the typical default vehicle - it handles well with no notable advantages or disadvantages. Hitting specific goals in Air Ride (as set in the Checklist) will unlock new vehicles. Some simply boast stat differences, while others present a completely different racing experience. There's nothing quite like the stop-start action of the Swerve Star for example.
The tracks themselves vary, from simple grassy plains to icy mountain tracks. Various features like a ferris wheel, spin panels, grindrails and more litter the tracks. Each track has a vast assortment of enemies, with the rarity decided by track. Each track gives a varied experience, which really helps the lifespan.
Top Ride switches the camera perspective to a top-down view. There are now only two vehicle choices, which basically only affect the control style rather than any statistical changes. The weapon system is changed to a more traditional item pickup, with weapons autoused.
Tracks are still quite varied. Track features such as fans, quicksand pit, light rails and so on present a different challenge on each track. Top Ride presents a race that keeps the action a lot closer than the other game modes.
Finally, we have City Trial. This mode in itself is split in 2 parts.
First the player enters the city. This is a large environment of a city (duh) with many areas and features. Grind rails, boost rings, volcano, waterwheel. Each player enters this area on the Compact Star, a vehicle with good handling and acceleration but poor top speed and defenses. The aim of this part is to end with the best possible vehicle ready for the next part. This is done in 2 ways.
The first way is to switch to a better vehicle. These are found around the city, and switched in and out at set times. Unlike other modes Kirby can get off a vehicle here, at which point Kirby can jump on another vehicle.
The second method, and the method you will be making the most use of, is to boost the attributes. This is done by collecting the patches found throughout the city. There are also grey patches that reduce an attribute if picked up by a careless driver.
There are other ways to lose patches as well. Getting struck, having your vehicle destroyed or switching vehicles when you have collected a high amount of patches will cause you to lose patches.
During this trial period he city will be subject to specific events. These can range from useful events like the castle chamber opening and healing areas appearing to detrimental effects such as the city suffering a meteor storm or fake patches appearing.
At the end of the time limit the players enter a stadium round with their vehicles. These stadium events could be anything, from a battle match, single lap race, high jump, target flight and more. This can produce interesting results, as a vehicle well suited to one stadium may do badly in another. An example might be a vehicle whose speed lends itself well to drag racing but poorly to a high jump.
Overall this can be quite an addicting game, and it's pick up and play concept lends itself well to a quick fun blast through. Anyone expecting a serious indepth challenge might not find what they are looking for, but those seeking a fun game they can drop into at any time will not be disappointed. |
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| Riding on Air |  3.7
0 comments |
by  shadow993
from , , USA | Jul 23, 2006 |
THE GOOD:
Good graphics
High frame rate
Fast paced
Sweet Machines
Loads of unlockablesTHE BAD:
Sometimes gets repetitive
Some checklists are too vague, others impossible
Too simple control scheme
SUMMARY:
Take Kirby, plop him on some bizzare machine, sprinkle in some weapons a la Mario Kart, add the usual assortment of enemies and Copy abilities and put it all on a racetrack, and you've got the recipe for this game!
OK, so there are three modes to Kirby Air Ride: Air Ride, Top Ride and City Trial, and I'll be going through each of them in this review.
But first, controls. The only controls used in this game are the Control Stick and A. Kirby accelerates on his vehicle constantly (until he reaches terminal velocity of course) and you use the Control Stick to guide him. Pressing A will charge up your vehicle and releasing A gives you a boost. It's useful for getting around tight corners, but the longer you charge, the more speed you lose.
First, Air Ride. Basically, your run-of-the-mill racing action. You control Kirby on one of several Machines (you start with the classic Warpstar, many others can be unlocked) and race around courses trying to take the lead. Along the way you can suck up enemies, and copy their abilities, just like always. You use these abilities to attack your opponents, be it slashing them with a sword, freezing them with a blizzard, even blowing them up with bombs! You'll also want to find secret passages to help you cut the path and get ahead. There are seven courses, with another unlockable one. Among them are Fantasy Meadows, a short course for a quick race, and the fiery, labyrinthe-like Magma Flows.
Next, Top Ride. Much like Air Ride except the courses are much smaller, and the perspective is shifted to a top-down view. No Copy abilities here. Instead, you get to use items like Drills, Buzz Saws, and even Lightning to damage your opponents. The courses are all themed on an element with the exception of Metal. Among them are Light, a spacy themed course with rails used as shortcuts, and Water, a longer course with waterfalls and swift currents. Also, the Machines used in Air Ride are replaced by two even simpler to control machines
Finally, City Trial, by far the best mode. There's this gigantic city you must explore. Given a time limit, you must find "patches" to power up your machine in areas like Top Speed, Offense, Weight, Turning and others. You can also find different machines to get into (yes, the same ones in Air Ride) such as the Jet Star and Shadow Star. You can also use items like Time Bombs and Gold Spikes, as well as those Kirby Powers we're all so familiar with. At the end of the time limit, (3-7 minutes) a random event will happen (called the Stadium), pitting your powered-up machine against your opponents' Win the Stadium, and you win that City Trial match.
The game is great fun, even more so if you've got a few friends to play it with. The controls are a little too simple at times. For example, you press A to swallow your enemies, and you also use A to use the powers you get. The problem is, you also press A to charge, which lowers your speed. I think you see the problem. Would it be too difficult to include one extra button to use the items? Apparently so, thought HAL.
In addition to all this mayhem, each of the three game modes has a checklist complete with 120 objectives to complete. The more objectives you check off, the more stuff you unlock, ranging from new machines to alternate music to new items to use. Not everything you check off will give you something, though, so that kinda sucks. But completing all 360 objectives will take a darned long time, that's for sure, so that's replay value for you right there. You know, aside from all the fun stuff.
This is a great game, but I feel HAL could have done a little better with the controls. 3.7/5 |
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| Best racing game I've played in years |  5.0
0 comments |
by kratosroxmysocks
from , , | Jun 26, 2005 |
| This is not the only one of the best racing games, but one of the best games for the GC! There are three modes you can choose from: Air ride, just a pure racing mode with time attack and free run with lots of machines and abilities, complete chaos. There is Top Ride, a fun, short racing mode with a lot of chaos, There are very short courses, and the camera is viewed above the course. The last one is City Trial. This is a lot of fun. You start on the compact star and you go around the city breaking boxes open to power up your machine. There are a lot of events that happen around the city, that will either help you, or hurt you. Once time runs out, you go to a stadium, which is chosen randomly. You do a challenge like drag race or who can glide the highest and more. That is why you need to power up your machine, with any attribute so your ready for anything. In each mode, there is a checklist, where you have to meet a challenge. Each is very unique, and some are very hard. The multi-player is solid and fun. The graphics are good and smooth. The controls are very simple. If you like high action multi-player fun, this is the game for you. |
| 5 out of 7 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Kirby---Really ment for racing? |  3.9
0 comments |
by  DarthVolcanus
from , NY, | Jan 8, 2005 |
THE GOOD:
Awsome multiplayer, 3 different modes to keep you busy, and many unlockable vehicles and colors. Free run will blow you away in city trialTHE BAD:
While in city trial, you can't get power-ups normally. Also ALL the powers you get are temporary. Top ride is only playable so much before it gets boring. SUMMARY:
It's a good change from the classic side scroller kirby games, and this game will keep you busy for quite a while. There is 3 different modes, air ride, top ride, and city trial. Top ride is horrable, air ride is ok, and city trial rocks. I think this game would be better if there was more then only the control stick and the A button-litteraly. they needed more controls. Charging your vehicle and attacking should have different buttons. Also, a button to steal other peoples' vehicles would be nice  |
| 12 out of 19 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Join the Kirbster in what has to be the best racing game in history! | 5.0
0 comments |
by  Black Jack
from , NY, | Sep 17, 2004 |
THE GOOD:
The graphics are amazing! The checklist concept is pure genious and with 8 different courses, players can select a favorite out of a variety. And the Addition of Air Ride machines with different abilities, looks, and difficulty of mastering makes the game a hit! THE BAD:
Nothing, really. SUMMARY:
The one and only Kirby racing games point is to complete tasks on certain racing courses and machines on a checklist and unlock privliges and more machines.
With all the enemies in the old games and the traditional copy ability, this game is the same as a lot of other Kirby games, but a new idea and different style of playing keeps this game from being too simillar.
Plus, Kirby has got to be the coolest, strongest, and cutest Nintendo character ever thought up! I strongly suggest buying this game, for the wild call of the road is waiting for someone to tear it all up on their tire treads! |
| 11 out of 20 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| what is this? |  3.4
0 comments |
by  MrSponget
from , , Private | Mar 7, 2004 |
THE GOOD:
good multiplayer and graphics and really great looking levels and the challenges are ok.THE BAD:
no adventure mode.all the playable characters are the same just with different color. SUMMARY:
Ok this game has good graphics and multiplayer.This is a racing game but,what about the racing controls?The challenges is mostly the main thing.All the characters are the same just with a different color.When you get the game and play it for the first time you'll be like "Where is the main game?"When I mean main game I mean adventure or story mode.Well there is no adventure or story mode.The graphics are awesome and the levels look great.This game has good graphics,great levels,and multiplayer.The challenges in this game are ok.You should rent this game if you like it buy it. |
| 11 out of 19 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| The Puffball is Back!! |  4.5
0 comments |
by Pizza_17
| Nov 11, 2003 |
THE GOOD:
Graphics, Music, Gameplay, control, basically everything in the entire game!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE BAD:
Could use a story mode SUMMARY:
City Trial, Top Ride, and Air Ride. Even Lan Battles!! The game is nearly perfect. Who wouldn't kill for a puffball racing game with diffrent vehicles that are totally diffrent from each other, and even a 2-d racing game? I'd kill for that type of game anyday. The game is so recommended, I could kill myself. Please, do me... erm... yourself a favor and buy one. They're selling out fast! Hurry! (p.s. there are difrent colored Kirby's.)(P.P.S. the music is awesome. They are from other Kirby Games, and even from Super Smash Brothers Melee!!)(p.p.p.s.s I really hate this 750 character limit, so blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah) |
| 11 out of 21 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Average at Best |  3.0
0 comments |
by Zippo
| Oct 23, 2003 |
THE GOOD:
Awesome graphics.
Amazing backgrounds.
Nice game modes.
Simple control....THE BAD:
....that's used too much.
Not really Kirby!
Needs more courses.
Randomness in City Trial.
SUMMARY:
This game is just great to look at. With vibrant colors, smooth framerate, and the best tracks I have seen in a video game, it's just a joy to buy. It offers 3 modes of play. Air Ride is like normal racing, Top Ride offers a top-down view of the action, but only offers 2 craft, and City Trial allows you to comb a city looking for power-ups for your vehicle. Then, when time runs out, a challenge randomly appears to bout your upgraded craft against opponents'. This is where you run into the game's problems. You use A and the control stick only in the entire game. You are always in motion, and A allows you to stop the craft and build up speed. Since you have no real brake, you have to constantly zero in on power-ups. And I collected a fair amount of upgrades my first time around. I got 6 Glide Patches, 5 Offense, but only 1 Defense and 2 Turning Patches. It ended up being a destruction derby match and I ended up getting my butt kicked. The game says it does this randomness thing because of suspense, but it is furstrating as Mario Party's random actions. Thankfully, there is an option that lets you select which type of challenge you want to appear. Also, the game always brags about it's simple control, but Kirby Air Ride takes the concept to a large scale. For example, there is a mortar power-up in City Trial. Rather than giving you any control over the cannon, it simply fires itself until its time expires. I don't think it would have been a back-breaking chore to make the B button act as a fire button. Finally, the game does not make any sense. Kirby only has 7 or so copy abilities in Air Ride. They focused so much on racing and did not focus on what Kirby does best. Also, the tracks do not sound or look like they belong in the Kirby World. Trust me. I'm a big Kirby fan, and the tracks have no Kirby charm in them. The game, overall, is at least a great rental.
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| AAAAAAHHHH Watch out for that- wall? | 5.0
0 comments |
by  Knukles Da Echidna
from Achoo! Sorry..., , Handshake! | Oct 19, 2003 |
THE GOOD:
Plenty of Items, abilitys and courses to make you happyTHE BAD:
Nothing really. I can't see anything bad about this one. SUMMARY:
This game is Hours, Years even of fun!!! There are 2 differant types of racing, 3d view, and above view. You can also be other peoplelike King DeeDeeDee and Meta Knight! You can fly and jump. This is a must get, I think it may be bette than Mario Kart Double Dash. Please get this ga,e, It'll take time up for another game to come.Anyways, the Ice irby appears, along with other Kirby forms. Did you watch episodes 6 and 7 for Kirby? Well, the WingStar, Formula Star, the Shadow Star, and the super fast Rocket star are in it too! Some stars are easy to control, some arent. Some ar fast on ground, some on air. Meta Knight is the fastest, so be looking forward to him. Hope this helps! |
| 12 out of 22 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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4.15/5.0
