Kirby Air Riders is the Switch 2 racing game sequel you didn’t expect

The Nintendo Switch 2 will arrive in June, and with it, the ability to access a library of classic GameCube games. The one racing title there, at launch, will be F-Zero GX, but during the same Nintendo Direct presentation, another classic GameCube racing game returned – Kirby Air Ride.

Only this time, it’s not a repurposing of the original game, but a sequel, built from he ground-up for the Switch 2.

Kirby Air Riders (spot the pluralised ‘s’ to denote the follow-up) only has a brief teaser trailer, but sure enough, the pink platforming blob is back to rival, well, Nintendo’s own Mario Kart World presumably.

Additional characters are briefly shown using a floating cube, some kind of jet platform and even a single-wheel bike contraption.

The game will be directed by Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the Kirby character.

Kirby Air Riders will be a Switch 2 exclusive and will be released at some point in 2025.